No. 8 Virginia Tech had a somewhat disappointing trip to Niceville, Fla. on Monday and Tuesday, finishing the Journeymen Collegiate Duals with a 1-2 record. Despite winning it’s first match of the tournament in dominating fashion against Hofstra, the Hokies stumbled against No. 6 Arizona State and No. 11 Cornell.
Tech asserted its dominance against unranked Hofstra in its first match of the tournament, winning nine of ten matches, leading to the 35-3 victory. The lone loss came at 149 pounds, where freshman walk-on Kylan Montgomery fell by decision to Michael Leandrou.
Montgomery started in place of No. 6 Bryce Andonian, who is the Hokies’ usual starter at 149 pounds. According to the Rokfin broadcast, Andonian didn’t weigh-in on the first day of the tournament, which caused him to be unavailable for VT for both days.
Andonian’s absence loomed large in Montgomery’s other two losses, falling by major decision to Arizona State’s No. 5 Kyle Parco, 14-1, and No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis, 19-3. While he might not have beaten Parco, Andonian likely would’ve stood a better chance against opponents of Parco and Diakomihalis’ caliber.
One Hokie wrestler who was able to pull off a ranked upset against Hofstra was Dakota Howard. Howard battled No. 26 Trey Rogers to the wire, and after a match-tying takedown at the buzzer from Rogers was overturned, snagged the 5-3 decision victory at 197 pounds.
No. 9 Hunter Bolen also picked up a ranked victory against The Pride, winning by decision over No. 25 Charles Small, 6-3, at 184 pounds.
Virginia Tech’s pair of No. 4 ranked wrestlers both nabbed technical fall victories, as Korbin Myers squashed Ty Cymmerman, 18-2, and Mekhi Lewis made easy work of Ericson Velesquez, 16-0. Lewis earned his shutout victory halfway through the second quarter, getting the technical fall in only three minutes and ten seconds.
Other winners for Virginia Tech included No. 16 Sam Latona, Collin Gerardi, No. 22 Connor Brady, Clayton Ulrey and No. 14 Nathan Traxler.
Virginia Tech’s second match on Monday was the antithesis of its first, as the Hokies fell to No. 6 Arizona State, 23-13. VT lost seven of ten matches against ASU in the contest. Every single bout featured at least one ranked wrestler, with three featuring match-ups between two.
Virginia Tech lost its first six matches against the Sun Devils, falling behind 19-0 more than halfway through the match. That’s when the Hokies started to gain some momentum, as Lewis took down Ryan Rochford via technical fall in only five-and-a-half minutes, 19-3. The win got Tech on the board and cut the deficit to fourteen points, keeping the team in the match mathematically.
Lewis’ victory was followed by another technical fall win for the Hokies as Bolen mauled Josh Nummer in under four and a half minutes, 20-2. Suddenly, Virginia Tech was only down nine points with two matches left to wrestle.
However, the contest effectively ended in the next match as Howard was beaten by major decision by Arizona State’s No. 8 Kendall Norfleet, 14-3. The loss put the Sun Devils up by 14 points, shutting the door on a potential comeback.
The only other VT wrestler to record a win against the Sun Devils was Traxler, who beat Chad Porter by decision, 8-1.
Despite both losing, Brady and Ulrey both nearly pulled off top ten upsets losing to Arizona State’s No. 3 Jacori Teemer and No. 6 Anthony Valencia by a combined four points. Latona, Myers, Gerardi, and Montgomery suffered losses in their matches against the Sun Devils.
After finishing 1-1 on Monday, Virginia Tech faced No. 11 Cornell for a chance at third place in its side of the bracket.
Although Tech was the higher ranked team in the match, the Hokies split the match with The Big Red, finishing 5-5, including major decision and technical fall losses.
Three VT wrestlers earned ranked victories in the match, including Lewis, who took Cornell’s No. 12 Chris Foca to the wire, winning 3-1 in the first overtime period.
Lewis earned an escape point in the first half of overtime after starting on bottom.Foca made the aggressive move to start in neutral in the second half of the overtime period, looking for a takedown to win the match, but couldn’t get Lewis on the mat.
Brady and Traxler also picked up big ranked wins over Cornell’s No. 25 Colton Yapoujian and No. 18 Lewis Fernandes. While those wrestlers were able to grab ranked wins, Bolen suffered his first loss of the tournament in a 7-5 decision loss in a sudden victory situation against Cornell’s No. 15 Jonathan Loew.
Bolen led 4-3 throughout the majority of the third period and looked in position to win. However, Loew snuck in a last second takedown in regulation to go up 5-4. Bolen received a point for riding time at the end of the third to tie the match at five. Loew’s momentum carried into the sudden victory session, as he quickly got the takedown to give Cornell a 15-12 lead.
The match following Bolen’s loss all but locked up the match for The Big Red, as Andy Smith fell to Cornell’s No. 19 Jacob Cardenas by decision, 3-2. Smith’s loss put Cornell up by six, which would’ve required a pin from Traxler to force the match to be decided by tiebreakers.
Latona, Montgomery, and Ulrey all suffered losses as well. Myers and Gerardi also picked up wins against The Big Red.
Virginia Tech’s record drops to 4-3 after the tournament. The Hokies return the mat on January 1 in Chattanooga, TN. for the Southern Scuffle.
Results:
Results vs Hofstra (35-3 W):
125: No. 16 Sam Latona (VT) maj dec. Jacob Moon (HOF), 11-2
133: No. 4 Korbin Myers (VT) TF Ty Cymmerman (HOF), 18-2
141: Collin Gerardi (VT) dec. Justin Hoyle (HOF), 4-1
149: Michael Leandrou (HOF) dec. Kylan Montgomery (VT), 3-1
157: No. 22 Connor Brady (VT) dec. Joseph McGinty (HOF), 6-3
165: Clayton Ulrey (VT) WBF Mario Biancamano (HOF), 0:51
174: No. 4 Mekhi Lewis (VT) TF Ericson Velesquez (HOF), 16-0, 3:10
184: No. 9 Hunter Bolen (VT) dec. No. 25 Charles Small (HOF), 6-3
197: Dakota Howard (VT) dec. No. 26 Trey Rogers (HOF), 5-3
285 (HWT): No. 14 Nathan Traxler (VT) dec. No. 20 Zachary Knighton-Ward (HOF), 7-1
Results vs No. 6 Arizona State (23-13 L):
125: No. 3 Brandon Courtney (ASU) dec. No. 16 Sam Latona (VT), 8-4
133: No. 14 Michael McGee (ASU) dec. No. 4 Korbin Myers (VT), 8-7
141: No. 15 Jesse Vasquez (ASU) dec. Collin Geradi (VT), 9-7
149: No. 5 Kyle Parco (ASU) maj dec. Kylan Montgomery (VT), 14-1
157: No. 3 Jacori Teemer (ASU) dec. No. 22 Connor Brady (VT), 3-1 SV
165: No. 6 Anthony Valencia (ASU) dec. Clayton Ulrey (VT), 11-9
174: No. 4 Mekhi Lewis (VT) TF Ryan Rochford (ASU), 19-3, 5:31
184: No. 9 Hunter Bolen (VT) TF Josh Nummer (ASU), 20-2, 4:24
197: No. 8 Kendall Norfleet (ASU) maj dec. Dakota Howard (VT), 14-3
285 (HWT): No. 14 Nathan Traxler (VT) dec. Chad Porter (ASU), 8-1
Results vs No. 11 Cornell (18-15 L)
125: No. 5 Vito Arujau (CORN) maj dec. No. 16 Sam Latona (VT), 10-2
133: No. 4 Korbin Myers (VT) dec. Dom LaJoie (CORN), 9-3
141: Collin Gerardi (VT) dec. Cole Handlovic (CORN), 6-0
149: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (CORN) TF Kylan Montgomery (VT), 19-3
157: No. 22 Connor Brady (VT) dec. No. 25 Colton Yapoujian (CORN), 2-1
165: No. 9 Julian Ramirez (CORN) dec. Clayton Ulrey (VT), 4-2
174: No. 4 Mekhi Lewis (VT) dec. No. 12 Chris Foca (CORN), 3-1 (OT1)
184: No. 15 Jonathan Loew (CORN) dec. No. 9 Hunter Bolen (VT), 7-5 (SV1)
197: No. 19 Jacob Cardenas (CORN) dec. Andy Smith (VT), 3-2
285 (HWT): No. 14 Nathan Traxler (VT) dec. No. 18 Lewis Fernandes (CORN), 5-3
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