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BLACKSBURG, Va. – The 24^th-ranked Virginia Tech wrestling squad captured two impressive dual-match victories over Newberry and Campbell on Friday evening in Cassell Coliseum.

The Hokies (6-1) beat Newberry (1-1), 27-9, in their first match and returned to defeat Campbell (0-4), 45-6. In the first match of the day Newberry routed Campbell, 37-7.

After sophomore Schuyler Swanton lost a hard-fought battle, 3-2, at 125 pounds, freshman Erik Spjut got the Hokies on the board with a 3-1 decision over Newberry’s Sheridan Moran. A late escape in the third period sealed the victory for Spjut.

Junior Chris Diaz dominated at 141 pounds, turning Ernie Young of Newberry several times to secure the technical fall, 17-2, to start a streak of five consecutive victories for the Hokies. At 149 pounds, sophomore Pete Yates methodically downed Newberry’s Deral Brown, 4-2, sophomore Jesse Dong followed with a 9-1 major decision at 157 pounds, junior Matt Epperly held on for a 7-6 win at 165 pounds and sophomore Anthony Trongone got Josh Tuck of Newberry in a cradle and turned him for a pin at 174 pounds.

Tech ran into two tough opponents in its next two matches. In his first collegiate dual meet competition, John Dickson faced Bryant Blanton of Newberry, ranked second in the country at Division II, and fell 5-2 in the 184-pound weight class. Senior Tim Miller battled Division II’s top-ranked 197-pounder Keeno Davis the entire way, but could not put together any offense, losing, 4-2. Junior D.J. Bruce finished the match off strongly for the Hokies, winning the heavyweight bout against Steven Butler, 10-7.

The Hokies started the second match of the day against Campbell strongly, recording three pins in a row. Swanton pinned the Camels’ Wes Heavener in 1:55 at 125 pounds, Spjut stuck Richie Apolinar in 2:51 at 133 pounds and at 141 pounds Diaz caught Kelin Bidelspach late, earning the fall at the 6:42 mark.

Yates dominated Nick Rex of the Camels the entire match for a 15-0 tech fall at 149 pounds, while Dong and Epperly tallied two more pins at 156 and 165 pounds, respectively. Epperly’s fall came 36 seconds in, the fastest pin for a Hokie so far this season.

Trongone continued the Tech dominance with a major decision over John Merickel, winning 14-5, while Dickson dropped his match to the Camels’ Derek Tomasone, 9-7, at 184 pounds. Miller fell 5-4 in a tiebreaker in the 197-pound match, and Campbell forfeited its heavyweight match to close out the day.

The Hokies will next travel to Primm, Nev., for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Open on Dec. 4 and 5. Results will be available on hokiesports.com.

Newberry (1-0) 37, Campbell (0-3) 7
125: #3 Matt Oliver (NC) tech fall CJ Gittens, 16-0 (6:30)
133: Sheridan Moran (NC) dec. Richie Apolinar, 8-2
141: Deral Brown (NC) fall Kelin Bidelspach, 5:52
149: Nick Rex (CU) maj. dec. Ernie Young, 15-2
157: Latra Collick (NC) dec. Jake Fose, 7-5 (SV)
165: Josh Whitelock (NC) tech fall Peter Comis, 19-4 (7:00)
174: John Merickel (CU) dec. Josh Tuck, 6-5
184: #2 Bryant Blanton (NC) fall Derek Tomasone, 3:35
197: #1 Keeno Griffin (NC) dec. Parker Burns, 4-1
285: Steven Butler (NC) wins by forfeit

Newberry rankings are from preseason Division II poll

#24 Virginia Tech (5-1) 27, Newberry (1-1) 9
125: #3 Matt Oliver (NC) dec. Schuyler Swanton, 3-2
133: Erik Spjut (VT) dec. Sheridan Moran, 3-1
141: #11 Chris Diaz (VT) tech fall Ernie Young (NC), 17-2 (6:20)
149: #17 Pete Yates (VT) dec. Deral Brown, 4-2
157: #16 Jesse Dong (VT) maj. dec. Latra Collick, 9-1
165: Matt Epperly (VT) dec. Josh Whitelock (NC), 7-6
174: Anthony Trongone (VT) fall Josh Tuck (NC), 4:08
184: #2 Bryant Blanton (NC) dec. John Dickson, 5-2
197: #1 Keeno Griffin (NC) dec. Tim Miller, 4-2
285: D.J. Bruce (VT) dec. Steven Butler, 10-7

Newberry rankings are from preseason Division II poll

#24 Virginia Tech (6-1) 45, Campbell (0-4) 6
125: Schuyler Swanton (VT) fall Wes Heavener, 1:55
133: Erik Spjut (VT) fall Richie Apolinar, 2:51
141: #11 Chris Diaz (VT) fall Kelin Bidelspach, 6:42
149: #17 Pete Yates (VT) tech fall Nick Rex, 15-0 (5:29)
157: #16 Jesse Dong (VT) fall Jake Fose, 1:05
165: Matt Epperly (VT) fall Chris Mazzatta, 0:36
174: Anthony Trongone (VT) maj. dec. John Merickel, 14-5
184: Derek Tomasone (CU) dec. John Dickson, 9-7
197: Parker Burns (CU) dec. Tim Miller, 5-4 (TB-1)
285: D.J. Bruce (VT) wins by forfeit

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