Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 2 | October 2017

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46 Inside Hokie Sports
“He’s certainly good enough to do that,
and he’s got to take advantage of the
opportunities in the room with his training
partners and with his coaches. He’s in a
great situation because Molinaro and Frayer
were 149-pounders, so for me, looking at
his situation, it’s as good as it’s been from a
training standpoint.
“He’s done a pretty good job, especially
this fall, just getting his body in shape and
making sure he’s ready to go. I expect big things out of him this year.”
The Hokies lack depth at this weight class, though freshman Brendan
Grammes, a McLean, Virginia native, won two Virginia Group 6A state
titles during his prep career.
157 pounds
Tech’s roster features three talented 157-pounders,
as Robie seeks to replace Mastriani, who went 20-9 and
earned his first All-America honor last season. The trio
consists of redshirt junior Ryan Blees, redshirt freshman
B.C. LaPrade and freshman sensation Mekhi Lewis.
Blees, who transferred from Oklahoma State three
years ago, went 12-5 in limited action last season, and
LaPrade went 19-10 while wrestling unattached. Lewis,
out of Bound Brook, New Jersey, ranked as one of the
top recruits in the nation as a senior in high school.
This battle figures to continue well into fall
workouts, but that actually is a good thing. Coaches like
competition, and everyone at this weight class figures to
get even better because of it.
“It’s hard to say how it’s going to pan out right now,”
Robie said. “I think B.C. and Ryan have improved a lot
since last year, and Mekhi Lewis has been impressive
since he showed up on campus. He’s by far the best
athlete on our team.
“It’s really a weight class that is a little of a question mark in terms of
who is going to be the guy, but I feel good about any of these three guys
if we have to put them out on the mat.”
165 pounds
This season marks the return of David McFadden, who took a
redshirt season last year to recover fully from a torn ACL suffered in the
2016 NCAA Championships. As a freshman at those Championships,
McFadden earned All-America honors, which capped a 27-11 campaign.
McFadden has recovered fully from the knee injury, and Robie
expects him to take the next step in his development.
“David has looked fantastic,” Robie said. “He really has. He’s a guy
that’s a student of the sport of wrestling. He’s constantly trying to
improve and learn and add new things to his wrestling. His wrestling
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