No. 15 Virginia Wrestles No. 8 Virginia Tech Sunday at JPJ

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Nov. 22, 2013

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 15 Virginia wrestling team battles eighth-ranked Virginia Tech at 1 p.m. Sunday at John Paul Jones Arena. The match is the ACC opener for both the Cavaliers (5-1) and Hokies (7-0).

Tickets
Tickets for the dual are $7 for adults and $5 for youth (18 and under), seniors and staff. All tickets are general admission.

Youth Clinic
Prior to the match, there will be a youth clinic from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Gatorade and water will be provided for the youth during the clinic.

All participants must have a ticket to the match to gain access into the arena. The doors to JPJ will open at 9:30 a.m. Concessions also will be open at that time. There will be no re-entry permitted between the clinic and wrestling match.

Virginia Probables
125: Nick Herrmann (3-1)
133: Joseph Martinez (3-1)
141: No. 12/15 Joe Spisak (5-0)
149: No. 13/14 Gus Sako (4-0)
157: Blaise Butler (4-1)
165: No. 4/4 Nick Sulzer (5-0)
174: No. 16/12 Stephen Doty (6-0)
184: No. 9/12 Jon Fausey (2-1)
197: Zach Nye (2-1)
285: Ethan Hayes (2-1)

Virginia Tech Probables
125: No. 20/20 Joey Dance (6-1)
133: Erik Spjut (2-5)
141: No. 3/3 Devin Carter (7-0)
149: No. 9/10 Zach Neibert (4-1)
157: Sal Mastiani (2-3) OR Chad Strube (4-1)
165: No. 19/17 Chris Moon (5-2)
174: Austin Gabel (6-1)
184: Nick Vetterlein (6-1)
197: Chris Penny (5-2)
285: No. 14/13 Ty Walz (7-0)
*Rankings according to AWN/InterMat

Virginia-Virginia Tech Series
The Cavaliers and Hokies wrestled twice in dual action last season, with Virginia Tech winning both to extend its winning streak against UVa to eight straight duals. Virginia last topped Virginia Tech 25-9 on Jan. 28, 2007, in Blacksburg.

The Hokies won 25-6 in Blacksburg last year before downing the Cavaliers 21-9 in the championship match of the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va. In the latter match, all 10 bouts were decided by five points or fewer, with two coming down to tiebreakers.

The two programs battled at JPJ two years ago in front of a UVa-record crowd, with the spirited dual coming down to an overtime match in the final bout at heavyweight as the Hokies won the dual, 18-13.

Last Time Out: Virginia Takes Two of Three at Hokie Duals
UVa captured two of its three matches on Nov. 10 at the Hokie Duals, held at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va. Virginia earned wins over VMI (42-3) and Kent State (29-12), while suffering a narrow defeat to No. 20 Wisconsin (19-17).

Joe Spisak (R-Jr., Boiling Springs, Pa.) had a big day for Virginia with three wins at 141 pounds, including two over top-20 opponents. After earning a technical fall in his first match against VMI, Spisak scored a 6-2 win over No. 10 Jess Thielke of Wisconsin and rallied for a 12-10 win over No. 16 Tyler Small of Kent State.

Nick Sulzer (R-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio) and Stephen Doty (R-Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) also swept their three matches in decisive fashion at 165 and 174 pounds, respectively. Both wrestlers piled up bonus points in all of their matches; Sulzer recorded a pin, tech fall and major decision, while Doty picked up a pair of pins and one win by forfeit.

Noting Virginia Tech
The Hokies scored a trio of home wins last weekend, downing ninth-ranked Edinboro, 23-14, on Saturday before topping American (30-9) and Manchester University (59-0) on Sunday.

The Hokies have six ranked wrestlers in their lineups, highlighted by third-ranked Devin Carter at 141 pounds. Carter was a 2012 All-American at 133 pounds; he is joined in the lineup by Zach Neibert, who was an All-American at 149 last season.

Next Up
Virginia heads to the Northeast Duals next Saturday (Nov. 30) in Albany, N.Y. The Cavaliers will wrestle Clarion, Lehigh and Rutgers.