No. 6 Hokies travel to Parkersburg to take on West Virginia in the Black Diamond Brawl

The dual serves as a homecoming for redshirt junior Jared Haught

December 17, 2016

FloWrestling Stream

BLACKSBURG – The No. 6 Virginia Tech wrestling team returns to dual meet action this weekend with the Black Diamond Brawl on Sunday, Dec. 18, at 2 p.m. against West Virginia. The match will be held at Parkersburg HS in Parkersburg, West Virginia and will be broadcast live by FloWrestling.

Sunday marks the first dual for the Hokies (4-1) since its narrow 23-19 defeat at No. 5 Missouri on Nov. 20. After Mizzou, Tech finished third out of 30 teams at the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Senior Joey Dance took home the 125-pound title as the top seed – only the second Cliff Keen individual title in program history – and five other Hokies earned spots on the podium.

Redshirt senior Sal Mastriani and redshirt sophomore Zack Zavatsky both saw significant jumps in the InterMat rankings after strong performances in Las Vegas. Mastriani sits at No. 15 at 157 after going 4-1 while Zavatsky ranks fourth at 184 after a second-place finish at the Cliff Keen Invite.

STORYLINES

• Sunday’s match between the Hokies and the Mountaineers is a homecoming for Parkersburg native Jared Haught.
• Haught, a 2016 All-American at 197 pounds and an ACC runner-up, will be back wrestling in his old stomping grounds at Parkersburg HS.
• In a series that dates back to 1951, West Virginia leads Virginia Tech, 12-7.
• The Hokies came away last year with a lopsided 32-3 victory at Cassell Coliseum, the first meeting between the two programs since 2004.

LINEUP NOTES

• The Mountaineers could see either redshirt sophomore Ryan Blees or freshman KT Forsythe at 157 as Mastriani, who sustained an injury at the Cliff Keen Invite, did not make the trip.
• Fans will see a top 10 matchup at 197 as No. 3 Jared Haught and No. 7 Jacob Smith, a Charleston, West Virginia native, will square off for the second time this season.
• Haught defeated Smith with a 6-4 sudden victory decision in the 197 semifinals at the Cliff Keen Invite.

Virginia Tech (4-1)
125: No. 2 Joey Dance (10-0)
133: Dominic Latona (2-6)
141: Dennis Gustafson (4-1) or Brendan Ryan (0-0)
149: No. 8 Solomon Chishko (7-4) or Mattheos Lozier (0-0)
157: Ryan Blees (0-0) or KT Forsythe (0-0)
165: David Bergida (0-0)
174: No. 2 Zach Epperly (5-0)
184: No. 4 Zack Zavatsky (10-2)
197: No. 3 Jared Haught (8-2)
HWT: No. 3 Ty Walz (7-2)

West Virginia (0-4)
125: Devin Brown (1-8)
133: Cory Stainbrook (7-5)
141: Joe Wheeling (2-6)
149: Christian Monserrat (7-3)
157: Dayton Garrett (1-8)
165: Ryan Lopez (0-3)
174: Ty Millward (2-8)
184: Parker VonEgidy (4-5)
197: No. 7 Jacob A. Smith (6-3)
HWT: Brandon Ngati (1-8)

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