BLACKSBURG - It’ll be a big night of wrestling between ranked squads Friday night at Cassell Coliseum as No. 15 Virginia Tech will host No. 7 Central Michigan at 7 o’clock. Prior to the collegiate match, Virginia powerhouses Grundy High and Christiansburg High will battle for bragging rights at 5 p.m. Admission to both matches is free.
Tech will come into the match at 14-3 overall and ranked 15th in the country while the Chippewas are 10-2 overall and ranked seventh. CMU will be looking for payback after Tech went into Mt. Pleasant last year and came away with a 19-12 win at Rose Arena.
Friday night’s team match will be a tough battle for the Hokies as the Chippewas feature eight of 10 wrestlers ranked in the latest InterMat Top 20 polls. But there will be some intriguing individual matchups featuring a pair of ranked wrestlers. At 125 pounds Tech’s Jarrod Garnett is ranked 14th while CMU’s Matt Steintrager is ninth. Garnett lost to him 4-2 earlier this year at the Midlands. At 157 pounds, Tech’s Jesse Dong (ranked 4th) will look to knock off another ranked opponent as this time he will face 13th-ranked Steve Brown at 157 pounds. And at 184 pounds, Tommy Spellman of Tech is ranked 19th while CMU’s Mike Miller is ranked 14th.
With the Chippewas coming in ranked seventh in the country, it marks the highest-ranked opponent to wrestle in Cassell Coliseum since second-ranked Iowa State visited in 2007. This will be the first wrestling match in program history where both teams come in nationally ranked. Fans can keep up with the action via live stats.
The high school match will be a big one as Christiansburg is ranked No. 1 in the state at the Group AA level while Grundy is ranked second. The two schools are the previous stops of current Tech head coach Kevin Dresser. Also, prior to the college match, the Tech program will recognize its lone departing senior - Tim Miller - for his hard work and sacrifice to the squad the past four years.
On Sunday, the Hokies are scheduled to travel to the Richmond area (weather permitting) for the annual “Rumble on the River” and will take on Duke University at Deep Run High in Glen Allen. Match time is set for 2 o’clock. Should weather play a factor in the event, check hokiesports.com for updates.
Below are the probable lineups for Tech, CMU and Duke for this weekend, as submitted by the respective coaching staffs.
#14 Virginia Tech (14-3, 2-0 ACC)
125: #14 Jarrod Garnett (19-4)
133: Brock LiVorio (7-2)
141: #10 Chris Diaz (23-3)
149: Brian Stephens (6-3)
157: #4 Jesse Dong (22-2)
165: Matt Epperly (15-6) OR Taylor Knapp (10-10)
174: Open
184: #19 Tommy Spellman (20-8)
197: Chris Penny (1-11)
285: Tim Miller (3-14)
#7 Central Michigan (10-2)
125: #9 Matt Steintrager (14-2)
133: #9 Scotti Sentes (12-4)
141: Conor Beebe (15-5)
149: #11 Tony D’Alie (10-2)
157: #13 Steve Brown (8-3) OR Donnie Corby (15-11)
165: #17 Tyler Grayson (13-4)
174: #10 Ben Bennett (12-5)
184: #14 Mike Miller (9-3) OR Raylen Davis (3-8)
197: Eric Simaz (9-5)
285: #3 Jarod Trice (15-1)
Duke (2-5, 0-3 ACC)
125: Peter Terrezza (12-7)
133: Nick Adamo (3-9)
141: Mike Bell (10-13)
149: Brent Jorge (17-5)
157: Chris Piccolello (3-6)
165: Open
174: Voris Tejada (16-8)
184: Diego Bencomo (19-7)
197: John Barone (12-6)
285: Andrew Fulk (14-8)
For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Wrestling).