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BLACKSBURG – Seventeen members of the Virginia Tech wrestling squad will make the short trip south for the 2008 Southern Scuffle that will take place Dec. 29-30 at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center.

This year’s field includes 24 teams that competed in the 2007 Southern Scuffle. Participating in this year’s Southern Scuffle will be Appalachian State, Binghamton, Bloomsburg, Boston University, Cal State Bakersfield, Campbell, The Citadel, Cornell, Davidson, Duke, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Franklin & Marshall, Gardner-Webb, George Mason, Hofstra, Kent State, Liberty, Lock Haven, Navy, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ohio, Old Dominion, Princeton, UNC Greensboro, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Additionally, among the 28-team field, five teams were ranked in last season’s final USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll (Hofstra-13th, Edinboro-14th, Cornell-16th, Navy-T-19th and Old Dominion-T-23rd).

This year will mark the fourth-straight year that the tournament will be at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center. Prior to moving to the Coliseum, the tournament was held for two years at UNCG’s Fleming Gymnasium.

At last year’s Scuffle, Minnesota won its third title, compiling 182 points.

Tech has three wrestlers currently ranked in the InterMat/NWCA/NWMA Division I Individual Rankings – Jarrod Garnett at 125 pounds (10^th), Chris Diaz at 141 pounds (11^th) and Pete Yates at 149 pounds (20^th). This will also mark the debut of Will Livingston in a Hokie uniform as he has had to wrestle unattached the first semester after transferring from OhioState.

Garnett will be the No. 2 seed at 125 pounds and Diaz will be the top seed at 141 pounds. Other Hokies earning seeds are: Yates (6th at 149 pounds), Matt Epperly (fifth at 165 pounds) and Tommy Spellman (seventh at 184 pounds). Brackets should be released Friday.

Fans can keep up with the action at the Scuffle's Web Site.

Below is the list of probable participants for the Hokies:

For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Wrestling).