Collegiate Times

The Virginia Tech wrestling team lost all of one match on Saturday night, cruising to victories over ACC rivals NC State and Duke.

In the first bout against NC State, the Hokies pitched a shutout, winning 40-0, and picked up two pins from freshman Devin Carter (133-pound weight class) and sophomore Chris Penny (197).

Jarrod Garnett (125) picked up a technical fall, while 5th-ranked Jesse Dong (157) and 14th-ranked Pete Yates (165) earned major decisions, helping Tech coast to the easy victory.

The No. 6 Hokies (19-4, 5-0 ACC) further exerted their ACC dominance in their second match Saturday night, again picking up an easy victory over the Duke Blue Devils, 39-3, despite having already wrestled one match.

“I can say for myself and a lot of other guys, you didn’t feel 100 percent warming up (for the second match),” Dong said. “But, it’s a mentality. You’ve got to change your mentality, you’ve got to psych yourself up. The second match is definitely going be the hardest, but you’ve just got to shower, get off your feet, relax, and do whatever you need to do with your mind right.”

The final score seemed to show that fatigue had no impact whatsoever on the Hokies.

Duke had to forfeit the 125-, 133- and 197-pound weight classes, giving Garnett, Carter and Penny easy victories. Dong earned a technical fall, and senior Matt Epperly (174) picked up a major decision to help Tech finish off its ACC regular season undefeated.

“We’re going to have to dominate,” said Kevin Dresser, head coach. “You have to dominate certain opponents. That’s how we separate ourselves. We talk about it all the time. You have to separate yourselves from the masses.”

And the Hokies are doing just that at the perfect time. Since losing to Rutgers on Jan. 21, Tech has six straight wins, with four of those victories coming against ACC opponents. With only one dual match remaining until the ACC Championships on March 5, the team appears ready to take home the title.

“We’ve got Liberty on Thursday, but after that, our focus is 100 percent on the ACCs,” Dresser said. “We’ve got to dominate the ACC. If we can do that, that’ll be one feather in our hat. And then, obviously the big goal is to get guys to the podium.”

Dresser was referring to the National Championships in Philadelphia in mid-March. Tech has six wrestlers ranked in the top 20 nationally. It has a good shot to finish in the top 10 at the meet, or maybe, with a little luck, the top five.

Tech will probably send all six of those wrestlers to the NCAAs, simply based on ranking and RPI. But, it could send a few more depending on how things shake out at the ACCs. A potential X-factor for the Hokies down the stretch could very well be senior Epperly.

“Matt’s really putting it together at a perfect time,” Dresser said. “Right now, he’s wrestling the best he ever has in his career, and the most consistent. It’s a good time for him to be making a step, and he’s made a big step for us in the last month.”

While Epperly dropped his first two contests against ACC opponents earlier in the year, he dominated both matches on Saturday night, which will more than likely earn him the No. 3 seed heading into the ACCs.

“It felt good to go out there and get two wins under my belt,” Epperly said. “It’s good for the NCAAs, and getting in there on the rankings, and getting my RPI up so I can make it to the big show in Philly.”

Even though the Hokies have appeared to absolutely dominate the ACC as of late, there is one team that gave them a run for their money back on Jan. 23 — the Maryland Terrapins. Tech barely managed to escape that match with a victory, 18-17.

“Maryland’s the second best team in the ACC,” Dresser said. “It’s going to be a three-team race between Maryland, Virginia Tech and Virginia at the ACCs. It’s going to be a war.”

A version of this article appeared in the Feb 15 issue of the Collegiate Times.