TULSA, OK – The Virginia Tech wrestling team put on a strong opening day in Tulsa – putting five wrestlers into Friday morning's quarterfinals and three still looking to advance on the backside. Redshirt freshman Eddie Ventresca pulled off two upsets on the day to highlight the Hokies' 2023 NCAA Championship. Action resumes on Friday morning at 12 p.m. EST live on ESPNU.
Five Hokies into the Quarterfinals
At 125-pounds, No. 27 Eddie Ventresca put together a day in his first NCAA Championship going 2-0 with two major upsets – first round victory over Northern Colorado's No. 6 Stevo Poulin, 3-1, and a second round victory over No. 11 Pat McKee of Minnesota. Following his opening match upset over Poulin, Ventresca dispatched the All-American McKee in his second bout in a chess match that went down to the wire. With the score tied at one but McKee holding riding time advantage down to the second, Ventresca put three attacks together to put McKee in neutral danger to secure the takedown. Ventresca would then ride out the last :38 of the third to win 3-2 and book a trip to the quarterfinals in his first national tournament appearance. Ventresca will face Nebraska's No. 3 Liam Cronin on Friday morning.
Eddie Ventresca Thursday night flexin'! 💪#NCAAWrestling x @HokiesWrestling pic.twitter.com/UA8qyZHW6G
— NCAA Wrestling (@NCAAWrestling) March 16, 2023
Sam Latona earned a gritty victory over No. 22 Cody Phippen (Air Force) in his second bout of the day. Latona was persistent with attacks but couldn't find the finish. Latona put on a veteran ride to pick up riding time advantage in the second period but would give up an escape to trail 0-1 heading into the third. The Hokie would make a quick escape and hang on to the 2-1 decision to advance to his third quarterfinal in as many appearances. Latona's win sets up a rubber match on the season against No. 3 Vito Arujau of Cornell in the quarterfinals.
The ever-entertaining No. 7 Bryce Andonian handled No. 10 Kaden Gfeller of Oklahoma State to come out with a 11-3 major decision. Andonian fired early with a double in the opening 15 seconds and never looked back from there, adding four more back points before the first period ended and racking up over 2:30 of riding time despite a Gfeller escape. Andonian would add an escape in the second period and another takedown to close out the period and lead 9-1 entering the third. Andonian would give up a reversal in the third but would edge an escape towards the end of the final period with his riding time intact to secure the bonus point victory. The Hokie is set to face Penn State's No. 2 Levi Haines on Friday morning.
No. 3 Mekhi Lewis advanced to the quarterfinals for the fourth time in as many championship tournament appearances with a 5-4 decision over No. 10 Troy Fisher of Northwestern. Lewis fired an attack in the opening period and would rack up over 1:30 of riding time in the first despite an escape by Fisher in the first. Fisher would then get an escape in the second period to tie the bout and get a takedown, leaving Lewis trailing 3-4 entering the final period. With riding time still intact, Lewis would notch an escape and eventually take the 5-4 decision victory. The returning finalist and 2019 national champion will meet No. 11 Nelson Brands of Iowa in the quarterfinal session.
Closing out Hokies advancing to the quarterfinals was No. 7 Hunter Bolen with a dominant 6-1 victory over No. 19 Travis Wittlake of Oklahoma State. Bolen would score his first takedown of the match in the opening period via underhook throwby and ride the period out to go up 2-0 with 1:32 RT. The Chrisitansburg Cowboy would then get an escape after selecting bottom to begin the second period and add another takedown in the closing seconds to secure a comfortable 5-0 lead. A Wittlake escape in the third would put opposition points on the board but Bolen would control the rest of the bout and tack on the riding time advantage point to advance to Friday morning's quarterfinals. Bolen is slated to face rival, No. 2 Trent Hidlay of NC State in what could be their final meeting. The two have met six times in their careers, a dead even 3-3 split entering the rivalry showdown.
Hokies Staying Alive
Dropping to the consolation bracket after a valiant effort in the Round of 16 was No. 4 Caleb Henson. Henson would drop a narrow 4-5 decision to No. 20 Graham Rooks of Indiana despite a plethora of offensive attempts throughout the bout. Rooks would score first but Henson would manage the quick escape to trail 1-2 at the end of the first. The freshman Hokie would tie things up with an escape in the second and the score would stay that way heading into the third period. After a Rooks escape, Henson would take another attack but would be countered on the edge. Henson escape on the reset and a stall point would close the gap to 4-5 in a great effort from the true freshman. The Hokie will meet Central Michigan's No. 19 Johnny Lovett on the backside.
Staying alive in the consolations for the Hokies in the evening session were No. 15 Tom Crook and No. 23 Connor Brady after dropping open tournament matches. At 141-pounds, Crook took No. 31 Joseph Zargo (Wisconsin) into sudden victory for the eventual match sealing takedown to advance. He will face Ohio State's No. 17 Dylan D'Emilio in his next round bout. Brady advanced in a tough 165-bracket with a controlling 5-0 victory over Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) in his first consolation bout. Brady will have No. 25 Bubba Wilson of Nebraska to advance and remain alive for the Hokies.
125-pounds
Round of 16
#27 Eddie Ventresca DEC #11 Pat McKee, 3-2
133-pounds
Round of 16
#6 Sam Latona DEC #22 Cody Phippen (Air Force), 2-1
141-pounds
#15 Tom Crook DEC #31 Joseph Zargo (Wisconsin), 4-2 SV
149-pounds
Round of 16
#4 Caleb Henson loss #20 Graham Rooks (Indiana), 4-5
157-pounds
Round of 16
#7 Bryce Andonian MAJ DEC #10 Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State), 11-3
165-pounds
#23 Connor Brady DEC #26 Brevin Cassella (Binghamton), 5-0
174-pounds
Round of 16
#3 Mekhi Lewis DEC #10 Troy Fisher (Northwestern), 5-4
184-pounds
Round of 16
#7 Hunter Bolen DEC #19 Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State), 6-1
197-pounds
#21 Andy Smith loss #31 Jacob Koser (Navy), 4-6
285-pounds
#22 Hunter Catka loss #27 Ben Goldin (Pennsylvania), 2-5