No. 8 Virginia Tech was dominant in its final matches of 2022, cruising in wins over Stanford and Lindenwood on Sunday. Tech won 16 of 20 matches on the day, including 13 bonus victories.
Against Stanford, the Hokies nabbed three ranked victories en route to a 22-12 team win.
No. 12 Caleb Henson won his second-biggest match of the year. A month ago, he had an upset decision win over Ohio State’s No. 3 Sammy Sasso. In California, Henson took down Stanford’s No. 13 Jaden Abas, 11-1, controlling the majority of the 149-pound match.
The Georgia native built a 6-0 lead and racked up 2:53 in riding time through the first two periods of the match. He added five more points in the final two minutes to secure the bonus-point victory over the former All-American. The win pushed the true freshman’s 2022-23 record to 10-2.
Virginia Tech’s other true freshman starter, No. 15 Tom Crook, secured another impressive ranked victory over Stanford’s No. 32 Jason Miranda at 141 pounds, 4-1.
Crook was quick off the first whistle, earning a takedown and 1:24 in riding time in time in the first period. He added another eight seconds in the second, securing the riding time point and grabbing an escape point in the third to capture the ranked victory.
No. 3 Mekhi Lewis earned his sixth-straight victory against Stanford’s No. 25 Tyler Eischens at 174 pounds, 2-1.
Lewis showed some grit in his eighth win of the year after going down to the mat with an apparent leg injury early in the first period. After getting checked out by trainers, the former national champion resumed the match and clocked over a minute of riding time over the next two periods to earn the match-winning point at the end.
No. 22 Connor Brady nearly picked up a massive win over Stanford’s No. 2 Shane Griffith, forcing the match to a second round of tiebreakers before falling 4-2 at 165 pounds.
In regulation, Brady and Griffith both earned points on escapes to send the match to overtime tied at one. Following a scoreless extra period, Brady started the first tiebreaker round on top.
Brady was able to hang on to the former national champion for 25 seconds in the period before Griffith broke his grasp. In the following period, Brady escaped Griffith’s grip with zero seconds left on the riding time clock to force another round of overtime.
After another scoreless minute of overtime and a rideout from Griffith in the first portion of the second tiebreaker round, Brady gave up a reversal to drop the bout. Despite the loss, Brady’s performance was encouraging against a wrestler of Griffith’s stature.
Cooper Flynn and Clayton Urey were the only other Hokies to lose to a ranked wrestler, falling to No. 31 Nico Provo (125) and No. 19 Daniel Cardenas (157).
No. 19 Andy Smith suffered an upset loss to Stanford’s Nick Stemmet (197), 11-5, to drop to 7-4 on the year.
No. 12 Sam Latona (133), No. 7 Hunter Bolen (184) and No. 22 Hunter Catka (HWT) all collected major decision victories to push the Hokies over the Cardinal.
Prior to its match against Stanford, Tech began the day with a 52-0 rout of Lindenwood, with nine VT wrestlers snagging bonus-point wins. Clayton Ulrey won by forfeit at 157 pounds.
Virginia Tech returns to the mat on Jan. 1-2 for the Southern Scuffle before hosting No. 14 Cornell at the Moss Arts Center on Jan. 6.
Results:
No. 8 Virginia Tech vs Stanford (W, 22-12)
125: No. 31 Nico Provo (Stanford) dec. Cooper Flynn (VT), 3-1 SV
133: No. 12 Sam Latona (VT) maj dec. Jackson DiSario (Stanford), 12-3
141: No. 15 Tom Crook (VT) dec. No. 32 Jason Miranda (Stanford), 4-1
149: No. 12 Caleb Henson (VT) maj dec. No. 13 Jaden Abas (Stanford), 11-1
157: No. 19 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) dec. Clayton Ulrey (VT), 11-5
165: No. 2 Shane Griffith (Stanford) dec. No. 22 Connor Brady (VT), 4-2 TB2
174: No. 3 Mekhi Lewis (VT) dec. No. 25 Tyler Eischens (Stanford), 2-1
184: No. 7 Hunter Bolen (VT) maj dec. Brook Byers (Stanford), 11-1
197: Nick Stemmet (Stanford) dec. No. 19 Andy Smith (VT), 11-5
285: No. 22 Hunter Catka (VT) maj dec. Seamus O’Malley (Stanford), 17-5
No. 8 Virginia Tech vs Lindenwood (W, 52-0)
125: Cooper Flynn (VT) win by fall Austin Kegley (Lindenwood), 2:06
133: No. 12 Sam Latona (VT) maj dec. Ben Lindley (Lindenwood), 18-5
141: Collin Gerardi (VT) maj dec. Kalen Napier (Lindenwood), 14-1
149: No. 12 Caleb Henson (VT) tech fall Ben Bohr (Lindenwood), 19-3 (4:11)
157: Clayton Ulrey (VT) via forfeit
165: No. 22 Connor Brady (VT) win by fall Kaden Charboneau (Lindenwood), 2:37
174: No. 3 Mekhi Lewis (VT) win by fall Luke Dickhaus (Lindenwood), 1:48
184: No. 7 Hunter Bolen (VT) tech fall Austin Raynor (Lindenwood), 16-1 (4:38)
197: No. 19 Andy Smith (VT) maj dec. Ryan Golnick (Lindenwood), 14-3
285: No. 22 Hunter Catka (VT) win by fall David Hernandez (Lindenwood), 2:00
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Good writeup but all the photos are of Missouri not Stanford or Lindenwood.
Correct, because there were not any photos accessible at the time of publishing from Sunday’s matches. Therefore, we used pictures from the last home match.
HokieSports and the wrestling program also used pictures from the last home match vs. Missouri in its release. It wasn’t just TSL.
Link: https://hokiesports.com/news/2022/12/18/wrestling-hokies-dominant-in-palo-alto-to-close-out-first-half-of-season.aspx
Understood David, surprising with the phone in everyone’s pocket today but I get it, thank you.
I guess VT would have to find some Missou buddies, someone must do that but maybe only in conference?