UVa. sports fans hope this is the sign of what is to come this coming Saturday: The Virginia wrestling team topped Virginia Tech on Sunday in Charlottesville, ending an eight-match losing streak to the Hokies.
#15 Virginia (6-1, 1-0 ACC) hadn’t defeated #8 Virginia Tech (7-1, 0-1 ACC) since 2007.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Virginia head coach Steve Garland said of the win. “We’ve had some close ones and we’ve had some not so close ones. It feels good to get that one. We have a full season still ahead of us, but it’s great for confidence and for the reward of working and the feeling of family.”
The UVa. football team hasn’t defeated Virginia Tech since 2004. The rivals square off on Saturday in Charlottesville.
Sunday’s matchup in wrestling got off to a good start for the Hokies when 20th-ranked Joey Dance outlasted Nick Herrmann (So., Amarillo, Texas), 5-3, at 125 pounds. Virginia bounced back to tie the dual when Joseph Martinez (R-So., Platteville, Colo.) downed Dennis Gustafson, 12-6, at 133 pounds.
In the first of three matches between ranked wrestlers, third-ranked Devin Carter scored a 16-6 major decision over 12th-ranked Joe Spisak (R-Jr., Boiling Springs, Pa.).
Virginia then won the next four bouts to take a commanding 19-7 lead. Ranked 13th nationally, Gus Sako (R-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio) started the run with a 5-2 upset win over All-American Zach Neibert, who is ranked as high as ninth nationally.
Blaise Butler (R-So., Belvidere, Ill.) then scored the key points of the day for Virginia, as he turned and put Sal Mastriani on his back and then pinned him in the middle of the second period, sending the UVa crowd into a frenzy and giving the Cavaliers a lead they would never relinquish, 12-7.
Ranked fourth nationally at 165 pounds, All-American Nick Sulzer (R-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio) pushed his record to 6-0 with a 20-8 domination of No. 19 Chris Moon. Sulzer continued to obliterate the competition; he has scored bonus points in all six of his matches this season.
No. 16 Stephen Doty (R-Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) pushed the team lead to 19-7 with his 4-1 decision over Austin Gabel at 174 pounds. Doty improved to 7-0 on the young season.
The Hokies won the final three bouts, all in narrow decisions, to close to within 19-16. Nick Vetterlein scored an upset win over ninth-ranked Jon Fausey (R-Sr., Dalmatia, Pa.) at 184 pounds with a 4-3 victory. UVa’s Zach Nye (R-So., Enola, Pa.) dropped a 5-3 decision to Virginia Tech’s Chris Penny before Ethan Hayes (R-So., New Lebanon, Ohio) fell 9-7 to No. 14 Ty Walz at heavyweight.
Virginia heads to the Northeast Duals next Saturday (Nov. 30) in Albany, N.Y. The Cavaliers will wrestle Clarion, Lehigh and Rutgers.
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