PARKERSBURG, W.Va. – Joe Wheeling picked up his second straight dual match win as the West Virginia University wrestling team dropped a 36-4 contest to No. 6 Virginia Tech at Parkersburg High in Parkersburg, West Virginia, on Sunday afternoon.
A crowd of 2,822 came out for the 2016 Black Diamond Brawl, which marked the 20th all-time meeting between the Mountaineers and the Hokies. Despite the loss, WVU leads the series 12-8.
“Against a very good team, our men battled in every match,” WVU coach Sammie Henson said. “I couldn’t be happier for Joe Wheeling with his win. All of our men continue to buy in and grow as a team. I felt like our men showed a lot of heart. Our conditioning and match tactics were evident in several matches.”
Wrestling at 141 pounds, Wheeling hit Brenden Ryan for an early takedown and a 2-0 lead in the first, riding him through the period. Starting on bottom in the second, Wheeling scored a reversal for a 4-0 lead, adding points for locked hands and stalling on Ryan to bump his lead to 6-0. The two went to their feet for the start of the third, with Wheeling adding a trio of takedowns as well as the point for riding time in taking a 13-2 major decision.
The Hokies started off with a tech. fall at heavyweight for a 5-0 lead before adding a pin at 125 pounds. Tech made it three in a row with a win by decision at 133 for a 14-0 advantage. Wheeling put the Mountaineers on the board with a major decision at 141, down 14-4.
Christian Monserrat dropped a 10-5 decision to No. 8 Solomon Chishko at 149 to put Virginia Tech’s lead at 17-4. The Hokies added a major decision at 157 before Ryan Lopez dropped a 10-4 bout to David Bergida at 165 as the Mountaineers found themselves trailing 25-4.
The Hokies added a tech. fall at 174 and a major decision at 184 to take a 33-4 lead into the final bout of afternoon.
The most anticipated bout of the day featured a pair of nationally ranked West Virginia natives in No. 7 Jacob A. Smith of Charleston and No. 3 Jared Haught of Parkersburg at 197 pounds. Neither wrestler scored in the first period, with Haught choosing bottom to start the second. He escaped to take a 1-0 lead on Smith, who returned the favor in the third to tie the match 1-1. For the second straight meeting, the two headed into sudden victory. With no score in the first overtime, the two headed to a tiebreaker with Haught on bottom first. He scored the reversal for the 3-1 lead in the first 30 seconds. Smith escaped to put the score at 3-2, but couldn’t get a takedown and dropped the bout.
Following a holiday break, West Virginia heads to the West Coast for a pair of duals. The Mountaineers will take on Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California, on Jan. 3 before heading to Bakersfield for a match at CSU Bakersfield.
No. 6 Virginia Tech 36, West Virginia 4
HWT: No. 3 Ty Walz (Tech) tech. fall Brandon Ngati (WVU), 24-7 (6:46)
125: Joey Dance (Tech) pins Devin Brown (WVU), 4:32
133: Dom Latona (Tech) dec. Cory Stainbrook (WVU), 6-2
141: Joe Wheeling (WVU) major dec. Brenden Ryan (Tech), 13-2
149: No. 8 Solomon Chishko (Tech) dec. Christian Monserrat (WVU), 10-5
157: Ryan Blees (Tech) major dec. Dayton Garrett (WVU), 11-2
165: David Bergida (Tech) dec. Ryan Lopez (WVU), 10-4
174: No. 2 Zach Epperly (Tech) tech. fall Ty Millward (WVU), 21-6 (5:35)
184: No. 4 Zack Zavatsky (Tech) major dec. Parker VonEgidy (WVU), 16-8
197: No. 3 Jared Haught (Tech) dec. No. 7 Jacob A. Smith (WVU), 3-2 TB-1
