No. 5 Virginia Tech survives losses by Dance and Epperly to beat No. 10 Lehigh 21-15
Share:
by Gary R. Blockus, Special to TheMat.com
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Virginia Tech Coach Kevin Dresser took a moment to contemplate what had just happened. His two unbeaten wrestlers, No. 2 Joey Dance (125) and No. 2 Zach Epperly (174), both got knocked off, and still the No. 5 Hokies managed a 21-15 win over No. 10 Lehigh on Friday night.
“Well, that just shows you it’s a team effort,” he said as Virginia Tech (14-1) chalked up its ninth straight dual meet win. “I don’t want to say I’m glad they got beat, but everything is a learning experience and sometimes you learn a lot more from losing than winning, so I hope, at the end of the day, we learned something there.”
Virginia Tech won six of 10 bouts, the last three in a row including an injury default when No. 3 Jared Haught hit a six-point move on a counter with 37 seconds left at 197, to basically clinch the match. Ty Walz, No. 2 at 285, closed it out with a 12-5 decision.
Walz scored three third-period takedowns and earned three stalling points over No. 18 Doug Vollaro to secure the win.
“I kept pushing and he wore down pretty good,” Walz (17-1) said. “That’s the style we preach, that’s the style we want to create at Virginia Tech. I’m a senior captain. I’m a leader on the team. I want to inspire my teammates.”
Lehigh (8-3) got some inspiration for the 1,599 fans at Grace Hall when No. 2 Darian Cruz knocked off the previously unbeaten and second-ranked Dance 4-2. Both wrestlers squared up pretty good with some deliberate level changes before Cruz (19-2) locked onto a leg. Dance scrambled through harm’s way several times in the scoreless flurry before finally breaking free.
Dance (18-1) escaped near the midway point of the second period for the bout’s first point. Cruz rallied with a takedown at the edge of the circle with 7 seconds left in the stanza when Dance tried to dive out of bounds after a dangerous tie up. In the third period, Dance rolled Cruz once with no nearfall, and got reversed on his second roll attempt, but immediately escaped.
“I knew as soon as I got into his legs in the first period and almost finished him off, I knew I could get to his legs,” Cruz said of the win. “I knew when he was backing up that he didn’t want to engage with me.”
In another upset of a previously unbeaten wrestler, Lehigh’s Ryan Preisch (17-2), whose only losses were by surprise pins, scored a takedown 32 seconds into sudden victory against No. 2 Zach Epperly at 174 to give Lehigh a 15-9 lead with three bouts remaining.
“He was backing up the whole match,” Preisch said, “and then when I would make contact with him, he was pushing back a little bit. I was feeling that slide-by the whole time, but it wasn’t the right time. It wasn’t a sure thing until I hit it in overtime.”
Walz admitted he couldn’t watch those two matches.
“You’re supposed to be stoic as a wrestler, not really show emotion,” he said, “but on the sideline, it stresses you out. I had to walk out of the arena because of the atmosphere. You feel it ... Ultimately, when you’re selfish like that, you’re taking care of your team.”
Lehigh coach Pat Santoro tried not to read too much into the big individual wins.
“It doesn’t matter your record, it doesn’t matter what your ranking is, you just want guys to go out there and get good wins,” he said. “They were great wins for our guys, something they can take into the post season. They know they can wrestle anybody in the country.”
After Darian Cruz’s opening win, Virginia Tech junior Dennis Gustafson jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second period on an escape and takedown against Lehigh freshman Joe Lobeck. Gustafson scrambled through a deep shot by Lobeck for the funky score. Gustafson (14-2) rode out Lobeck in the finals period for a 4-0 decision to tie the team score at 3.
Randy Cruz, No. 11 at 141 and the older brother of Darian, hit a cement job and pinned Virginia Tech’s Brendan Ryan in 37 seconds to give Lehigh a 9-6 lead for the first bonus points of the night
No. 7 Solomon Chishko (15-3) got in deep to convert on a double leg shot seconds into sudden victory for 3-1 decision over No. 11 Laike Gardner at 149 to get the Hokies back within 3, down 9-6 . Gardner (15-6) nearly scored a takedown at the edge of the mat to open the bout. On the restart, Chishko fired back and nearly had the score on Gardner on the edge as both wrestlers fought to remain squared up throughout the opening period.
Chishko escaped in the second and missed a diving double ankle shot before squaring up again. Gardner broke free at the start of the third and both wrestlers immediately engaged. Chishko held onto a single leg s Gardner remained on top in a stalemate. Gardner nearly had a takedown from a scramble that turned into a momentary scoreless crab ride before going to overtime.
Lehigh freshman Jordan Kutler, No. 4 at 157, missed yet another match due to illness, and Virginia Tech’s Sal Mastriani (No. 14) took advantage with a win, but could not come up with the bonus points in a 13-7 decision. Mastriani (12-4) had the major midway through the third when he missed on a shot and Lane (9-4) slipped behind for the takedown.
Lehigh’s Mitch Minotti (No. 13) returned to the lineup to take on unranked David Bergida (11-11) at 165 hoping to give Lehigh some bonus points. With the match starting at 125, Mountain Hawks needed to build a huge lead because Virginia Tech’s final four wrestlers (from 174 through 285) were all ranked in Top 4, and that’s not counting the Hokies starting lineup includes Joey Dance (No. 2 at 125) and Solomon Chishko (No. 7 at 149) for six of its 10 wrestlers ranked in InterMat’s Top 7.
Minotti scored an easy takedown to start and looked like he went for the front headlock like Cruz did, but switched to settle for a scoring move. Minotti added two more takedowns before the period’s end. He let Bergida up on a restart after nearly getting reversed. Minotti (13-2) escaped midway through the final period to preserve riding time, but gave up a takedown trying to shoot in hard to clinch a major. Instead, he lost riding time to end with a 9-6 decision to put Lehigh on top 12-9 heading into the meat of the Hokies’ lineup.
In a cautious opening period at 174, Epperly, a 15-1 junior, scored first with a second-period escape, then locked onto a single that Preisch turned into a stalemate. Preisch escaped to start the final period to tie the score. Epperly again locked onto a single in the closing minute of the third, but Preisch again forced a stalemate before it went to overtime and he hit the slide-by.
Then Virginia Tech’s strength took over. Zach Zavatsky, No. 4 at 184, earned a workmanlike 8-3 decision over Andrew Price (7-8) to cut Lehigh’s lead to a simple decision as the Hokies trailed 15-12.
At 197, Haught (18-2) opened with a takedown on Lehigh senior Ben Haas, but nearly got reversed with Haas in control on a high single near the edge of the mat that was ruled an escape when both wrestlers went out of bounds. Haas got warned for stalling on the top in the second period. Haas (8-8) escaped to start the final period. Haas shot in on an ankle, but Haught countered and put Haas on his back for four nearfall, but Haas suffered an elbow injury and had to default, putting the Hokies on top 18-15. With the 6-point move, Haught had an 11-4 lead.
At heavyweight, No. 2 Ty Walz (17-1) scored takedowns in the first two periods and two in the third, plus three stalling points in a 12-5 decision over No. 18 Doug Vollaro (12-6)
No. 5 Virginia Tech 21, No. 10 Lehigh 15
125 – No. 8 Darian Cruz (L) dec. No. 2 Joey Dance 4-2; 133 – Dennis Gustafson (VT) dec. Joe Lobeck 4-0; 141 – No. 11 Randy Cruz (L) pin Brendan Ryan :37; 149 – No. 7 Solomon Chishko (VT) dec. No. 11 Laike Gardner 3-1 sv; 157 – No. 14 Sal Mastriani (VT) dec. Kent Lane 13-7; 157 – No. 14 Sal Mastriani (VT) dec. Ken Lane 13-7; 165 – No. 13 Mitch Minotti (L) def. David Bergida 9-6; 174 – No. 5 Ryan Preisch (L) dec. No. 2 Zach Epperly 3-1 sv; 184 – No. 4 Zach Zavatsky (VT) dec. Andrew Price 8-3; 197 – No. 3 Jared Haught (VT) inj. def. over Ben Haas 6:23; 285 – No. 3 Ty Walz (VT) dec. No. 18 Doug Vollaro 12-5.
Referees: Williams Doran, Michael Letcher.
Attendance: 1,599. Match held at Grace Hall, Bethlehem, Pa.
“Well, that just shows you it’s a team effort,” he said as Virginia Tech (14-1) chalked up its ninth straight dual meet win. “I don’t want to say I’m glad they got beat, but everything is a learning experience and sometimes you learn a lot more from losing than winning, so I hope, at the end of the day, we learned something there.”
Virginia Tech won six of 10 bouts, the last three in a row including an injury default when No. 3 Jared Haught hit a six-point move on a counter with 37 seconds left at 197, to basically clinch the match. Ty Walz, No. 2 at 285, closed it out with a 12-5 decision.
Walz scored three third-period takedowns and earned three stalling points over No. 18 Doug Vollaro to secure the win.
“I kept pushing and he wore down pretty good,” Walz (17-1) said. “That’s the style we preach, that’s the style we want to create at Virginia Tech. I’m a senior captain. I’m a leader on the team. I want to inspire my teammates.”
Lehigh (8-3) got some inspiration for the 1,599 fans at Grace Hall when No. 2 Darian Cruz knocked off the previously unbeaten and second-ranked Dance 4-2. Both wrestlers squared up pretty good with some deliberate level changes before Cruz (19-2) locked onto a leg. Dance scrambled through harm’s way several times in the scoreless flurry before finally breaking free.
Dance (18-1) escaped near the midway point of the second period for the bout’s first point. Cruz rallied with a takedown at the edge of the circle with 7 seconds left in the stanza when Dance tried to dive out of bounds after a dangerous tie up. In the third period, Dance rolled Cruz once with no nearfall, and got reversed on his second roll attempt, but immediately escaped.
“I knew as soon as I got into his legs in the first period and almost finished him off, I knew I could get to his legs,” Cruz said of the win. “I knew when he was backing up that he didn’t want to engage with me.”
In another upset of a previously unbeaten wrestler, Lehigh’s Ryan Preisch (17-2), whose only losses were by surprise pins, scored a takedown 32 seconds into sudden victory against No. 2 Zach Epperly at 174 to give Lehigh a 15-9 lead with three bouts remaining.
“He was backing up the whole match,” Preisch said, “and then when I would make contact with him, he was pushing back a little bit. I was feeling that slide-by the whole time, but it wasn’t the right time. It wasn’t a sure thing until I hit it in overtime.”
Walz admitted he couldn’t watch those two matches.
“You’re supposed to be stoic as a wrestler, not really show emotion,” he said, “but on the sideline, it stresses you out. I had to walk out of the arena because of the atmosphere. You feel it ... Ultimately, when you’re selfish like that, you’re taking care of your team.”
Lehigh coach Pat Santoro tried not to read too much into the big individual wins.
“It doesn’t matter your record, it doesn’t matter what your ranking is, you just want guys to go out there and get good wins,” he said. “They were great wins for our guys, something they can take into the post season. They know they can wrestle anybody in the country.”
After Darian Cruz’s opening win, Virginia Tech junior Dennis Gustafson jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second period on an escape and takedown against Lehigh freshman Joe Lobeck. Gustafson scrambled through a deep shot by Lobeck for the funky score. Gustafson (14-2) rode out Lobeck in the finals period for a 4-0 decision to tie the team score at 3.
Randy Cruz, No. 11 at 141 and the older brother of Darian, hit a cement job and pinned Virginia Tech’s Brendan Ryan in 37 seconds to give Lehigh a 9-6 lead for the first bonus points of the night
No. 7 Solomon Chishko (15-3) got in deep to convert on a double leg shot seconds into sudden victory for 3-1 decision over No. 11 Laike Gardner at 149 to get the Hokies back within 3, down 9-6 . Gardner (15-6) nearly scored a takedown at the edge of the mat to open the bout. On the restart, Chishko fired back and nearly had the score on Gardner on the edge as both wrestlers fought to remain squared up throughout the opening period.
Chishko escaped in the second and missed a diving double ankle shot before squaring up again. Gardner broke free at the start of the third and both wrestlers immediately engaged. Chishko held onto a single leg s Gardner remained on top in a stalemate. Gardner nearly had a takedown from a scramble that turned into a momentary scoreless crab ride before going to overtime.
Lehigh freshman Jordan Kutler, No. 4 at 157, missed yet another match due to illness, and Virginia Tech’s Sal Mastriani (No. 14) took advantage with a win, but could not come up with the bonus points in a 13-7 decision. Mastriani (12-4) had the major midway through the third when he missed on a shot and Lane (9-4) slipped behind for the takedown.
Lehigh’s Mitch Minotti (No. 13) returned to the lineup to take on unranked David Bergida (11-11) at 165 hoping to give Lehigh some bonus points. With the match starting at 125, Mountain Hawks needed to build a huge lead because Virginia Tech’s final four wrestlers (from 174 through 285) were all ranked in Top 4, and that’s not counting the Hokies starting lineup includes Joey Dance (No. 2 at 125) and Solomon Chishko (No. 7 at 149) for six of its 10 wrestlers ranked in InterMat’s Top 7.
Minotti scored an easy takedown to start and looked like he went for the front headlock like Cruz did, but switched to settle for a scoring move. Minotti added two more takedowns before the period’s end. He let Bergida up on a restart after nearly getting reversed. Minotti (13-2) escaped midway through the final period to preserve riding time, but gave up a takedown trying to shoot in hard to clinch a major. Instead, he lost riding time to end with a 9-6 decision to put Lehigh on top 12-9 heading into the meat of the Hokies’ lineup.
In a cautious opening period at 174, Epperly, a 15-1 junior, scored first with a second-period escape, then locked onto a single that Preisch turned into a stalemate. Preisch escaped to start the final period to tie the score. Epperly again locked onto a single in the closing minute of the third, but Preisch again forced a stalemate before it went to overtime and he hit the slide-by.
Then Virginia Tech’s strength took over. Zach Zavatsky, No. 4 at 184, earned a workmanlike 8-3 decision over Andrew Price (7-8) to cut Lehigh’s lead to a simple decision as the Hokies trailed 15-12.
At 197, Haught (18-2) opened with a takedown on Lehigh senior Ben Haas, but nearly got reversed with Haas in control on a high single near the edge of the mat that was ruled an escape when both wrestlers went out of bounds. Haas got warned for stalling on the top in the second period. Haas (8-8) escaped to start the final period. Haas shot in on an ankle, but Haught countered and put Haas on his back for four nearfall, but Haas suffered an elbow injury and had to default, putting the Hokies on top 18-15. With the 6-point move, Haught had an 11-4 lead.
At heavyweight, No. 2 Ty Walz (17-1) scored takedowns in the first two periods and two in the third, plus three stalling points in a 12-5 decision over No. 18 Doug Vollaro (12-6)
No. 5 Virginia Tech 21, No. 10 Lehigh 15
125 – No. 8 Darian Cruz (L) dec. No. 2 Joey Dance 4-2; 133 – Dennis Gustafson (VT) dec. Joe Lobeck 4-0; 141 – No. 11 Randy Cruz (L) pin Brendan Ryan :37; 149 – No. 7 Solomon Chishko (VT) dec. No. 11 Laike Gardner 3-1 sv; 157 – No. 14 Sal Mastriani (VT) dec. Kent Lane 13-7; 157 – No. 14 Sal Mastriani (VT) dec. Ken Lane 13-7; 165 – No. 13 Mitch Minotti (L) def. David Bergida 9-6; 174 – No. 5 Ryan Preisch (L) dec. No. 2 Zach Epperly 3-1 sv; 184 – No. 4 Zach Zavatsky (VT) dec. Andrew Price 8-3; 197 – No. 3 Jared Haught (VT) inj. def. over Ben Haas 6:23; 285 – No. 3 Ty Walz (VT) dec. No. 18 Doug Vollaro 12-5.
Referees: Williams Doran, Michael Letcher.
Attendance: 1,599. Match held at Grace Hall, Bethlehem, Pa.
Read More#
2022 USA Wrestling Women’s Freestyle Award winners: Amit Elor (athlete), Nate Engel (coach)
Box, Garvin, Stemmet place fifth at Beach World Series in France
Gannon University hires Erin Vandiver as women's wrestling head coach
National Wrestling Hall of Fame Distinguished Member Ron Gray, star athlete and successful coach, passes away
