OMAHA, Neb. - The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships are underway inside the Qwest Center as 330 student-athletes are competing for 10 national championships. Among those 330 wrestlers are six Virginia Tech Hokies who will be competing in the double-elimination tournament. Three Hokies won their first round match to place them into the round of 16, which begins tonight at 7:30 p.m.
“Overall, I’m pretty pleased with our effort, but the 141 pounds left a bad taste in my mouth,” said head coach Kevin Dresser. “We won at 125 pounds when we weren’t supposed to and lost at 141 pounds when we weren’t supposed to. Jarrod was excited and ready to go and Chris wasn’t. The wrestlebacks are all about wanting to be in the building because all of the guys are in the same boat with a loss. Jesse’s in a good situation right now. The table is set if he continues to wrestle well. He’s wrestling with a lot of confidence right now. And Tommy, he wrestled a smart match. He kept it close and wrestled smart, but he has his hands full tonight.:
Below are the results and brief recaps of each match for the Hokies in the first round. The second round and consolations will begin Thursday night at 7 p.m. Eastern. Be sure to check back after each round for updates, results and quotes.
125: Jarrod Garnett (1-0)
First Round: def. #6 seed Zach Sanders (Minnesota), MD 17-6
Details: Garnett dominated from the get go, picking up a quick takedown in the first period and then got near fall points in the second period. Sanders, who finished sixth last year to earn All-America honors, tried several offensive attempts, but Garnett countered them for big points and ended up earning extra team points with the major decision.
Second Round: vs. #11 seed Michael Martinez (Wyoming) - Thursday Night
141: #11 seed Chris Diaz
First Round: lost to Connor Beebe (Central Michigan), 5-0
Details: Beebe got a takedown midway through the first period and rode Diaz for over a minute. Diaz chose bottom to start the second period and Beebe promptly rode him for the entire two minutes. Beebe took care of business in the third round for the upset.
Consolations: vs. Kenneth Hasimoto (Northern Colorado)/Cole VonOhlen (Air Force) winner - Thursday evening
149: Brian Stephens (0-1)
First Round: lost to #8 seed Jason Chamberlain (Boise State), MD 14-2
Details: Chamberlain turned a close match in the second period to a blowout with a pair of takedowns in the second period and three more in the third period to pick up the major decision.
Consolations: vs. Andrew Nadhir (Northwestern) - Thursday evening
157: #3 seed Jesse Dong (1-0)
First Round: def. Joseph Booth (Drexel), Fall (2:53)
Details: Dong got a quick takedown and three nearfall points and then turned him back over for the fall in dominating fashion at the end of the first period for the bonus points.
Second Round: vs. Anthony Jones (Michigan State) - Thursday night
165: Matt Epperly (0-1)
First Round: vs. #6 seed Dan Vallimont (Penn State), 8-3
Details: Vallimont got two first-period takedowns and kept Epperly from getting anything going offensively. Epperly got an escape in the second period and Vallimont got an escape and takedown in the third period to pick up the win.
Consolations: vs. Paul Gillespie (Hofstra)
184: Tommy Spellman (1-0)
First Round: def. Nick Purdue (Ohio), 3-2
Details: In a low-scoring affair, but wrestlers picked up takedowns in their period of choice but then Spellman got a takedown with 30 seconds left to earn the win.
Second Round: vs. #4 seed Michael Cannon (American) - Thursday night
For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Wrestling).