No. 17 Cavaliers Fall at No. 12 Virginia Tech, 25-6
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Nov. 25, 2012
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 17th-ranked Virginia wrestling team dropped a 25-6 decision to 12th-ranked Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg. George DiCamillo (Fr., Highland Heights, Ohio) and Jon Fausey (R-Jr., Dalmatia, Pa.) each scored wins for the Cavaliers (6-2, 0-1 ACC).
“We didn’t wrestle well at all today,” Virginia head coach Steve Garland said. “We have a reputation of winning the close ones, but we lost them today. We lost in positions we usually win at and made a lot of mistakes. All in all, it was a pretty humbling day for us.”
Virginia Tech (3-1, 1-0) set the tone for the day in the first bout at 125 pounds. In a matchup of top-10 ranked wrestlers, the Hokies’ Jarrod Garnett, ranked No. 8 nationally, dominated from start to finish in an 11-2 major decision over No. 5 Matt Snyder (R-Sr., Lewistown, Pa.). It was the lone bonus-point win of the day for either team.
Ranked 19th nationally at 133 pounds, DiCamillo got the Cavaliers on the board with a 5-3 win over Erik Spjut. DiCamillo led from start to finish following an early takedown and then scored a takedown with 20 seconds left in the third period to put it out of reach and improve to 10-1 this year.
The Hokies won the next four matches to take a commanding 16-3 lead. VT’s Zach Neibert, ranked seventh nationally, picked up a 5-3 win at 141 over UVa’s Joe Spisak (R-So., Boiling Springs, Pa.). Neibert jumped Spisak quickly with a near fall and takedown in the first minute to take a 4-0 edge. Spisak escaped late in the period for a point, then rode Neibert for the entire second period to erase the riding time advantage. Neibert took the top position in the third period and rode Spisak until being reversed with just over 20 seconds remaining. Neibert still claimed the riding time point for the 5-3 win.
One of the best matches of the day came at 149 pounds, where 12th-ranked Nick Brascetta of Virginia Tech scored a late takedown to defeat No. 9 Derek Valenti (R-Sr., Newton, N.J.), 4-3. After a scoreless first, Valenti escaped 10 seconds into the second period, while Brascetta followed suit by quickly escaping to start the third to tie it at one. With Valenti holding onto a leg near the edge of the mat, Brascetta rolled in and gained control for a takedown. Valenti scored a quick escape point but could not take Brascetta down in the waning seconds.
Seventh-ranked Jesse Dong scored a 3-0 win over UVa’s Jedd Moore (R-Sr., Mount Vernon, Ohio) at 157. After a scoreless first period, Dong recorded an escape point midway through the second and added a takedown with 20 seconds left in the second.
Fifth-ranked Pete Yates claimed a 7-2 decision over No. 8 Nick Sulzer (R-So., Cleveland, Ohio) at 165. Sulzer attacked quickly and threw Yates down for a quick takedown 15 seconds into the bout. Yates promptly escaped, and later scored a takedown with 45 seconds remaining in the period. Yates rode Sulzer for the entire second period to take a commanding edge in riding time. Yates added a takedown late in the third period to put the bout away.
Virginia nabbed its second win with a 4-2 triumph at 174 from Fausey, who is ranked No. 9 nationally, over Austin Gabel. After a scoreless first period, Fausey scored a point 30 seconds into the second following Gabel’s second stall warning. He rode Gabel for the entire period to build up a big riding time advantage. Gabel shot in for takedown with 20 seconds left in the third to knot the score, but with the riding time point already clinched for Fausey, Gabel quickly allowed Fausey to escape but could not score the tying takedown.
The Hokies won the final three bouts, beginning with Nick Vetterlein’s 7-4 win over Stephen Doty (R-Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) at 184. Vetterlein recorded a takedown with just over a minute left in the first period, but Doty promptly escaped. Doty again escaped to start the second to tie the match, but Vetterlein shot right back in to throw Doty to the mat for the takedown. Doty escaped again and then shot in, but Vetterlein countered with his own shot and took Doty down for another takedown. Vetterlein escaped to start the third and take a 7-4 lead and defended from there to claim the win.
Wrestling up a weight class in place of an injured Mike Salopek (R-Sr., North Huntingdon, Pa.), Zach Nye (R-Fr., Enola, Pa.) dropped a 9-4 decision to Derrick Borlie at 197. Nye scored a takedown off a Borlie shot midway through the first period to grab the early lead, but Borlie took Nye down with a minute left in the second to take the lead for good.
In the heavyweight bout No. 19 David Marone notched a 7-1 decision over UVa’s Derek Papagianopoulos (R-So., Burlington, Mass.), who returned to action after missing three weeks with an injury. Marone scored takedown midway through the first period and was in control from there.
UVa looks to rebound next weekend (Nov. 30-Dec. 1) when it travels to Las Vegas for one of the nation’s top college wrestling tournaments, the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
No. 12 Virginia Tech 25, No. 17 Virginia 6
125: No. 8 Jarrod Garnett (VT) major dec. No. 5 Matt Snyder (UVa), 11-2; VT 4-0
133: No. 19 George DiCamillo (UVa) dec. Erik Spjut (VT), 5-2; VT 4-3
141: No. 7 Zach Neibert (VT) dec. Joe Spisak (UVa), 5-3; VT 7-3
149: No. 12 Nick Brascetta (VT) dec. No. 9 Derek Valenti (UVa), 3-2; VT 10-3
157: No. 7 Jesse Dong (VT) dec. Jedd Moore (UVa), 3-0; VT 13-3
165: No. 5 Pete Yates (VT) dec. No. 8 Nick Sulzer (UVa), 7-2; VT 16-3
174: No. 8 Jon Fausey (UVa) dec. Austin Gabel (VT), 4-2; VT 16-6
184: Nick Vetterlein (VT) dec. Stephen Doty (UVa), 7-4; VT 19-6
197: Derrick Borlie (VT) dec. Zach Nye (UVa), 9-4; VT 22-6
285: No. 19 David Marone (VT) dec. Derek Papagianopoulos (UVa), 7-1; VT 25-6
**InterMat individual rankings