Despite an outstanding regular season, the Virginia Tech wrestling team ended postseason play with another disappointing performance this past weekend.
Two weeks after the Hokies finished second at the ACC Championships — quite the letdown after entering the tournament expecting to take home the crown — they finished 33rd out of the 73 teams that were represented at the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia.
“As a team and as a unit, we didn’t get it done,” said head coach Kevin Dresser. “And that’s on me. I’ll take the blame for that.”
The seven Hokies that made the trip to Philly combined for a 10-13 record, and only one of them, freshman standout Devin Carter (133), finished in the top 12. The team had no All-Americans.
“A combination of not getting some great draws and some guys not getting it done led to a frustrating and disappointing weekend,” Dresser said.
Carter won his first match before losing to No. 8 seed Mike Grey of Cornell, 7-4. He then rebounded to win his next two in the consolation rounds, but fell to No. 7 seed Bernard Futrell in the round of 12. A win in that match would have made him an All-American.
Juniors Jarrod Garnett (125) and Jesse Dong (157), who came in as the No. 12 and No. 5 seeds, respectively, both won just two matches. It was a disappointing performance for the both of them, as they finished in the top 12 in 2010, and failed to duplicate that performance last weekend.
“I wouldn’t say it sets me back,” Garnett said of his performance. “It just gives me something to keep working for.”
His two losses came to the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in James Nicholson of Old Dominion, 10-4, and Zach Sanders of Minnesota, 8-6. As for Dong, he was upset in the second round by No. 12 seed Paul Young of Indiana, 9-4, two matches before being shutout by Buffalo’s Mark Lewandowski, 7-0.
Senior Chris Diaz (141) saw his Hokie career end in painful fashion. A year after becoming the first All-American in the Kevin Dresser era, Diaz won his first match before Kentucky’s No. 4 seed James Kennedy pinned him in the second round. An injury prevented him from competing in the consolations.
Pete Yates (165) and David Marone (285) won one match a piece, while Brian Stephens (149) remained winless after two NCAA appearances.
As bad as this postseason has gone for the Hokies, it doesn’t take away from one of the best seasons in school history. Tech tied the school record with 20 dual meet victories, had three ACC champions in Garnett, Carter and Dong, and sent seven individuals to the NCAA Championships. They finished sixth in the final USA Today Coaches Poll, and peaked at No. 3 in that poll back in mid-January.
“Not having a good NCAA Tournament is a setback, but, we did some really good things this year,” Dresser said. “I know the program’s going in the right direction. It just would’ve been nice to put an exclamation point on the season and we didn’t do that.”
A version of this article appeared in the Mar 23 issue of the Collegiate Times.
Leave a comment 3 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
This is a very pessimistic headline. Something along the lines of "Despite NCAA Championship record, Tech wrestling finishes with best season on record"
Reply to this Top
This is a very pessimistic headline. Something along the lines of "Despite NCAA Championship record, Tech wrestling finishes with best season on record"
Reply to this Top
This is a very pessimistic headline. Something along the lines of "Despite NCAA Championship record, Tech wrestling finishes with best season on record"
Reply to this Top