HAMPTON, Va. - The Virginia Tech wrestling squad staved off elimination at the 30th Annual Virginia Duals with a 24-20 win over Drexel in the consolation bracket Friday afternoon at the Hampton Coliseum.
Jarrod Garnett rebounded from a tough opening-match loss with a 20-2 technical fall of Yiming Law at 125 pounds to make it 5-0. Drexel’s Steve Mytych, ranked 19th in the country, had his way with Erik Spjut as he downed him 6-1 at 133 pounds. At 141 pounds, Chris Diaz shook off a rusty start in his first match of the day to crush Shane Fenningham with a 19-3 technical fall. Brett McCurdy downed Brian Stephens 6-2 at 149 pounds to bring the Dragons back to within four points.
But at 157 pounds, Jesse Dong built on his big upset win with a first-period pin over Charles Aungst to make it 16-6. Matt Epperly dominated throughout his match at 165 pounds in beating Alex Rinaldi, 17-3. That made it 20-6 with four matches left. After a forfeit at 174 pounds to make it 20-12, Tommy Spellman picked up a late takedown to pick up an extra team point with the 12-3 major decision. Chris Penny fell to Jack Callendar, 11-3, at 197 and Tim Miller dropped an 10-0 major decision to Kyle Frey at heavyweight to end the match.
Tech (8-2) will now face the loser of third-seeded Lehigh/sixth-seeded Edinboro Saturday morning at 10 a.m. A loss would eliminate the Hokies from the tournament while a win would move them to the 4 o’clock match.
#24 Virginia Tech (7-2) 24, Drexel (4-6) 20
125: #13 Jarrod Garnett (VT) tech fall Yiming Law, 20-2
133: #19 Steve Mytych (DU) dec. Erik Spjut, 6-1
141: #12 Chris Diaz (VT) tech fall Shane Fenningham, 19-3
149: Brett McCurdy (DU) dec. Brian Stephens, 6-2
157: #7 Jesse Dong (VT) fall Charles Aungst, 1:21
165: Matt Epperly (VT) maj. dec. Alex Rinaldi, 17-3
174: Dave Woodall (DU) wins by forfeit
184: Tommy Spellman (VT) maj. dec. Justin Wieller, 12-3
197: Jack Callender (DU) maj. dec. Chris Penny, 11-3
285: Kyle Frey (DU) maj. dec. Tim Miller, 10-0
For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Wrestling).