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CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The 12th-ranked and seventh-seeded Virginia Tech wrestling squad pulled off the upset of the day Saturday, upsetting No. 2 and second-seeded Oklahoma State at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals inside the UNI-Dome on the campus of Northern Iowa, 18-16. The win is arguably the biggest in program history and it’s the highest-ranked opponent the Hokies have ever beaten in a dual meet.

“By far this is the biggest win for the Virginia Tech program,” head coach Kevin Dresser said. “All 10 guys went out and fought their tails off for us today. The guys believed. All it takes is one spark and we got that spark at 174 pounds from Matt Epperly today. We had some of our top guys go down, but we had others step up, including David Marone coming up huge with the match on the line. I’m so proud of this team, but it’s time to start thinking about tomorrow.”

The match started off at 125 pounds with 11th-ranked Jarrod Garnett upsetting fifth-ranked Jon Morrison, 3-2. Garnett got the only offensive points of the match on a takedown in the second period and held on for the win. Freshman Devin Carter was up next at 133 pounds, but he gave up two takedowns late to No. 1 Jordan Oliver and suffered a 10-2 major decision loss. The Cowboys went up 7-3 when Josh Kindig beat No. 5 Chris Diaz of Tech, 7-4 at 141 pounds. Brian Stephens, ranked ninth in the country, pulled an upset of his own with a 5-4 win over No. 5 Jamal Parks at 159 pounds. Parks led 2-1 after one period, but got an escape in the second period to tie it up. In the third, Stephens got a takedown and then forced the action to pick up a penalty point with a second stall warning.

Jesse Dong, ranked sixth in the country, took care of business at 157 pounds with a dominating 5-0 win over Robert Erismen. He got a takedown in the first period and another in the third, plus riding time for the win.

With the Hokies leading 9-7, ninth-ranked Dallas Bailey beat Tech’s Pete Yates 10-6 at 165 pounds to give the lead back to the Cowboys after six matches.

Moving to 174 pounds, Tech’s Matt Epperly took on ninth-ranked Mike Benefiel. He was trailing 3-1 in the second stanza, but took Benefiel down and used a tilt to put him to his back and stuck him at the 4:12 mark to give the Hokies six big team points.

“I could tell when I got in on that wrist, you know I’m really good when I get the wrist, and I hit that tilt, I could tell right when he was flat and I thought ‘oh boy, here it is,” Epperly said to the media afterwards. “This is great for our team. When we first got there, everybody said ‘Dresser’s never going to make a program there at Virginia Tech after it was ripped apart.’ This just proves to everyone that we’re building and we’re coming back.”

With Tech leading 15-10, OSU picked up a 4-2 win from 11th-ranked Chris Perry over Tech’s Tommy Spellman at 184 pounds to make it 15-13 and then got three team points from No. 3 Clayton Foster with an 11-5 victory over Chris Penny at 197 pounds.

With one match left, it all came down to the heavyweights: freshman Blake Rosholt for OSU and junior David Marone for Tech. Marone was clutch for Tech as he came out firing with an early takedown in the first period, another in the second stanza and two more in the final period to pull out an impressive 10-4 win and seal the 18-16 victory for the Hokies.

Tech is now guaranteed a top-four finish at the top dual meet tournament in the country. The Hokies will face third-seeded and fourth-ranked Wisconsin Sunday at noon (Eastern), 11 a.m., local time. Win or lose, they will wrestle again at 4 p.m. (Eastern), 3 p.m. local time, either in the championship match or in the third-place match. Top-seeded and top-ranked Cornell and fourth-seeded and fifth-ranked Minnesota are in the other semifinal match. Tech lost to Wisconsin earlier this year 24-19 earlier this year without Dong in the lineup.

#12 Virginia Tech 18, #2 Oklahoma State 16
125: #11 Jarrod Garnett (VT) dec. #5 Jon Morrison, 3-2
133: #1 Jordan Oliver (OSU) maj. dec. #8 Devin Carter, 10-2
141: #18 Luke Silver (OSU) dec. #5 Chris Diaz, 7-4
149: #9 Brian Stephens (VT) dec. #5 Jamal Parks, 5-4
157: #5 Jesse Dong (VT) dec. Robert Erismen, 5-0
165: #9 Dallas Bailey (OSU) dec. #14 Pete Yates, 10-6
174: Matt Epperly (VT) fall #9 Mike Benefiel, 4:12
184: #11 Chris Perry (OSU) dec. #16 Tommy Spellman, 4-2
197: #3 Clayton Foster (OSU) dec. Chris Penny, 11-5
285: David Marone (VT) dec. Blake Rosholt, 10-4

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