Virginia Drops 22-18 Dual Match With No. 9 Virginia Tech Sunday
Feb. 11, 2018
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Several exciting bouts highlighted the day, but a stretch of five consecutive nationally-ranked wrestlers pushed the road team to the win as Virginia (4-9, 0-4 ACC) dropped a 22-18 dual meet with No. 9 Virginia Tech (14-2, 4-0 ACC) on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gym.
The Cavaliers got wins from Sam Book (Fairfax, Va.), Fred Green (Orting, Wash.) and Louie Hayes (Orland Park, Ill.), plus a forfeit at 141 pounds in the match with Sam Martino (Colonial Heights, Va.) on the way to the 18-point total for the dual.
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“It was a crazy match today and there was a lot of fight back and forth the whole way,” said Virginia head coach Steve Garland. “Bonus points ended up being the difference again today in this dual. We knew they would bring it and they did. The difference was they gutted out a couple of wins that ended up deciding things overall, and you have to credit their guys for finding a way back into the match.”
The match started at 141 pounds with the Hokies forfeiting out of the gates to give the Cavaliers the 6-0 lead in the overall dual score.
A tight contest at 149 pounds went the way at the end to get Virginia Tech on the board. After leading for most of the bout, the Hokie’s 16th-ranked Ryan Blees mounted a rally to send the match to overtime. The nationally-ranked wrestler got the takedown in sudden victory for an 8-6 decision over Sam Krivus (Greensburg, Pa.) to get his team on the board.
Virginia extended its lead back out to six points with the next bout as Green picked up a 6-4 decision over Solomon Chishko. Green got things started with an escape in the first period, then took control with a reversal to start the second period after starting the period in the down position. A takedown after starting the third in a neutral position combined with the riding time point gave Green the win over the two-time All-American.
Virginia Tech cut into the lead again at 165 pounds behind third-ranked David McFadden to start a stretch of five consecutive wins for the Hokies. McFadden defeated Andrew Atkinson (Lynchburg, Va.) by decision before No. 16 Hunter Bolen would rally and use the riding time point to pick up a 5-4 decision over Will Schany (Blair, Neb.) at 174 pounds to put Virginia Tech in the lead for the first time on the afternoon.
The Hokies would then use a bonus-point win at 184 pounds as No. 8 Zack Zavatsky took the major decision over Drew Peck (Chambersburg, Pa.) and a pin fall at 197 pounds to extend the overall lead to 10 points. Second-ranked Jared Haught pinned Virginia’s Jay Aiello (Chantilly, Va.) at 197 pounds.
The Hokies then locked up the dual with a tight match at heavyweight. Andrew Dunn, the No. 18-ranked wrestler for Virginia Tech, took the early lead with an escape point in the second period and then a point for stalling called against Virginia’s Tyler Love (Clifton, Va.) as the Cavalier wrestler worked himself free of the Hokie wrestler’s grip along the sideline, but was tagged with the stall call as the clock wound down on the second period. He then got taken down off a shot to tie the match in the third period for the 4-0 decision in favor of Virginia Tech’s Dunn.
Hayes continued to put bonus points on the board for the Cavaliers at 125 pounds as the redshirt freshman, who is ranked No. 15 nationally, pinned Ryan More. It is the seventh pin of the season for Hayes and the 16th bonus-point win of the year for the 125-pounder.
The final match of the day saw Virginia freshman Sam Book (Fairfax, Va.) bump up to 133 pounds and pull his redshirt as he filled in for an ailing Jack Mueller (Dallas, Texas). After falling behind early, Book put together a furious rally in the third period to force overtime against Ryan Haskett. He then completed the comeback with a takedown in the first overtime period for a 13-11 decision.
No. 9 Virginia Tech 22, Virginia 18
141: Sam Martino by forfeit – UVA 6, VT 0
149: No. 16 Ryan Blees (VT) dec. Sam Krivus, 8-6 (SV-1) – UVA 6, VT 3
157: Fred Green dec. Solomon Chishko (VT), 6-4 – UVA 9, VT 3
165: No. 3 David McFadden (VT) dec. Andrew Atkinson, 7-2 – UVA 9, VT 6
174: No. 16 Hunter Bolen (VT) dec. Will Schany, 5-4 – UVA 9, VT 9
184: No. 8 Zack Zavatsky (VT) major dec. Drew Peck, 25-12 – VT 12, UVA 9
197: No 2 Jared Haught (VT) pinned Jay Aiello, 2:12 – VT 19, UVA 9
285: No. 18 Andrew Dunn (VT) dec. Tyler Love, 4-0 – VT 22, UVA 9
125: No. 15 Louie Hayes pinned Ryan More (VT), 3:48 – VT 22, UVA 15
133: Sam Book dec. Ryan Haskett (VT), 13-11 (SV-1) – VT 22, UVA 18