Two Hokies place at the Southern Scuffle

True freshmen Lewis and Smeltzer turn in strong performances in Chattanooga

January 2, 2018

BLACKSBURG - Freshmen Mekhi Lewis and Stanley Smeltzer both placed while wrestling unattached for Virginia Tech at the Southern Scuffle on Tuesday night in Chattanooga.

Lewis, who was seeded sixth at 165 pounds, placed fourth while Smeltzer placed eighth at 184 pounds. Redshirt sophomore Cody Hughes also wrapped up his day on Tuesday at 174 pounds as he finished 3-2 at the tournament.

Lewis started Tuesday with decisions over Duke’s Zach Finesilver and Northern Colorado’s Keilan Torres. The Bound Brook, New Jersey native then clinched a spot in the third place bout with an impressive 13-4 major decision over Lehigh’s Gordon Wolf.

In the third place match, Lewis would once again face Lock Haven’s Chance Marsteller, who Lewis had fallen to in the quarterfinals by a 3-1 decision. Lewis appeared to have converted on a takedown with under 1:30 left in the third period that would have given him a 6-4 lead but the call was challenged and reversed. Marsteller would go on to eek by Lewis once again after he got a takedown with the clock expiring, picking up a 6-4 decision.

Smeltzer clinched his spot on the podium with an impressive 25-10 tech fall over Stanford’s Judah Duhm. He finished the tournament 3-3.

Virginia Tech returns to action next weekend at the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Virginia from Jan. 12-13.

#6 CJ Manley (2-2)
Round of 32 - Manley WBF Cameron Valdiviez (UA), 0:29
Round of 16 - Nathan Boston (Campbell) MD Manley, 10-2
Consi of 16 #2 - Manley MD Vinny Vespa (Hofstra), 9-0
Consi of 8 #1 - Durbin Lloren (Utah Valley) dec. Manley, 14-10

#6 Mekhi Lewis (5-2)
Round of 32 - Lewis MD Sage Heller (Hofstra), 17-7
Round of 16 - Lewis MD Lorenzo De La Riva (CSU Bakersfield), 13-5
Quarterfinals - #3 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) dec. Lewis, 3-1
Consi of 8 #2 - Lewis dec. Zach Finesilver (Duke), 10-3
Consi of 4 - Lewis dec. Keilan Torres (Northern Colorado), 3-2
Consi Semis - Lewis MD Gordon Wolf (Lehigh), 13-4
Third Place - #3 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) dec. Lewis, 6-4

Hunter Bolen (2-2)
Round of 32 - Bolen dec. Michael Billingsley (Air Force), 4-1
Round of 16 - Mark Hall (Penn State) WBF Bolen, 0:35
Consi of 16 #2 - Bolen dec. Bryan Battisto (CSU Bakersfield), 5-2
Consi of 8 #1 - Austin Rose (Drexel) dec. Bolen, 3-1 (SV OT)

Cody Hughes (3-2)
Round of 32 - Hughes dec. Christian Maroni (Gardner Webb), 4-1
Round of 16 - #3 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) dec. Hughes, 4-0
Consi of 16 #2 - Hughes TF Matt McGillick (Citadel), 20-3 (4:42)
Consi of 8 #1 - Hughes dec. #6 Will Schany (Virginia), 6-4
Consi of 8 #2 - #8 Finesilver (Duke) WBF Hughes, 3:42

Stanley Smeltzer (3-3)
Round of 32 - Smeltzer dec. Andrew Marsden (Oklahoma State), 10-9
Round of 16 - Smeltzer dec. #8 Alan Clothier (App State), 6-5 (TB2)
Quarterfinals - #1 Bo Nickal WBF Smeltzer, 1:09
Consi of 8 #2 - Smeltzer TF Judah Duhm (Stanford), 25-10 (6:36)
Consi of 4 - #4 Michael Coleman (Navy) WBF Smeltzer, 1:55
7th Place - Gary Jantzer (Utah Valley) dec. Smeltzer, 6-2

John Borst (2-2)
Round 32 - Borst dec. Alec Schenk (Duke), 8-3
Round of 16 - Scottie Boykin (Chattanooga) WBF Borst, 2:48
Consi of 16 #2 - Borst dec. Josh Roetman (Navy), 10-5
Consi of 8 #1 - #6 Jacob Seely (Northern Colorado) TF Borst, 17-2 (2:54)

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