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Inside Hokie Sports
Several weeks ago, members of the Virginia
Tech wrestling team adopted a hashtag for
their Twitter accounts entitled—#AllAboutUs.
Well, the ACC Wrestling Championship
certainly was all about the Hokies.
Seven Tech wrestlers qualified for the
finals in their respective weight classes and
six of them won championships, lifting the
No. 4-ranked Hokies to the team title at
the league tournament, which was held at
Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina
on March 4.
Joey Dance (125 pounds), Solomon
Chishko (149), Zach Epperly (174), Zack
Zavatsky (184), Jared Haught (197) and Ty
Walz (heavyweight) all claimed gold medals.
Sal Mastriani (157) won a silver medal and
Dennis Gustafson (133) won a bronze, giving
the Hokies eight medalists in the 10 weight
classes. As a result, the program won its sixth
ACC title—three tournament titles and three
dual meet titles.
The Hokies, who saw coach Kevin Dresser
resign to take the Iowa State coaching position
Feb. 20, accumulated 93 points, easily beating
host NC State by 29 points. The margin of
victory marked the largest by an ACC team in
a decade.
“I think we showed everyone that it really
is all about us,” said Dance, who won his third
ACC title. “Whatever happened with [Kevin]
Dresser and all that stuff, we didn’t let that
affect us. We were ready to go here at the
ACCs, and we’ll be ready to go at nationals. We
stayed poised and focused the whole time, and
the team looked good today.”
“I think to win the dual meet title and then
win the tournament title says a lot about our
guys, our team and our program,” interim
head coach Tony Robie said. “It says a lot
about our coaching staff and the direction that
we’re going.
“I think our guys have come together in the
last few weeks, and they’re ready to go. They
know what this time of year is about. They’re
seasoned, and they’re prepared. It’s just a
matter of competing and going and taking what
we feel like we’ve earned. It was a good day.”
At 125, Dance, the top seed, beat No. 3 seed
Sean Fausz of NC State 3-1 in sudden victory.
He got a takedown quickly in the extra frame
to get the win and beat Fausz in the finals for
the second straight year.
At 149 pounds, Chishko won his first ACC
title with a 12-7 decision over No. 3 seed
Troy Heilmann of North Carolina. He got
an early takedown and never trailed, adding
a takedown in the second period and three
takedowns in the third period to pull away.
Chishko’s win sealed the team title for the
Hokies, and the remaining Tech wrestlers set
about to getting some payback.
At 174 pounds, Epperly won a tight match
against North Carolina’s Ethan Ramos,
avenging last year’s loss to Ramos in the finals
and claiming his first ACC title. Epperly, the
top seed, got a takedown in the third period to
grab a 4-3 lead and then refused to let Ramos
escape, riding him for the final 20 seconds of
the match.
“This is huge,” Epperly said. “This is
something I’ve been working toward the past
two years. I had a sour taste my first year
getting third and then had a sour taste last
year losing in the finals. I felt like I was a small
part of us losing last year, so this is huge.”
Zavatsky survived a hard-fought match at
184 against NC State’s Michael Macchiavello
to win his second consecutive ACC title. He
got a first-period takedown and an escape
in the second period and made it stand in a
3-2 win, avenging a loss to Macchiavello in
Blacksburg on Feb. 11.
“I know he’s a brawler,” Zavatsky said. “I
really wanted to get that first takedown, and
after that, I just stayed in solid position. I
could have taken more attempts and tried to
get more points, but he’s a strong guy and he
stays in good positions, so I wanted to hold my
ground and control the match.”
At 197, Haught got two takedowns in the
first period against North Carolina’s Daniel
Chaid to grab a lead that he would not
relinquish, beating Chaid 6-3. Walz, Tech’s
heavyweight capped a near-perfect ending
for the Hokies, getting revenge for an early-
season loss to Duke’s Jacob Kasper. Walz
used two first-period takedowns to grab the
Six Tech
wrestlers won
individual
titles in their
respective
weight
classes,
carrying
the Tech
program
to its
sixth ACC
team title
by
Jimmy
Robertson
ALL
ABOUT
THE HOKIES
Wrestling Championship
