January 17, 2010
Hokies roll to pair of non-conference victories
LiVorio picks up two pins to highlight action

BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech wrestling squad won 12 of 14 matches contested Sunday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum, rolling to a pair of non-conference wins. The Hokies opened with a 34-15 victory over Gardner-Webb before downing UNC Greensboro, 29-15. In the opening match of the day, UNCG cruised to a 38-11 win over Gardner-Webb.

In Tech’s first match, 16th-ranked Jarrod Garnett picked up a forfeit win before Brock LiVorio made quick work of Brett Kostern at 133 pounds, pinning him in just 35 seconds. Ninth-ranked Chris Diaz dominated Morgan McDaniel with a 16-1 technical fall late in the second period. At 149 pounds, Brian Stephens used a late fury of takedowns to beat Ryan Medved 11-7. Taylor Knapp dropped a 6-3 decision to Alex Medved at 157 pounds before Matt Epperly picked up his own 16-1 technical fall at 165 pounds. Tech forfeited at 174 pounds to make it 25-9 and then 20th-ranked Tommy Spellman made quick work of Jonathan Velazquez, pinning him early in the first period. The Hokies’ Chris Penny picked up his first collegiate win with a 4-0 blanking of Travis Porter at 197 pounds and then Tech forfeited at heavyweight to end the dual match.

In the second match, Garnett struggled, but held on for a 9-6 win over Eric Chandler to start things off at 125 pounds. LiVorio picked up his second first-period pin of the day, sticking Casey Boyle with just eight seconds left in the stanza. Diaz used a pair of first-period nearfalls to down Ivan Lopouchanski 8-2 at 141 pounds. Stephens used three takedowns in the first period, four in the second and two more in the third to pick up an impressive 25-10 technical fall over Alejandro Soto-Perez. Taylor Knapp was the recipient of a forfeit win at 157 pounds and then Epperly picked up an 8-2 win over Victor Hojilla at 165 pounds. After Tech forfeited at 174 pounds, Spellman picked up a 6-2 win over Andrew Saunders. The action ended at 197 pounds with Penny falling to Ryan Sughrue and then the Hokies forfeited at heavyweight.

Tech (13-3, 1-0 ACC) will be back in action next Saturday, wrestling at the University of Virginia at 1 p.m., in their ACC match. Tech downed the Cavs 21-18 at the Virginia Duals last weekend in a non-conference bout.

UNC Greensboro (3-4) 38, Gardner-Webb (1-7-1), 11

125: Eric Chandler (UNCG) wins by forfeit
133: Casey Boyle (UNCG) fall Brett Kostern, 4:36
141: Ivan Lopouchanski (UNCG) maj. dec. Morgan McDaniel, 13-1
149: Ryan Medved (GW) maj. dec. Matt Barbo, 10-0
157: Alex Medved (GW) maj. dec. Alejandro Soto-Perez, 9-1
165: Victor Hojilla (UNCG) maj. dec. David Pelsang, 13-3
174: Byron Sigmon (UNCG) fall Blake Salyer, 1:35
184: Andrew Saunders (UNCG) fall Jonathan Velazquez, 2:59
197: Ryan Sughrue (UNCG) fall Tom Pennington, 4:31
285: #13 Dustin Porter (GW) dec. Peter Sturgeon, 5-0

#15 Virginia Tech (12-3) 34, Gardner-Webb (1-8-1) 15
125: #16 Jarrod Garnett (VT) wins by forfeit
133: Brock LiVorio (VT) fall Brett Kostern, :35
141: #9 Chris Diaz (VT) tech fall Morgan McDaniel, 16-1 (4:44)
149: Brian Stephens (VT) dec. Ryan Medved, 11-7
157: Alex Medved (GW) dec. Taylor Knapp, 6-3
165: Matt Epperly (VT) tech fall David Pelsang, 16-1 (3:54)
174: Blake Salyer (GW) wins by forfeit
184: #20 Tommy Spellman (VT) fall Jonathan Velazquez, 1:15
197: Chris Penny (VT) dec. Travis Porter, 4-0
285: #13 Dustin Porter (GW) wins by forfeit

#15 Virginia Tech (13-3) 29, UNC Greensboro (3-5) 15
125: #16 Jarrod Garnett (VT) dec. Eric Chandler, 9-6
133: Brock LiVorio (VT) fall Casey Boyle, 2:52
141: #9 Chris Diaz (VT) dec. Ivan Lopouchanski, 8-2
149: Brian Stephens (VT) tech fall Alejandro Soto-Perez, 25-10 (5:45)
157: Taylor Knapp (VT) wins by forfeit
165: Matt Epperly (VT) dec. Victor Hojilla, 8-2
174: Byron Sigmon (UNCG) wins by forfeit
184: #20 Tommy Spellman (VT) dec. Andrew Saunders, 6-2
197: Ryan Sughrue (UNCG) dec. Chris Penny, 7-4
285: Peter Sturgeon (UNCG) wins by forfeit

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

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