March 16, 2012
Three Hokies remain alive at NCAA Wrestling Championships
Action resumes Friday evening

ST. LOUIS - Three Hokies remain alive at the NCAA Wrestling Championships after three sessions inside the Scottrade Center and will go for All-America honors tonight in the round of 12.

Devin Carter got back on track at 133 pounds after a tough loss Thursday evening, routing Penn State’s Frank Martelloti. Carter picked up seven takedowns and three back points en route to a 19-9 major decision. In his second match of the session, he dominated Navy’s Aaron Kalil, picking up six takedowns en route to a 13-4 major decision. For Carter to earn All-America honors, he’ll have to beat fifth-seeded Joe Colon of Northern Iowa, who picked up a major decision against him in a dual match earlier this year.

Pete Yates wrestled well in his first match of the session, picking up a 13-2 major decision over Chattanooga’s Brandon Wright. He got a quick takedown and turned him twice to jump out to an 8-0 lead and cruised from there. In his second match of the day, he fell behind 2-0 to Patrick Graham of Oklahoma, but turned him in the second period for back points and iced the 9-4 win with a takedown late. He’ll now go for All-America honors tonight, but will have to beat second-seeded Shane Onufer of Wyoming to get there.

“That was a great job battling back by all the guys this session,” said head coach Kevin Dresser. “The degree of difficulty gets really high tonight, but that’s what we came here for.”

Zach Neibert had a rough go of it in the 141-pound quarterfinals against second-seeded Kendric Maple of Oklahoma. Maple picked up a takedown four seconds in and went on to ride Neibert for almost five minutes, turning him for back points four times. Neibert fought to the end, getting a takedown late, but it wasn’t enough as Maple picked up the 15-3 major decision. He’ll now drop down to the wrestlebacks in the round of 12 and is one win away from All-America honors. He’ll have to earn it the hard way against NC State’s Darius Little, the eighth seed who beat him twice this season, 6-2 and 7-3.

Erik Spjut lost his first match of the day to get eliminated. He couldn’t get out from underneath NDSU’s Trent Sprenkle, who picked up well over a minute of riding time to pick up the 2-1 win. Nick Brascetta got off to a good start in his 149-pound wrestleback against Northwestern’s Kaleb Friedley, picking up two takedowns. But Friedley reversed him late in the second period to tie it up and got a takedown in the third period to ice the 6-4 win, thus eliminating Brascetta.

Session IV of the tournament begins Friday evening at 6 p.m. local time, 7 p.m. Eastern. The action can be watched online at ESPNU and ESPN3.

125: Erik Spjut (1-2; ELIMINATED)
First Round: lost to #6 seed Frank Perelli (Cornell), 4-2
Wrestlebacks: def. Johnni DiJulius (Ohio St.), 10-4
Wrestlebacks: lost to Trent Sprenkle (North Dakota State), 2-1

133: #6 seed Devin Carter (3-1)
First Round: def. Nathan McCormick (Missouri), Fall 4:39
Second Round: lost #11 Steven Keith (Harvard), 8-6
Wrestlebacks: def. Frank Martelloti (PSU), MD 19-9
Wrestlebacks: def. Aaron Kalil (Navy), MD 13-4
Wrestlebacks: vs. #5 Joe Colon (UNI) - FRIDAY NIGHT

141: Zach Neibert (2-1)
First Round: def. #10 seed Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska), 6-5
Second Round: def. #7 Nick Nelson (VA), 4-2
Quarterfinals: lost to #2 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma), MD 15-3
Wrestlebacks: vs. #8 Darius Little (NC State) - FRIDAY NIGHT

149: Nick Brascetta (1-2; ELIMINATED)
First Round: def. #9 seed David Hobat (Edinboro), 3-1
Second Round: lost to #8 Eric Grajales (Michigan), 4-1
Wrestlebacks: lost to Kaleb Friedley (NW), 6-4

165: #6 seed Pete Yates (3-1)
First Round: lost to Dallas Bailey (Oklahoma St.), MD 13-2
Second match: def. James Brundage (Rider), Fall 0:11
Wrestlebacks: def. Brandon Wright (Chattanooga), MD 13-2
Wrestlebacks: def. Patrick Graham (Oklahoma), 9-4
Wrestlebacks: vs. #2 Shane Onufer (Wyoming) - FRIDAY NIGHT

174: Chris Moon (0-2; ELIMINATED)
First Round: lost to #2 seed Chris Perry (Oklahoma St.), 9-4
Second match: lost to Mike Dessino (Bloomsburg), 9-3

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

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