March 18, 2010
Garnett, Dong move to NCAA Quarterfinals
Four Hokies survive to wrestle Friday

OMAHA, Neb. - Day one of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships wrapped up late Thursday night inside the Qwest Center as 330 student-athletes began competing for 10 national championships. Among those 330 wrestlers are six Virginia Tech Hokies who are taking part in the double-elimination tournament. Two Hokies won their first two matches to place them into the round of eight and just one win away from All-America status. In all, four Hokies survived the first day and will begin competing again Friday morning.

Tech sits in a tie for 17th place with 13.0 team points after the first day.

Below are the results and brief recaps of each match for the Hokies in the second session. The third session will begin Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. The quarterfinals can be seen live on ESPNU and on ESPN360.com. Be sure to check back after each round for updates, results and quotes.

125: Jarrod Garnett (2-0)
First Round:
def. #6 seed Zach Sanders (Minnesota), MD 17-6
Second Round: def. #11 seed Michael Martinez (Wyoming), 5-2
Details: Garnett picked up his second upset of the day to advance to the round of eight. He got a takedown in the first period. Martinez eventually tied it up with two escapes but Garnett got another takedown in the second stanza and escaped in the third for the victory.
Quarterfinals: vs. #3 seed Matt McDonough (Iowa) - Friday morning

141: #11 seed Chris Diaz (1-1)
First Round:
lost to Connor Beebe (Central Michigan), 5-0
Consolations: def. Kenneth Hashimoto (Northern Colorado), MD 13-1
Details: After a disappointing start, Diaz came out and took care of business. He got a takedown and turned Hashimoto for three points and then turned him again for two more for a quick 7-0 lead. After a scoreless second period, Diaz got another takedown and three more nearfall points in the third period to roll to the win.
Consolations: vs. Elijah Nacita (CSU Bakersfield) - Friday morning

149: Brian Stephens (0-2; ELIMINATED)
First Round:
lost to #8 seed Jason Chamberlain (Boise State), MD 14-2
Consolations: lost to Andrew Nadhir (Northwestern), 8-5
Details: Nadhir picked up an early takedown and then got another in the second period. Trailing 5-2 heading to the third period, Stephens escaped and then got a takedown to tie it up, but Nadhir escaped late and then got a takedown near the end to eliminate the true freshman.

157: #3 seed Jesse Dong (2-0)
First Round:
def. Joseph Booth (Drexel), Fall (2:53)
Second Round: def. Anthony Jones (Michigan State), 5-4
Details: Dong was tested for the first time in weeks, but came up big to advance to the round of eight. Jones led 2-1 after one period thanks to a takedown. Dong escaped to start the second period, but Jones got another takedown. Dong escaped to make it 4-3 and the Jones was docked for a penalty point to tie it up. Jones chose down in the third period, but Dong rode him the entire time to pick up the riding time point and victory.
Quarterfinals: vs. Justin Lister (Binghamton) - Friday morning

165:Matt Epperly (0-2; ELIMINATED)
First Round:
vs. #6 seed Dan Vallimont (Penn State), 8-3
Consolations: lost to Paul Gillespie (Hofstra), 9-2
Details: The two danced around for a scoreless first period and Gillespie got a point in the second period with an escape. In the third period, Gillespie turned Epperly for two back points and then Epperly reversed him to make it 3-2. But Gillespie got an escape and then took down Epperly and got three more near fall points to eliminate Epperly.

184: Tommy Spellman (1-1)
First Round:
def. Nick Purdue (Ohio), 3-2
Second Round:
lost to #4 seed Michael Cannon (American), 9-2
Details: Spellman came out firing and got the first takedown, but Cannon came back to pick up a takedown on a flury at the end of the period. Cannon picked up another takedown in the second period and one more in the third en route to the win.
Consolations: vs. Jerome Ward (Iowa State) winner - Friday morning

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

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