BLACKSBURG - The 15th-ranked Virginia Tech wrestling squad will face a tough task Sunday when it travels to Columbus for a dual meet with 10th-ranked Ohio State at 4 p.m. inside the St. John Arena. Tickets for the dual are $8 for adults, $6 for students with a valid ID and children under 6 are free.
For the Hokies, it will be a homecoming of sorts as four Ohio wrestlers will take to the mat. Ty Mitch (Aurora), Zach Neibert (Dayton), Nick Brascetta (St. Paris) and Jesse Dong (Westerville) will all be wrestling in their home state. It will be the official debut of Brascetta, who wrestled unattached the first two weekends and posted a 12-1 mark in two open tournaments. The redshirt will be pulled off the true freshman and he will take to the mat.
The top matchup of the match is no doubt at 133 pounds where Tech’s fifth-ranked Devin Carter will take on OSU’s fourth-ranked Logan Stieber. The two met in high school with Stieber taking the win. The only other matchup featuring a pair of ranked wrestlers will come at 157 pounds where Tech’s fifth-ranked Jesse Dong will take on OSU’s 13th-ranked Josh Demas. Both of them attended Westerville North High School.
The Hokies will also send out 14th-ranked Pete Yates at 165 pounds and 17th-ranked David Marone at heavyweight. The young Buckeyes, who have seven true or redshirt freshmen in the lineup, also have ranked wrestlers at 141 pounds, 149 pounds, 174 pounds and 197 pounds.
Ohio State leads the all-time series with the Hokies, 11-1. Tech’s lone win in the series came in 2004, a 29-12 win in Columbus.
Ohio State will provide a live stream of the match online, but it costs $9.95. There will also be live stats on the OSU website and you can follow along on Twitter, @VT_Wrestling and @wrestlingbucks.
Below are the projected matchups for the dual meet as submitted by both coaching staffs.
#15 Virginia Tech (1-0) at #10 Ohio State (3-0)
125: Ty Mitch (4-0) vs. Johnni Dijulius (8-2)
133: #5 Devin Carter (9-0) vs. #4 Logan Stieber (7-0)
141: Zach Neibert (0-0) vs. #15 Hunter Stieber (7-1)
149: Nick Brascetta (0-0*) vs. #16 Cam Tessari (6-1)
157: #5 Jesse Dong (5-0) vs. #13 Josh Demas (7-0)
165: #14 Pete Yates (6-0) vs. Derek Garcia (6-3)
174: Chris Moon (3-3) vs. #4 Nick Heflin (7-0)
184: John Dickson (5-3) vs. C.J. Magrum (5-1)
197: Nick Vetterlein (8-1) vs. #14 Andrew Campolattano (7-1)
285: #17 David Marone (5-0) vs. Peter Capone (5-2)
* - wrestled unattached the first two weekends, posting a 12-1 record
Additionally, several other Hokies will compete in the Harris Open, hosted by Ashland University, on Saturday. Those wrestlers are:
125: Jarrod Garnett (unattached)
125: Erik Spjut
133: Jordan O'Donnell
149: Chris Mears
149: Nick Murray
149: Lex Ozias (unattached)
149: Brian Stephens (unattached)
157: Cameron Hurd
157: Matt Stephens (unattached)
157: Chad Strube
165: Issah Meade
165: Bubba Scheffel (unattached)
174: Austin Gabel (unattached)
184: Angelo Malvestuto
197: Jake Semones
285: Dan Garwood (unattached)
285: Bobby Lavelle (unattached)
285: Chris Penny (unattached)
For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Wrestling).