Tweet

OKLAHOMA CITY - Four Virginia Tech wrestlers remain alive in the championship brackets of the 2014 NCAA Wrestling Championship after one session of action Thursday morning inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Hokies’ other five lost in the first session and will now have to battle back through the consolations the rest of the way.

Joey Dance, the No. 16 seed at 125 pounds, picked up a 6-1 win in his first NCAA bout and will now face the top seed Thursday night in the second round. Devin Carter, the No. 4 seed at 141 pounds, pinned Nick Flannery of Buffalo in the second period and will now face 13th-seeded Stephen Dutton of Michigan in the second round. For Carter, it was his ninth pin in 15 wins this season.

Zach Neibert, the No. 10 seed at 149 pounds, picked up a 9-4 win over Ken Theobold of Rutgers and will take on seventh-seeded Gus Sake of Virginia in the second round. Fourteenth-seeded Chris Penny won his opening match at 197 pounds, beating Nick Bonaccorsi of Pitt 3-1 to advance to the second round. Ty Walz won his first match in the pigtails at heavyweight, but lost in the first round.

Dennis Gustafson, Chris Moon, Austin Gabel and Nick Vetterlein all lost in the first round.

Tech sits in a tied for 15th place with 7.0 points after the first session.

Session II will begin at 6 p.m. local time, 7 p.m. on the East Coast. Find where you can catch all of the action at this link.

125: #16 seed Joey Dance
First Round: def. Paul Petrov (Bucknell), 6-1
Second Round: vs. #1 Jesse Delgado (Illinois)

133: Dennis Gustafson
First Round: lost to #7 Cashé Quiroga (Purdue), Fall 4:51
Consolations: vs. Joey Palmer (Oregon State)

141: #4 seed Devin Carter
First Round: def. Nick Flannery (Buffalo), Fall 3:52
Second Round: vs. #13 Stephen Dutton (Michigan)

149: #10 seed Zach Neibert
First Round: def. Ken Theobold (Rutgers), 9-4
Second Round: vs. #7 Gus Sako (Virginia)

165: Chris Moon
First Round: lost to #3 Nick Sulzer (Virginia), 9-3
Consolations: vs. Harrison Hightower (Ohio)

174: Austin Gabel
First Round: lost to #11 Stephen Doty (Virginia), 3-2
Consolations: vs. Caleb Marsh (Kent State)

184: #16 seed Nick Vetterlein
First Round: lost to David Hightower (Air Force), 5-1
Pigtail Consolation: vs. Fred Garcia (Lock Haven)

197: #14 seed Chris Penny
First Round: def. Nick Bonaccorsi (Pitt), 3-1
Second Round: vs. #3 Morgan McIntosh (Penn State)

285: Ty Walz
Pigtail: def. Nick Tavanello (Ohio State), 3-1 (SV)
First Round Match: lost to #8 J.T. Felix (Boise State), Fall 2:54
Consolations: vs. Devin Mellon (Missouri)

For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Wrestling