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(16) Virginia	10
Virginia Tech	5

RALEIGH, N.C. - The 17th-ranked Virginia Tech wrestling team snapped its two-match losing streak Sunday, downing NC State 24-15 in ACC action inside Reynolds Coliseum. Both Cameron Hurd and John Dickson fought back for last-second wins and Nick Vetterlein picked up a big pin to spark the Tech victory.

The action got started at 125 pounds and NC State’s Coltin Fought picked up a takedown in the second period and one more in the third to down Tech’s Ty Mitch 6-0. Devin Carter, ranked first in the country at 133 pounds, picked up five team points for the Hokies with his second technical fall of the weekend. After picking up six takedowns in the first period, Carter got three more and two three-point nearfall combinations to beat Ben Elliott 24-6.

At 141 pounds, 18th-ranked Darrius Little used a pair of third-period takedowns to beat 11th-ranked Zach Neibert of Tech 6-2. Nick Brascetta returned to the mat for the Hokies at 149 pounds, his first action since injuring his ankle at Ohio State in November. He didn’t look rusty as he controlled the pace from the beginning and picked up a 10-5 win over Thomas Gantt.

Things took a turn for the worse at 157 pounds when Matt Stephens was pinned after being reversed by Colton Palmer. Palmer got the first takedown, but Stephens responded with one of his own to take the lead. But Palmer used a reversal and put Stephens right to his back, picking up the pin at the 1:39 mark to give NC State at 12-8 lead at the break.

At 165 pounds, NCSU’s Nigel Jones jumped out to a big lead on Tech’s Cameron Hurd, looking like he was going to flirt with a major decision. Hurd trailed 8-3 after one period and 11-7 early in the third period, but Hurd used a pair of takedowns and two back points with under 10 seconds left to cap a furious comeback and win 13-12. At 174 pounds, State’s Quinton Godley took a 3-0 lead early on and held on late for a 5-2 win over Chris Moon to stretch State’s lead back to four points with three matches left.

John Dickson battled back at 184 pounds to pick up three big points for the Hokies. Trailing in the third period, Dickson got a takedown on Robert O’Neill, but O’Neill reversed him with under 25 seconds left. Dickson didn’t give up and got the escape late to force sudden victory, where he got a takedown after a mad scramble to win 9-7.

Nick Vetterlein gave Tech the lead for good with a huge first-period pin of KaRonne Jones. Trailing 2-1, Vetterlein took Jones down right to his back and picked up the pin with five seconds left in the period to put the Hokies ahead 20-15. It was Vetterlein’s ninth pin of the season, the most on the team. Chris Penny left no doubt about the team result as he dominated Harrison Honeycutt with a 9-1 major decision at heavyweight. He used two takedowns, a reversal and over three minutes of riding time to roll to the win.

Several other members of the squad are competing in the “Shorty” Hitchcock Memorial in Pennsylvania. Results from that will be posted when they become available.

The team will be back in action next weekend, hosting a pair of ACC matches. The Hokies will take on Duke Saturday at 7 p.m. and then North Carolina Sunday at 2 p.m. Both matches will be in Cassell Coliseum and are free to attends. On Sunday, the program will try to break the attendance mark it set last year against Virginia.

#17 Virginia Tech (4-3, 2-1 ACC) 24, NC State (3-4, 0-2 ACC) 15
125: Coltin Fought (NCS) dec. Ty Mitch, 6-0
133: #1 Devin Carter (VT) tech fall Ben Elliott, 24-6 (4:55)
141: #18 Darrius Little (NCS) dec. #11 Zach Neibert, 6-2
149: Nick Brascetta (VT) dec. Thomas Gantt, 10-5
157: Colton Palmer (NCS) fall Matt Stephens, 1:39
165: Cameron Hurd (VT) dec. Nijel Jones, 13-12
174: Quinton Godley (NCS) dec. Chris Moon, 5-2
184: John Dickson (VT) dec. Robert O’Neill, 9-7 (SV)
197: Nick Vetterlein (VT) fall KaRonne Jones, 2:55
285: Chris Penny (VT) maj. dec. Harrison Honeycutt, 9-1

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