The Virginia Tech wrestling team continued its successful season this weekend, with impressive performances in both its victory over No. 12 Lehigh on Friday night and in the Appalachian State Open on Saturday.
On Friday night, the No. 6 Hokies grabbed the momentum early, which would end up carrying them through the entire
night.
Tech wrestlers saw victories in the first six contests. That included pins from redshirt freshman Zach Neibert in the 141-pound weight class and redshirt sophomore Pete Yates in the 165-pound class.
The Hokies also notched a win in the only top-20 matchup of the night, when ninth-ranked freshman Devin Carter defeated 20th-ranked Frank Cangina, 16-9, in the 133-pound class.
Despite a rough ending to the night, which included losing the last four matches and being deducted a team point for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Tech did manage to hang on for the 23-15 victory over Lehigh.
The Hokies would carry that momentum into Saturday, as three wrestlers in maroon and orange singlets won their respective weight classes, while two more placed second in theirs.
Cameron Hurd (149-pound), Chris Moon (165-pound), and Erik Spjut (133-pound, wrestled unattached) all went undefeated down in Boone, N.C., on their way to winning titles.
Ty Mitch (125-pound) and Taylor Knapp (157-pound) were runners-up on Saturday, as both wrestled unattached.
Tech responded well this weekend after losing by a surprisingly large margin last Friday at No. 16 Rutgers, 24-7. It marked only the team’s fourth loss in a dual meet all season — all have been to ranked competition, with two coming against top-5 opponents.
With only four dual meets remaining in the regular season, the Hokies are peaking at the right time. The ACC Championships, which start March 5, are right around the corner, and the team appears to be exactly where it needs
to be if it expects to win the conference.
Tech will resume action this Saturday against defending ACC champion and rival Virginia at 7 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum.
A version of this article appeared in the Feb 1 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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