Tweet

photo courtesy of Chris Gluth, Mirror Image Photography

DES MOINES, Iowa (hokiesports.com) - Senior Pete Yates won both of his matches on the first day of the 2013 NCAA Championships, being held inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, to advance to Friday’s quarterfinal action. Eight of the 10 wrestlers Tech brought to the tournament will be back in action Friday with one still alive for a national championship. The other seven will be fighting to stay alive in the tournament.

“We fought really hard today,” Tech head coach Kevin Dresser said. “Tomorrow is a new day and we have to be able to forget things that may not have gone our way. We gotta be really tough tomorrow.”

After a rough start that saw Tech lose its first three matches in the first session, including fifth-seeded Jarrod Garnett at 125 pounds, the Hokies got on the board when Zach Neibert upset 11th-seeded Michael Nevinger 3-1 in the tiebreaker after picking up a reversal late. Nick Brascetta, seeded eighth at 149 pounds, controlled the action against Brandon Richardson of Wyoming, picking up a 7-4 win. Seventh-seeded Jesse Dong racked up over four minutes of riding time in picking up an 8-0 major decision over Luke Smith of Central Michigan at 157 pounds. At 165 pounds, third-seeded Pete Yates won a tight 5-3 bout over Mark Lewandowski of Buffalo to advance to the round of 16.

Garnett was upset by unseeded Dominic Parisi of Appalachian State, 8-7, at 125 pounds. Erik Spjut dropped a 3-0 decision to sixth-seeded Nathan McCormick at 133 pounds while Austin Gabel lost his pigtail match at 174 pounds, a 5-3 loss in sudden victory to Wyoming’s Lee Helbig. Nick Vetterlein dropped a 10-1 major decision to fifth-seeded Kevin Steinhaus of Minnesota. At 197 pounds, Derrick Borlie lost to third-seeded Matt Wilps of Pitt, 4-1, and David Marone lost to seventh-seeded Connor Medberry of Wisconsin, 3-2 at heavyweight.

In the second session, Gabel opened up in the consolation pigtails with a 10-6 win over Sam Wheeler of Kent State to move on. He later got a takedown and back points in the last five seconds to upset 12th-seeded Matt Miller of Navy to advance to Friday’s action. Yates was the only one of the four Hokies who won their first match to advance to the quarterfinals as he picked up a 7-0 win over Zach Toal of Missouri. Neibert, Brascetta and Dong all dropped their second-round matches and now drop into Friday’s consolations.

Garnett rebounded from a disappointing loss with a pin over Chattanooga’s Nick Soto in the second period, avenging an early loss this season. Borlie bounced back with an 8-6 win over Army’s Bryce Barnes to move into Friday’s action. Marone used a reversal late in the third period and then a reversal in the tiebreak to rally and beat Navy’s Danile Miller. Spjut and Vetterlein both lost their second matches of the day to get eliminated. Everyone in the consolations will have to win three matches tomorrow to earn All-America honors. If Yates wins his first match, he will be an All-American for the second year in a row.

After the first day, Tech sits in a tie for 16th place with Wyoming with 10.5 points.

Action resumes Friday with the third session beginning at 10 a.m. local time (11 a.m. Eastern) with wrestlebacks and quarterfinal bouts and Session IV starts at 6 p.m. local time (7 p.m. Eastern) on six mats with semifinal bouts and wrestlebacks. On Saturday, Session V features wrestleback semifinals and medal matches on three mats starting at 10 a.m. local (11 a.m. Eastern)and the final session will feature the 10 championship bouts live at 6:30 p.m. local (7:30 p.m. Eastern).

Below are the results from the first day for the Hokies participating.

125: #5 seed Jarrod Garnett (1-1)
First Round: lost to Dominic Parisi (Appalachian State), 7-6
Consolations: def. Nick Soto (Chattanooga), Fall 4:11
Consolations: vs. Evan Silver (Stanford) [FRIDAY]

133: Erik Spjut (0-2; ELIMINATED)
First Round: lost to #6 seed Nathan McCormick (Missouri), 3-0
Consolations: lost to #11 seed George DiCamillo (Virginia), 6-1

141: Zach Neibert (1-1)
First Round: def. #11 seed Michael Nevinger (Cornell), 3-1 (TB-1)
Second Round: lost to #6 seed Undrakhbayar Khishignyam (Citadel), 3-1
Consolations: vs. Brandon Nelson (Purdue) [FRIDAY]

149: #8 seed Nick Brascetta (1-1)
First Round: def. Brandon Richardson (Wyoming), 7-4
Second Round: lost to #9 seed Jake Suefloehn (Nebraska), 4-2
Consolations: vs. Josh Roosa (Bloomsburg) [FRIDAY]

157: #7 seed Jesse Dong (1-1)
First Round: def. Luke Smith (Central Michigan), MD 8-0
Second Round: lost to Josh Demas (Ohio State), 4-3
Consolations: vs. Frank Hickman (Bloomsburg)

165: #3 seed Pete Yates (2-0)
First Round: def. Mark Lewandowski (Buffalo), 5-3
Second Round: def. Zach Toal (Missouri), 7-0
Quarterfinals: vs. #11 seed Cody Yohn (Minnesota) [FRIDAY]

174: Austin Gabel (2-1)
Pigtail: lost to Lee Helbig (Wyoming), 5-3 (SV)
Consolation Pigtails: def. Sam Wheeler (Kent State), 10-6
Consolations: def. #12 seed Matthew Miller (Navy), 5-1
Consolations: vs. Matt Mougin (NIU) [FRIDAY]

184: Nick Vetterlein (0-2; ELIMINATED)
First Round: lost to #5 seed Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota), MD 10-1
Consolations: lost to Boaz Beard (Iowa State), MD 9-0

197: Derrick Borlie (1-1)
First Round: lost to #3 seed Matt Wilps (Pitt), 4-1
Consolations: def. Bryce Barnes (Army), 8-6
Consolations: vs. Nick Whitenburg (EMU) [FRIDAY]

285: David Marone (1-1)
First Round: lost to #7 seed Connor Medbery (Wisconsin), 5-2
Consolations: def. Daniel Miller (Navy), 5-4 (TB-1)
Consolations: vs. #8 seed Mike McClure (MSU) [FRIDAY]

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