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This Weekend’s Headlines
• Virginia Tech, ranked seventh in the country at 16-2, will take its 13-match winning streak up north for the Finals of the NWCA National Duals, hosted by Minnesota.
• Seven other teams will converge upon Williams Arena for the event - No. 1 and top seed Oklahoma State, No. 2 and second-seeded Iowa, No. 4 and third-seeded Minnesota, No. 5 and fourth-seeded Ohio State, No. 6 and fifth-seeded Missouri, No. 8 and eighth-seeded Illinois and No. 9 (tie) and seventh-seeded Cornell.
• Tech competed in the NWCA National Duals last year in Ames, Iowa, beating Northern Iowa 20-17 before falling to No. 5 Iowa 31-3. The Hokies won the Corvallis Regional last weekend, beating No. 25 Oklahoma 33-6 and No. 9 Oregon State 20-15.

About Third-Seeded Minnesota
• The host Golden Gophers (13-2) are ranked fourth in the latest NWCA/USA Today/AWN Div. I Coaches Poll and are seeded third at this weekend’s Finals.
• The Gophers’ lone losses are to No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 2 Iowa.
• Tech is 0-3 all-time against Minnesota, last wrestling in 2005. In 2001, the top-ranked Gophers visited Blacksburg and came away with a 42-9 victory. In 2002, Tech visited No. 3 Minnesota and was beaten 46-4. In 2005, the two met in Guilderland Center, N.Y., with the No. 4 Gophers winning 41-7.
• Minnesota’s lineup features nine ranked wrestlers in the latest InterMat Top 20 Poll, including defending national champion Anthony Nelson at heavyweight.

The Matchups
• #1 Oklahoma State vs. #8 Illinois • 7 PM (Eastern)
• #4 Ohio State vs. #5 Missouri • 7 PM (Eastern)
• #3 Minnesota vs. #6 Virginia Tech • 9 PM (Eastern)
• #2 Iowa vs. #7 Cornell • 9 PM (Eastern)

The Format
• Friday will feature two sessions with two matches going on simultaneously. The four losers of Friday’s matches are done. The four winners meet in the semifinals on Saturday. The two winners of those matches advance to the finals while the two losers meet for third place.

The Best of the Best
• This weekend’s action will feature eight teams in the top 10 of the latest national poll, as well as around 60 ranked wrestlers, depending on which poll you use.
• All 10 weight classes will feature at least five ranked competitors (out of eight) while three classes have seven of eight ranked according to Amateur Wrestling News (125, 165, 184).
• For all of the ranked wrestlers scheduled to compete from both the Amateur Wrestling News and InterMat polls, see page 5 of the tournament notes (PDF).

Below are the probable lineups for Tech and Minnesota, as submitted by the coaching staffs:

#7 Virginia Tech (16-2)
125: #5/7 Jarrod Garnett (24-2)
133: #18/NR Erik Spjut (14-9)
141: #12/14 Zach Neibert (15-7)
149: #9/6 Nick Brascetta (25-3)
157: #7/7 Jesse Dong (21-2)
165: #4/4 Pete Yates (27-1)
174: Austin Gabel (17-9)
184: Nick Vetterlein (16-9) OR Sam Law (12-4)
197: Derrick Borlie (17-9) OR Bobby Lavelle (12-9)
285: David Marone (14-8)

#4 Minnesota (13-2)
125: #13/13 David Thorn (9-6)
133: #8/7 Chris Dardanes (12-3)
141: #9/8 Nick Dardanes (19-6)
149: #6/11 Dylan Ness (8-3)
157: Danny Zilverberg (12-7)
165: #14/14 Cody Yohn (18-7)
174: #1/1 Logan Storley (19-1)
184: #5/5 Kevin Steinhaus (20-1)
197: #11/10 Scott Schiller (19-3)
285: #2/2 Tony Nelson (22-1)

Rankings are from InterMat/Amateur Wrestling News

Additionally, several Hokies will compete in the National Collegiate Open at the Arthur Ashe Center in Richmond on Sunday.

125: Matt Peters
141: Michael Gowen
149: Chad Strube (unattached)
157: David Bergida
157: Sal Mastriani (unattached)
165: Chris Moon (unattached)
165: Brooks Morrison
174: John Dickson (unattached)
197: Darren Hankins
285. Dan Garwood
285: Chris Penny (unattached)
285: Ty Walz (unattached)

For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Wrestling).