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GLEN ALLEN, Va. The Virginia wrestling team dropped a 21-12 ACC match to No. 13 Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon in a nip-and-tuck battle in front of a near-capacity crowd at Deep Run High School. The Hokies won the final three bouts to break a 12-all tie and secure the victory in the annual “Rumble on the River.”
The match started at 165 pounds, as Virginia’s Mike Sewell (Sr., Bothell, Wash.) rallied for a 7-2 win over Matt Epperly. Trailing 1-0, Sewell scored a third-period takedown to grab the lead, then added a takedown with 30 seconds left and a three-point near fall to secure the victory.
UVa (9-9, 0-2 ACC) pushed the lead to 6-0 as No. 9 Chris Henrich (So., Lansdale, Pa.) won a 6-1 decision over the Hokies’ Anthony Trongone. Henrich improved to 30-1 this season as he won his 10th straight match.
After the Hokies cut the lead in half on an 8-1 Tommy Spellman decision over No. 16 Rocco Caponi (Sr., Uniontown, Ohio) at 184 pounds, the Cavaliers struck back at 197 as No. 20 Brent Jones (Jr., Burke, Va.) scored on an escape and a penalty point in the third period to rally for a 2-1 win over DJ Bruce. The win capped a big weekend for Jones, who also topped No. 8 Cayle Byers of George Mason on Friday night.
Virginia Tech (16-1, 1-0) cut the lead to 9-6 at heavyweight on a David Marone 13-6 decision over Calvin Cardillo (Jr., Alexandria, Va.), although Cardillo avoided a bonus point by scoring a takedown as time expired in the third period. The Hokies then took their first lead when No. 13 Jarrod Garnett pinned Wyatt Anderson (So., Richmond, Va.).
Virginia’s Matt Bonson (So., Lewistown, Pa.) tied the match once again as he earned an 8-4 decision over Will Livingston at 133 pounds. After falling behind 4-2 in the first period, Bonson dominated the rest of the way, scoring the final six points and holding control for the entire third period.
Virginia Tech’s ranked wrestlers scored back-to-back decisions at 141 and 149 to take an 18-12 lead. No. 20 Chris Diaz slipped past Derek Valenti (Fr., Newton, N.J.), 3-2, at 141, and No. 20 Pete Yates won 9-3 over Peter Ferrara (Sr., Doylestown, Pa.), although Ferrara avoided a key bonus point by scoring a takedown in the final seconds of the bout to cut the margin to a decision status.
Jesse Dong cemented the win for Tech with a hard-fought 3-0 win over Jedd Moore (Fr., Mount Vernon, Ohio) at 157 pounds.
Virginia is next in action on Sunday, Feb. 8, as it travels to Norfolk to battle No. 23 Old Dominion at 5:30 p.m.
No. 13 Virginia Tech 21, Virginia 12
165 Mike Sewell (UVa) dec. Matt Epperly (VT), 7-2; UVa 3-0
174 No. 9 Chris Henrich (UVa) dec. Anthony Trongone (VT), 6-1; UVa 6-0
184 Tommy Spellman (VT) dec. No. 16 Rocco Caponi (UVa), 8-1; UVa 6-3
197 No. 20 Brent Jones (UVa) dec. DJ Bruce (VT), 2-1; UVa 9-3
285 David Marone (VT) dec. Calvin Cardillo (UVa), 13-6; UVa 9-6
125 No. 13 Jarrod Garnett (VT) pinned Wyatt Anderson (UVa), 4:23; VT 12-9
133 Matt Bonson (UVa) dec. Will Livingston (VT), 8-4; Tied 12-12
141 No. 20 Chris Diaz (VT) dec. Derek Valenti (UVa), 3-2; VT 15-12
149 No. 20 Pete Yates (VT) dec. Peter Ferrara (UVa), 9-3; VT 18-12
157 Jesse Dong (VT) dec. Jedd Moore (UVa), 3-0; VT 21-12