HAMPTON, Va. - In a dual meet that literally came down to one bonus point, the sixth-ranked Virginia Tech wrestling team downed No. 16 Virginia 16-15 Saturday night thanks to Devin Carter’s major decision to claim the 35th Virginia Duals inside the Hampton Coliseum. The two teams split 10 matches, but it was that bonus point early on that proved to be the difference. It was the Hokies’ second Virginia Duals title in three years as they also won it in 2013.

“Our effort was great tonight in most places,” said Tech head coach Kevin Dresser. “We need to get back to the drawing board on some wrestling issues, but that’s okay. We are gonna all bump chests tonight and enjoy this title, but know that we can still get a lot better as a team.”

Joey Dance capped off a perfect 4-0 weekend with a workman-like 7-1 win over Nick Herman to get things started at 125 pounds. Virginia tied it up at 133 pounds when 17th-ranked George DiCamillo downed No. 19 Kevin Norstrem 7-1. Carter picked up 12 takedowns to roll to his 50th career dual meet win, a 25-12 major decision over Justin VanHoose. That point would be huge in the long run.

Fourteenth-ranked Sal Mastriani used a takedown late in the first period to pull off a mild upset over No. 11 Gus Sako, winning 4-3 at 149 pounds. Freshman Jake Spengler dropped a 7-0 decision to Andrew Atkinson at 157 pounds as the Cavaliers cut into the lead. Chad Strube came close to picking up a monster upset at 165 pounds, but lost to second-ranked Nick Sulzer 7-5 despite cutting to a one-point deficit late with a takedown on Sulzer.

The Cavaliers took their first lead of the night at 174 pounds when fifth-ranked Blaise Butler downed No. 10 Zach Epperly 3-2. Butler countered a shot from Epperly and turned it into a takedown late in the second period, and Epperly couldn’t get anything late to try and get the win.

Austin Gabel had a furious comeback at 184 pounds to give the Hokies the lead back as he rallied from a 4-1 deficit to beat James Suvak 8-6. Suvak got a pair of first-period takedowns, but Gabel got the last three of the match to storm back and keep the Hokies alive.

Zach Nye, ranked No. 20 in the country, downed Jared Haught 3-0 at 197 pounds to set up some drama at heavyweight.

Ty Walz, ranked seventh in the country, got just one takedown, but it was all he needed as he downed Pat Gillen 3-2 to lock up Tech’s second win of the day and the Virginia Duals title.

Carter was named the Virginia Duals Most Outstanding Wrestler. He went 4-0 with two major decisions and a technical fall.

The two teams will meet again on Feb. 1 in the ACC dual meet. That action will take place at the Moss Arts Center in Blacksburg. What tickets remaining may be purchased for that event at vthoki.es/moss.

Tech (8-1) will head to Iowa next weekend for a pair of dual matches. The Hokies will take on Northern Iowa on Friday night in Cedar Falls at 8 p.m. (Eastern) and will then take on No. 14 Iowa State Sunday at 3 p.m. (Eastern) in Ames.

#6 Virginia Tech (8-1) 16, #16 Virginia (8-3) 15
125: #4 Joey Dance (VT) dec. Nick Herman, 7-1
133: #17 George DiCamillo (VA) dec. #19 Kevin Norstrem, 7-1
141: #3 Devin Carter (VT) maj. dec. Justin VanHoose, 25-12
149: #14 Sal Mastriani (VT) dec. #11 Gus Sako (VA), 4-3
157: Andrew Atkinson (VA) dec. Jake Spengler, 7-0
165: #2 Nick Sulzer (VA) dec. Chad Strube, 7-5
174: #5 Blaise Butler (VA) dec. #10 Zach Epperly, 3-2
184: Austin Gabel (VT) dec. James Suvak, 8-6
197: #20 Zach Nye (VA) dec. Jared Haught, 3-0
285: #7 Ty Walz (VT) dec. Pat Gillen, 3-2

rankings used are from InterMat

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