PHILADELPHIA - After a hot start to the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships, the seven Virginia Tech wrestlers struggled in the second session Thursday night, losing all six of the championship bouts they wrestled to fall into Friday’s consolation action.
Jarrod Garnett start things off with an 8-6 loss to fifth-seeded Zach Sanders of Minnesota. Freshman Devin Carter couldn’t get anything going offensively against eighth-seeded Mike Grey of Cornell, falling 7-4 at 133 pounds. Chris Diaz was pinned by fourth-seeded James Kennedy at 141 pounds before fifth-seeded Jesse Dong gave up four takedowns to No. 12 Paul Young of Indiana, falling 9-4. At 165 pounds, Pete Yates fell to Paul Gillespie of Hofstra and then heavyweight David Marone dropped a 3-1 decision in sudden victory to top-seeded Zach Rey of Lehigh.
In Tech’s lone consolation bout, Brian Stephens fell to Kyle Bradley of Missouri at 149 pounds and was eliminated from the tournament.
Below are the results for all seven Tech wrestlers competing in the event, along with upcoming matchups. None of the Hokie representatives will claim national titles this year, but six of the seven advanced to Friday with a chance at All-America honors. To do that, each will have to win three matches.
The third session of the tournament will start on Friday at 10:30 a.m. inside the Wells Fargo Arena.
125: #12 seed Jarrod Garnett
First Round: def. Brad Pataky (Penn State), 13-7
Second Round: lost to #5 seed Zach Sanders (Minnesota), 8-6
Highlights: Sanders works for a takedown late in the first period and rides out Garnett for 50 seconds; Sanders escapes 35 seconds into the second period but Garnett gets a takedown late to make it a 3-2 match; Garnett takes down in the third and escapes but Sanders gets a quick takedown to re-take the lead; Garnett escape, but Sanders picked up another takedown; Garnett got a late reversal, but Sanders got a point for riding time to pick up the 8-6 win.
Consolations: vs. Manny Ramirez (UNCG) - Friday morning
133: #9 seed Devin Carter
First Round: def. Ian Paddock (Ohio State), MD 16-6
Second Round: lost to #8 seed Mike Grey (Cornell), 7-4
Highlights: Grey scrambles for a takedown 35 seconds in; Carter eventually escapes 59 seconds later; In the second period, Grey escapes to make it 3-1; Carter chooses neutral in the third, and gets the takedown 45 seconds in to tie it up; but Grey escaped and got a takedown with 45 seconds left to ice it and got the point for riding time.
Consolations: vs. Casey Cruz (Northern Colorado) - Friday morning
141: Chris Diaz
First Round: def. Mike Greck (Millersville), 6-0
Second Round: lost to #4 seed James Kennedy (Illinois), Fall 4:43
Highlights: Kennedy pounced quickly for a takedown, but Diaz escaped to make it 2-1 after one period; Kennedy escaped quickly in the second period and took Diaz down and turned him, picking up the pin in the second period.
Consolations: vs. Josh Kindig (Okla St) - Friday morning
149: Brian Stephens (ELIMINATED)
First Round: lost #7 seed Mario Mason (Rutgers), 8-5
Consolations: lost to Kyle Bradley (Missouri), 3-2
Highlights: Scoreless first period; Bradley chooses down and escapes 16 seconds in; Stephens gets a quick escape to start the third stanza but Bradley got a takedown with 1:11 left to take the lead; Stephens escaped to cut into the lead, but couldn’t get a takedown and was eliminated.
157: #5 seed Jesse Dong
First Round: def. Matt Cathell (Kent State), 6-2
Second Round: lost to #12 seed Paul Young (Indiana), 9-4
Highlights: Young got the first takedown midway through the first period but Dong escaped 27 seconds later; Young chose neutral and picked up two takedowns to take a 6-3 lead; Dong escaped in the second period to make it 6-4, but Young got a fourth takedown and riding time to pull the upset.
Consolations: vs. winner of Kyle John (Maryland)/Barrett Abel (Cal Poly) - Friday morning
165: Pete Yates
First Round: def. #11 Aaron Janssen (Iowa), 4-2
Second Round: lost to Paul Gillespie (Hofstra), 5-2
Highlights: Scoreless first period; Yates chose down and escapes two seconds in, but Gillespie took him down for a 2-1 lead and rode him for over a minute before Yates escaped to tie it up; Yates worked off the riding time early in the third before Gillespie escaped to take a 3-2 lead and got a takedown at the buzzer for the win.
Consolations: vs. winner of Kyle Blevins (App St)/Ethan Headlee (Pitt) - Friday morning
285: David Marone
First Round: def. Blake Rosholt (Oklahoma State), 2-1 (TB-1)
Second Round: lost to #1 seed Zach Rey, 3-1 (SV)
Highlights: Scoreless first period; Rey chooses down and escapes four seconds in; Marone escapes just under a minute in to tie it up; Rey gets a takedown 29 seconds in for the win in sudden victory.
Consolations: vs. winner of #6 seed Ryan Tomei (Pitt)/Brett Correll (Buffalo) - Friday morning
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