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

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48 Inside Hokie Sports
We know that. Everyone who has watched
him wrestle knows how good he is.”
Freshman Stan Smeltzer and sophomore
T.J. Allen serve as the backups. Allen won
four matches last season in a limited role.
197 pounds
Haught returns to the Hokies’ lineup
as the team leader and a threat to win an
NCAA title. A year ago, he advanced to the semifinals at this weight class
before losing to Olympic bronze medalist J’Den Cox of Missouri—who
ultimately went on to win the national title. Cox, though, graduated,
along with runner-up Brett Pfarr from Minnesota, so Haught certainly
has an opportunity. The two-time All-American went 28-4 last season.
“It’s pretty obvious what the goal is for him,” Robie said. “He’s got to
set his sights on winning the national title, and he certainly has. We’re
excited to watch him compete. It’s on for Jared. He’s got a chance to
be a three-time All-American and a national champion and the most
successful wrestler to come through Virginia Tech. That’s exciting.
“I know he’s excited. Nobody works harder than that guy, and
nobody is tougher than that guy. He’s chomping at the bit to get back
out there.”
Redshirt sophomore Dylan Cook and freshman John Borst went
into the fall as backups behind Haught. Cook took a redshirt year last
season, while Borst finished his career as a three-time state champion
at Sherando High in Sherando, Virginia.
Heavyweight
Perhaps no loss on Tech’s roster looms bigger than that of Walz, who
served as the heart and soul of the program the past two years. Walz
concluded his career as a three-time All-American, twice finishing
fourth. He went 26-4 last season and won at least 26 matches in all
four years of his career.
The frontrunner to replace Walz is Andrew Dunn, a redshirt
freshman from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
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“I’m excited to see him compete,” Robie said. “It’s truly difficult
to gauge these guys based on what you see every day in practice. You
know what they’re putting into it, but I want to see him compete, and
hopefully that optimism I have for Andrew right now carries over, and
we see that as a finished product when he steps out on the mat.
“He’s a freshman. He’s going to have some good moments and bad
moments. That’s a part of being young, but he’s proven to me that
wrestling is important to him, and he’s willing to commit himself to it.
He’s really done a good job of attaching himself to Ty Walz and training
with Ty [who is helping this season] and trying to absorb everything
that Ty brings to the table.”
Brooks Wilding goes into the season as the backup. Wilding used to
wrestle at 184 and 197, but bulked up to give the Hokies some depth at
heavyweight.
Tech opens the season Nov. 4 against Stanford, and that marks
the start of a difficult slate. In addition to playing Stanford, the
Hokies take on quality programs such as Chattanooga and Central
Michigan, along with Missouri, which heads into the season ranked
No. 5 nationally.
On the ACC level, NC State figures to be the frontrunner, as it returns
a lot of its lineup and gets a couple of guys back from redshirt seasons.
Virginia and North Carolina also will be tough, and Pittsburgh, under a
new coach, could make things interesting.
Tech may not be picked to win the ACC, but Robie and this staff like
this group. The coaches like the combination of experience, youth and
talent—and they welcome the challenge of proving people wrong.
After all, this is a proud program. This group only knows one
thing—winning—and the players and coaches plan on doing just that.
“When you look at how our team sets up, there is going to be a
learning curve, with so many young guys and so many new faces in the
lineup,” Robie said. “It’s going to be difficult to duplicate what we did
the past two years, but I still think we have a very good team. We have
some great individuals. We have some really good young kids that can
do some great things. So I’m excited about that.”