Three Hokies advance to the semifinals at the Cliff Keen Invitational

A total of five Tech grapplers are still alive in Las Vegas

December 2, 2017

LAS VEGAS - No. 10 Virginia Tech will have three wrestlers compete in tomorrow’s semifinals at the Cliff Keen Invitational after winning all of their matches on Friday in Las Vegas.

Redshirt Sophomore David McFadden, redshirt junior Zack Zavatsky and redshirt senior Jared Haught are still in the hunt for titles in their respective weight classes. Two Hokies are still alive in the consolation bracket in redshirt freshman Andrew Dunn at 285 pounds and redshirt senior Dennis Gustafson at 133. The Hokies are tied for ninth in the team standings with 39 points.

McFadden, the No. 2 seed in the field at 165 pounds, had a fall and a major decision in his first bouts before picking up a 6-2 decision over Cornell’s Jonathon Chavez in the quarterfinals. Before Haught’s convincing 13-3 major decision over Stanford’s Nathan Traxler that gave him a spot in the semis, Zavatsky was tied at 4-4 with Cornell’s Max Dean heading into the third period. Zavatsky picked up an escape and two takedowns in the final period to create separation and give himself a 9-5 decision.

After picking up bonus point wins in his first bouts, including a 17-1 tech fall at 6:24 vs. Nate Ellis of Michigan State, Gustafson dropped a tough 5-4 decision to Drexel’s Austin DeSanto, the No. 11 seed. Gustafson would go on to pick up wins over West Virginia’s Matthew Schmitt and Cornell’s Charles Tucker one the back end

In other action, B.C LaPrade went 2-0 in the consolation bracket after dropping a narrow 4-3 decision in the second tiebreaker period to defending ACC champion Taleb Rahmani of Pitt. Freshman Hunter Bolen also picked up three wins on the backside at 174 pounds.

Action beings tomorrow at 12 p.m. EST with the remaining consolation rounds, followed by the semifinals and fifth through eighth place matches. The finals, third and fourth place bouts are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. EST.

Kyle Norstrem (1-2)
Round of 32 - Norstrem dec. Yoshito Funakoshi (Cal Poly), 10-4
Round of 16 - Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) MD Norstrem, 13-5
Consi 16 #1 - Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) dec. Norstrem, 9-5

Dennis Gustafson
Round of 64 - Gustafson for. Adam Valasquez (California Baptist), 3:00
Round of 32 - Gustafson TF Nate Ellis (Michigan State), 17-1 (6:24)
Round of 16 - Austin DeSanto (Drexel) dec. Gustafson, 5-4
Consi of 16 #2 - Gustafson dec. Matthew Schmitt (West Virginia), 6-2
Consi of 8 #1 - Gustafson dec. Charles Tucker (Cornell), 3-2

Brent Moore (2-2)
Round of 32 - Moore dec. Nate Hagan (Edinboro), 3-1 (TB-1)
Round of 16 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) dec. Moore, 4-2
Consi of 16 #2 - Moore dec. Sa'derian Perry (Eastern Michigan), 10-3
Consi of 8 #1 - Nate Limmex (Purdue) dec. Moore, 5-2

B.C. LaPrade (2-1)
Round of 64 - Taleb Rahmani (Pitt) dec. LaPrade 4-3 (TB-2)
Consi of 32 #2 - LaPrade MD JJ Wolfe (Eastern Michigan), 11-1
Consi of 16 #1 - LaPrade dec. Andrew Shomers (Edinboro), 5-3

David McFadden
Round of 32 - McFadden fall Peter Bearse (Harvard), 1:35
Round of 16 - McFadden MD Ebed Jarrell (Drexel), 13-4
Quarterfinals - McFadden dec. Jonathon Chavez (Cornell), 6-2

Hunter Bolen (3-2)
Round of 32 - Bo Jordan (Ohio State) dec. Bolen, 6-2
Consi of 32 #2 - Bolen dec. Kimball Bastian (Utah Valley), 5-3
Consi of 16 #1 - Bolen dec. Dylan Urbach (North Dakota State), 8-1
Consi of 16 #2 - Bolen dec. Kyle Pope (Wyoming), 3-2
Consi of 8 #1 - Dylan Lydy (Purdue) dec. Bolen, 3-1

Zack Zavatsky
Round of 64 - Zavatsky MD Noah Stewart (Army), 14-3
Round of 32 - Zavatsky MD Seth McLeod (Oregon State), 12-4
Round of 16 - Zavatsky dec. Kanon Dean (Harvard), 10-3
Quarterfinals - Zavatsky dec. Max Dean (Cornell), 9-5

Jared Haught
Round of 64 - Haught dec. Jay Aiello (Virginia), 10-4
Round of 32 - Haught MD Tucker Ziegler (Brown), 14-5
Round of 16 - Haught dec. Cordell Eaton (North Dakota State), 9-3
Quarterfinals - Haught MD Nathan Traxler (Stanford), 13-3

Andrew Dunn
Round of 32 - Dunn dec. Spencer Empey (Cal Poly), 6-4
Round of 16 - Tanner Hall (Arizona State) dec. Dunn, 3-0
Consi of 16 #2 - Dunn dec. Jon Spaulding (Edinboro), 4-0
Consi of 8 #1 - Dunn for. Austin Faunce (Navy)

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