For No. 3 Virginia Tech, the regular season is about learning lessons and getting ready for the postseason in March.
The opening weekend of the regular season gave Tony Robie & Co. a lot to learn from.
Following the Hokies’ disappointing loss to No. 7 Ohio State on Friday night, they bounced-back in a big way on Sunday, demolishing American, 39-4.
“I really think what happened Friday, I think we needed that,” Robie said to reporters after the win. “I think we had a team out there in Ohio State that had something to prove and I think we went out there thinking we were a lot better than we actually are.
“In our sport, and you’re seeing this early in the season, there’s upsets all over the place. Nothing is given in this sport and you got to go out and you got to take it all the time. We didn’t do that Friday. I’ll take responsibility for it, but I just felt like we were inhaling our own hype a little bit and it caught up with us.
“To a certain degree, it was a good thing, and I think it was a wake up call and it was unfortunate that it had to happen in that environment. We had an incredible crowd, but sometimes you need to get humbled, and we got humbled, and I was happy with the way we responded.”
After falling victim to five rankings-based upsets against Ohio State, Virginia Tech collected nine victories on Sunday against the Eagles.
Four of Tech’s starters who lost on Friday bounced back against American, including true freshman Hunter Mason (141).
After losing by technical fall to Ohio State’s No. 5 Jesse Mendez 18-3, he notched a resilient 7-1 win over American’s Cael McIntyre to earn his first collegiate dual victory.
“I think Friday, [Mason] was put in a challenging spot,” Robie said. “First time in Cassell, wrestling in front of that crowd — probably by far the most people he’s ever wrestled in front of, wrestling a really good guy in Jesse Mendez, so that was a tough situation to be put in.
“I talked to Hunter about this after the match, I didn’t think his effort was what it should’ve been and I think it was better tonight. He’s a true freshman, though. That’s part of the process of getting better.”
Mason went 5-0 at the Southeast Open on Nov. 4 and finished first in the 141-pound bracket. He’s currently battling fellow true freshman Mac Church for the permanent starting spot at 141.
Following his first two collegiate dual matches, he’s focused on becoming more aggressive in his matches.
“I just want to break guys,” Mason said. “I want to go out there and score a bunch of points. I don’t want to win by one or two points, and I feel like so far this season, I haven’t been doing that enough, so I want to get out there and score a bunch of points.”
Another spot in the lineup that’s up for grabs is at 165.
Following No. 16 Connor Brady’s narrow 6-5 loss to Ohio State’s Isaac Wilcox on Friday, Tech opted to go with Clayton Ulrey at 165 against American.
“Friday night [at] 165, it was unacceptable,” Robie said. “That can’t happen and it won’t happen. If that’s what we’re getting, we’ll find somebody else. We’ve got a lot of guys in our room that are eager to wrestle that want to go out there and give the kind of effort it requires to win — and we didn’t get that from Connor on Friday. Unfortunately, he’s in his fifth year and that’s going to have to change if he wants to have an opportunity to get back in there. We’ve got some other capable guys that we can put in there at 165 and we’re going to explore some options.”
Ulrey made a strong case to win the job with his performance against the Eagles. Facing off against American’s Breon Phifer, he racked up seven takedowns en route to a 21-5 technical fall victory.
The Grantville, Pa., native found out on Friday that he was going to start on Sunday and took full advantage of his chance.
“Just being thankful for the opportunity,” Ulrey said of his motivation to go out and perform. “Coming into the week, I wasn’t really expecting a match and the opportunity got put in front of me and I’m just thankful for the opportunity, and I told myself no matter what happens, I’m grateful that I’m going out there, putting on a singlet and getting ready to wrestle, and the outcome was good.”
No. 21 Sam Fisher helped his cause to win the starting job at 184 with a buzzer-beating 4-1 victory over American’s Connor Bourne. He improved his season record to 3-2 after falling via pin to Ohio State’s Ryder Rogotzke on Friday.
Other Hokies with bounce-back wins on Sunday included No. 14 Andy Smith (197) and No. 16 Hunter Catka (285).
Smith manhandled American’s Liam Volk-Klos, winning by technical fall, 21-3. Catka improved his record on the year to 1-1 with a nice 9-4 decision victory over American’s Will Jarrell.
Four of Tech’s five All-Americans from a year ago finished with bonus-point victories on Sunday. No. 7 Sam Latona (133) nabbed a major decision victory while No. 4 Caleb Henson (149) and No. 3 Mekhi Lewis (174) earned technical fall wins.
No. 6 Bryce Andonian (157) pinned American’s Kaden Milheim in the first 90 seconds of the bout.
VT’s lone loss came at 125 pounds, as No. 4 Eddie Ventresca was shut out by American’s No. 16 Jack Maida, 9-0. It’s been a rough start to the year for the returning All-American — he’s fallen by major decision to lower-ranked wrestlers in his first two matches of the season.
The good news for Ventresca is that there’s still a long way to go before March, and the Hokies will continue to learn as the year goes on.
Tech will turn the page quickly to No. 14 Rutgers, who it faces on Friday night at 7 p.m. ET in Piscataway, N.J.
Results:
125: No. 16 Jack Maida (AU) dec. No. 4 Eddie Ventresca (VT), 9-0
133: No. 7 Sam Latona (VT) maj dec. Maximilian Leete (AU), 12-1
141: Hunter Mason (VT) dec. Cael McIntyre (AU), 7-1
149: No. 4 Caleb Henson (VT) tech fall Ryan Zimmerman (AU), 17-2
157: No. 6 Bryce Andonian (VT) win by fall Kaden Milheim (AU), 1:24
165: Clayton Ulrey (VT) tech fall Breon Phifer (AU), 21-5
174: No. 3 Mekhi Lewis (VT) tech fall Lucas White (AU), 20-3
184: No. 21 Sam Fisher (VT) dec. Connor Bourne (AU), 4-1
197: No. 14 Andy Smith (VT) tech fall Liam Volk-Klos (AU), 21-3
285: No. 16 Hunter Catka (VT) dec. Will Jarrell (AU), 9-4
Print
Wonder how the accountability works with some getting benched for losing 6-5 but an all American loses two to lesser opponents and that seems okay? Maybe the AA needs to sit.
Fantastic article!
“I really think what happened Friday, I think we needed that,” Robie said to reporters after the win. “I think we had a team out there in Ohio State that had something to prove and I think we went out there thinking we were a lot better than we actually are.”
I’m glad we proved we were better than Coppin State, I mean American.
Motivating a 5th year National champ and 9 other individual top notch wrestlers (some are All-Americans) in a home match must be tougher than it looks. Needing to lose a match to a lower rated opponent is coach speak to the N-th degree.