January 24, 2009
Hokies upset No. 17 Michigan on the road
Tech moves to 14-0 with pair of wins

ANN ARBOR, Mich.The Virginia Tech wrestling team moved to 14-0 on the season Saturday as swept a pair of matches at Cliff Keen Arena. The Hokies opened up the day with an easy 37-3 win over Binghamton before upsetting No. 17 Michigan, 22-15, on the Wolverines’ home mat.

In the opener, Chris Diaz and Matt Epperly both rebounded from losses in their last match in a strong way, picking up first-period pins. Diaz pinned Anwar Goeres at the 1:45 mark while Epperly stuck Ryan McGarity in just 1:32. Will Livingston and David Marone each picked up technical falls while Jarrodd Garnett, Pete Yates, Jesse Dong, Anthony Trongone and D.J. Bruce each won at their respective weight classes. The only bout Tech dropped was at 184 pounds, where Tommy Spellman fell to ninth-ranked Josh Patterson, 6-2.

Not resting on 13-0, the Hokies continued their unbelievable season with an upset win over the Wolverines.

Things opened up in a big way for the Hokies. Garnett moved to 28-4 on the season with a dominating 9-3 win over Michael Watts at 125 pounds. The true freshman used a near fall early on to take a 6-1 lead in the first period and never looked back. Livingston couldn’t escape late and fell 7-6 at 133 pounds to tie things up.

Michigan head coach Joe McFarland elected to go with back-ups at the next three weights and Tech made him pay, outscoring UM 13-0 in that stretch. At 141 pounds, Diaz made quick work of Michael Sears, picking up a 15-0 technical fall in the second period. At 149 pounds, Yates picked up Tech’s second technical fall in a row to make it 13-3 after four matches. And despite giving up two reversals, Dong won a tough-fought match over David Johnson, 9-4 at 157 pounds.

At 165 pounds, Epperly made a second-period takedown stand up as he beat Justin Zeerip 3-1. Trongone put up a good fight at 174 pounds against the top-ranked wrestler in the country, but fell 6-1 to Steve Luke, making it 19-6 with three matches left.

At 184 pounds, Spellman got a takedown in the first period and then used 1:45 of riding time to upset 12th-ranked Matt Biondo, 3-2, locking up the match. It was sweet revenge for Spellman, who led Biondo in the third period out in Las Vegas late before getting pinned.

Tech lost the final two matches, but it was insignificant in the big picture. For head coach Kevin Dresser, it marked his first win in nine tries over a ranked team. While the record book is a little sketchy in parts, it also appears to be Tech’s first win over a ranked team in the program’s history, which dates back to 1920.

Tech (14-0) will have its work cut out for them Sunday, facing No. 4 Nebraska (11 AM) and No. 6 Central Michigan (3 PM) at Mount Pleasant.

Virginia Tech (13-0) 37, Binghamton (9-9) 3
125: #13 Jarrod Garnett (VT) dec. Tyler Malmberg, 9-4
133: Will Livingston (VT) tech fall Rob Slavin, 17-2 (4:56)
141: Chris Diaz (VT) fall Anwar Goeres, 1:45
149: Pete Yates (VT) dec. Matt Kaylor, 5-4
157: Jesse Dong (VT) dec. Nate Patterson, 4-0
165: Matt Epperly (VT) fall Ryan McGarity, 1:32
174: Anthony Trongone (VT) dec. John Kaloust, 7-2
184: #9 Josh Patterson (BU) dec. Tommy Spellman, 6-2
197: D.J. Bruce (VT) dec. Corey Waite, 8-2
285: David Marone (VT) tech fall Carl Korpi, 16-1 (7:00)

Virginia Tech (14-0) 22, #17 Michigan (5-6) 15
125: #13 Jarrod Garnett (VT) dec. #14 Michael Watts, 9-3
133: Zac Stevens (UM) dec. Will Livingston, 7-6
141: Chris Diaz (VT) tech fall Michael Sears, 15-0 (5:00)
149: Pete Yates (VT) tech fall Mark Beaudry, 17-0 (5:00)
157: Jesse Dong (VT) dec. David Johnson, 9-4
165: Matt Epperly (VT) dec. Justin Zeerip, 3-1
174: #1 Steve Luke (UM) dec. Anthony Trongone, 6-1
184: Tommy Spellman (VT) dec. #12 Anthony Biondo, 3-2
197: #6 Tyrel Todd (UM) DQ over D.J. Bruce
285: Eddie Phillips (UM) dec. David Marone, 3-2

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

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