March 23, 2013
Tech wraps up action at NCAA Wrestling Championships
Yates' fourth-place finish highlights the tournament

photo courtesy Chris Gluth, Mirror Image Photography

DES MOINES, Iowa (hokiesports.com) - Four Virginia Tech wrestlers wrapped up action at the 2013 NCAA Wrestling Championships in the All-America placement matches Saturday morning inside Wells Fargo Arena. Their performance helped the Hokies finish with a program-best 43.5 points and finish in 10th place, the highest finish in program history.

Jarrod Garnett lost both of his matches Saturday to take sixth place at 125 pounds. In his first match of the day, he led sixth-seeded Nahshon Garret of Cornell 8-2 early on, but Garrett turned him twice and rode him for the third period to pick up the 13-9 win over the Tech senior. He dropped his fifth-place match to ninth-seeded Trent Sprenkle of North Dakota State, 7-2. Garnett finishes his career with 126 wins, tied for the fourth-most in school history with an All-America medal and three ACC titles.

Pete Yates took it to unseeded Michael Moreno of Iowa State, turning him twice in the first period to eventually roll to the 12-2 major decision. In the third-place match, Yates couldn’t get past fourth-seeded Tyler Caldwell of Oklahoma State, falling 5-1. Yates finishes his storied Tech career with 131 wins, the second most in school history (two behind Sean Gray) with two All-America medals and two ACC titles.

Zach Neibert fell in his lone match of the day at 141 pounds, a 9-5 decision to eighth-seeded Nick Dardanes of Minnesota, to take eight place in the All-America round. Nick Brascetta dropped a 5-3 decision to 10th-seeded Ivan Lopouchanski at 149 pounds to take eighth place and earn All-America honors.

The four All-Americans for the Hokies mark a new school record, eclipsing the previous best of two, which happened three previous times. Tech’s 43.5 points are a new program high, surpassing the 39.0 points scored last year as Tech tied for 11th - a program best.

Below are the results for the Hokies participating.

125: #5 seed Jarrod Garnett (5-3; SIXTH PLACE; ALL-AMERICAN)
First Round: lost to Dominic Parisi (Appalachian State), 7-6
Consolations: def. Nick Soto (Chattanooga), Fall 4:11
Consolations: def. Evan Silver (Stanford), 9-7 (SV)
Consolations: def. Steve Mitcheff (Kent State), 8-3
Consolations: def. #8 seed Matt Snyder (Virginia), MD 16-5
Consolations: def. David Thorn (Minnesota), Fall 3:56
Consolations: lost to #6 seed Nahshon Garrett (Cornell), 13-9
Fifth-Place Match: lost to #9 seed Trent Sprenkle (North Dakota State), 7-2

133: Erik Spjut (0-2)
First Round: lost to #6 seed Nathan McCormick (Missouri), 3-0
Consolations: lost to #11 seed George DiCamillo (Virginia), 6-1

141: Zach Neibert (4-2; EIGHTH PLACE; ALL-AMERICAN)
First Round: def. #11 seed Michael Nevinger (Cornell), 3-1 (TB-1)
Second Round: lost to #6 seed Undrakhbayar Khishignyam (Citadel), 3-1
Consolations: def. Brandon Nelson (Purdue), 7-3
Consolations: def. Trevor Melde (Rutgers), 4-2 (SV)
Consolations: def. #9 seed Richard Durson (Franklin & Marshall), 6-3
Consolations: lost to #5 Evan Henderson (North Carolina), 7-4
Seventh-Place Match: lost to #8 seed Nick Dardanes (Minnesota), 9-5

149: #8 seed Nick Brascetta (4-3; EIGHTH PLACE; ALL-AMERICAN)
First Round: def. Brandon Richardson (Wyoming), 7-4
Second Round: lost to #9 seed Jake Suefloehn (Nebraska), 4-2
Consolations: def. Josh Roosa (Bloomsburg), 6-2
Consolations: def. Josh Wilson (UVU), 5-3
Consolations: def. Kevin Tao (American), 5-3
Consolations: lost to #7 Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State), 8-5
Seventh-Place Match: lost to #10 Ivan Lopouchanski (Purdue), 5-3

157: #7 seed Jesse Dong (3-2)
First Round: def. Luke Smith (Central Michigan), MD 8-0
Second Round: lost to Josh Demas (Ohio State), 4-3
Consolations: def. #9 seed Frank Hickman (Bloomsburg), MD 10-0
Consolations: def. Nestor Taffur (Boston), 9-4
Consolations: lost to #12 seed Jedd Moore (Virginia), 7-3 (SV)

165: #3 seed Pete Yates (4-1; ALL-AMERICAN)
First Round: def. Mark Lewandowski (Buffalo), 5-3
Second Round: def. Zach Toal (Missouri), 7-0
Quarterfinals: def. #11 seed Cody Yohn (Minnesota), 5-3 (SV-2)
Semifinals: lost to #2 seed David Taylor (Penn State), Fall 3:24
Consolations: def. Michael Moreno (Iowa State), MD 12-2
Third-Place Match: lost to #4 seed Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State), 5-1

174: Austin Gabel (2-2)
Pigtail: lost to Lee Helbig (Wyoming), 5-3 (SV)
Consolation Pigtails: def. Sam Wheeler (Kent State), 10-6
Consolations: def. #12 seed Matthew Miller (Navy), 5-1
Consolations: lost to Matt Mougin (NIU), Inj. Def. (1:21)

184: Nick Vetterlein (0-2)
First Round: lost to #5 seed Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota), MD 10-1
Consolations: lost to Boaz Beard (Iowa State), MD 9-0

197: Derrick Borlie (2-2)
First Round: lost to #3 seed Matt Wilps (Pitt), 4-1
Consolations: def. Bryce Barnes (Army), 8-6
Consolations: def. Nick Whitenburg (Eastern Michigan), 6-1
Consolations: lost to Mario Gonzalez (Illinois), 4-2

285: David Marone (1-2)
First Round: lost to #7 seed Connor Medbery (Wisconsin), 5-2
Consolations: def. Daniel Miller (Navy), 5-4 (TB-1)
Consolations: lost to #8 seed Mike McClure (MSU), 3-2

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

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