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BLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech wrestling team will kick off its 2009-10 campaign Saturday in Cassell Coliseum with a pair of tough dual meets. The Hokies will open with Kent State at 1 p.m., and will take on Chattanooga at 5 o’clock. UTC and Kent State will battle at 3 p.m.

Tech is coming off a 20-2 season a year ago that saw a school-record eight men qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The Hokies return all 10 starters, but not will compete for various reasons. David Marone is scheduled to redshirt at heavyweight, so D.J. Bruce has put on the weight to move up to that class. Brock LiVorio is having knee issues and Jesse Dong is suspended for Saturday’s action due to a violation of team rules.

Kent State has three ranked wrestlers in its probable lineup while the Mocs have two. Virginia Tech has five total ranked wrestlers, four in the probable lineup.

Fans can keep up with all three matches via live stats and admission into Cassell Coliseum is free.

On Sunday, Virginia Tech will hold the second Hokie Open at the Salem Civic Center, where over 450 college competitors will compete on 10 mats throughout the day. The event starts at 9 a.m., and runs until it’s completed. For more information, go to www.hokieopen.com. Tech will send virtually its entire roster to the event with all of them competing unattached, meaning the results do not count toward their records.

Below are the probable lineups for all three squads for Saturday’s matches, as submitted by the respective coaching staffs.

Virginia Tech (0-0, 0-0 ACC)
125: #12 Jarrod Garnett OR Schuyler Swanton
133: Erik Spjut OR William Jones
141: #7 Chris Diaz OR Cameron Hurd
149: #15 Pete Yates
157: Taylor Knapp OR Hayden Countryman
165: Matt Epperly
174: Anthony Trongone OR John Dickson
184: #17 Tommy Spellman
197: Chris Penny OR Tim Miller
285: D.J. Bruce OR Andrew Miller

Chattanooga (0-0, 0-0 Southern)
125: Demetrius Johnson
133: Josh Sandoval
141: #20 Cody Cleveland
149: Dean Pavlou
157: #16 Joey Knox
165: Brandon Wright
174: Jake Young
184: Jason McCroskey
197: Niko Brown
285: Matt Lettner

Kent State (0-0, 0-0 MAC)
125: Troy Opfer OR Stevie Mitcheff
133: #11 Danny Mitcheff
141: Chase Skonieczny
149: #12 Matt Cathell
157: Mallie Shuster OR Ross Tice
165: Sli Bostelman OR Obie Simpson
174: Chris Estep OR Keith Witt OR Casey Newburg
184: #9 Dustin Kilgore
197: Adam Cogar
285: Brendan Barlow

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