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BLACKSBURG - Bolstered by impressive performances from its ranked wrestlers, the 12th-ranked Virginia Tech wrestling squad improved to 3-0 on the young season with a pair of easy wins Sunday inside Cassell Coliseum. The Hokies opened the day by winning nine of 10 matches to down Gardner-Webb 36-4 and then won eight of 10 bouts in a 33-7 victory over No. 23 North Dakota State.

After rolling in its opening bout of the day, Tech took to the mat against NDSU, which took No. 11 Virginia to the wire on Saturday. Tech got off to a good start when fifth-ranked Joey Dance downed No. 13 Josh Rodriguez, 6-3 at 125 pounds. Kevin Norstrem was rolling at 133 pounds before his opponent had to take an injury default to give Tech a 9-0 lead. The Bison got four points back with a major decision at 141 pounds, but second-ranked Devin Carter picked up a second-period pin to make it 15-4. It was the senior’s 33rd career pin and 92nd career win.

At 157 pounds, Sal Mastriani continued his torrid start to the season with a 14-4 major decision. This came on the heels of a pin in the day’s first match. The redshirt sophomore is 6-0 on the season with five bonus-point victories. Chad Strube gutted out a 7-2 win at 165 pounds, getting out of several tight scrambles late to secure the win. That started a string of big matches down the stretch as five ranked wrestlers took to the mat in the final four bouts.

Zach Epperly, ranked 13th at 174 pounds, used a late takedown to seal his 6-4 win over No. 14 Kurtis Julson, but 13th-ranked Hayden Zillmer used a close takedown to knock off Tech’s Austin Gabel 3-2 at 184 pounds. Jared Haught rolled past Collin Sohn at 197 pounds, picking up a technical fall late in the third period. The final match saw 12th-ranked Ty Walz get a takedown with less than a minute left to upset 10th-ranked Evan Knutson, 3-2.

Tech will be back in action next weekend, hosting No. 4 Ohio State in Cassell Coliseum at 2 p.m. The event is free for all as the program attempts to set a new attendance record. The match will also be broadcast online on ESPN3.

#12 Virginia Tech (2-0) 36, Gardner-Webb (0-2) 4
125: #5 Joey Dance (VT) maj. dec. Cortez Starkes, 15-4
133: #18 Kevin Norstrem (VT) dec. Tyler Ziegler, 7-2
141: Jerry Ronnau (VT) dec. Ryan Hull, 8-3
149: #2 Devin Carter (VT) maj. dec. Ryan Mosley, 19-7
157: Sal Mastriani (VT) fall Kyle Ash, 3:50
165: #20 Austin Trott (GW) maj. dec. David Bergida, 10-0
174: #13 Zach Epperly (VT) tech fall Christian Maroni, 16-1 (5:39)
184: Austin Gabel (VT) dec. Gray Jones, 7-3
197: Jared Haught (VT) tech fall Terry Henderson, 15-0 (3:41)
285: #12 Ty Walz (VT) dec. Justin Kozera, 5-3

Referee: Gerard Harrison

#23 North Dakota State (1-1) 38, Gardner-Webb (0-2) 8
125: #13 Josh Rodriguez (NDSU) maj. dec. Cortez Starkes, 16-5
133: Justin Scherkenbach (NDSU) maj. dec. Tyler Ziegler, 9-1
141: #20 Mitch Bengtson (NDSU) fall Ryan Hull, 0:31
149: Clay Ream (NDSU) maj. dec. Ryan Mosley, 9-1
157: Kyle Ash (GW) dec. Steven Keogh, 9-5
165: #20 Austin Trott (GW) tech fall Trevor Chavez, 15-0 (2:14)
174: #14 Kurtis Julson (NDSU) fall Christian Maroni, 2:10
184: #13 Hayden Zillmer (NDSU) tech fall Gray Jones, 19-4 (7:00)
197: Collin Sohn (NDSU) fall Terry Henderson, 4:29
285: #10 Evan Knutson (NDSU) dec. Justin Kozera, 10-3

Referees: Gerard Harrison and Eric Eckerman

#12 Virginia Tech (3-0) 33, #23 North Dakota State (1-2) 7
125: #5 Joey Dance (VT) dec. #13 Josh Rodriguez, 6-3
133: #18 Kevin Norstrem (VT) inj. def. Justin Scherkenbach, 2:02
141: #20 Mitch Bengtson (NDSU) maj. dec. Jerry Ronnau, 14-1
149: #2 Devin Carter (VT) fall Clay Ream, 4:36
157: Sal Mastriani (VT) maj. dec. Steven Keogh, 14-4
165: Chad Strube (VT) dec. Anthony Caputo, 7-2
174: #13 Zach Epperly (VT) dec. #14 Kurtis Julson, 6-4
184: #13 Hayden Zillmer (NDSU) dec. Austin Gabel, 3-2
197: Jared Haught (VT) tech fall Collin Sohn, 17-1 (6:30)
285: #12 Ty Walz (VT) dec. #10 Evan Knutson, 3-2

Referee: Eric Eckerman
Attendance: 719

Additionally, several Tech wrestlers competed Sunday in the Wolfpack Open, hosted by NC State. Three Hokies placed at the event, led by Jake Spengler who took second at 157 pounds. David Reck (197) and Dan Garwood (285) both took third. Below are all the results from the day’s action

125: Brandon Olsen (unattached) - 3-2; SIXTH PLACE
Second Round: def. Michael Beck (MD), 6-1
Quarterfinals: lost to Nick Herrmann (UVA), TF 17-0
Consolations: def. Anthony Bosco (UNC), 6-3
Consolations: Michael Beck (MD), 9-6
Fifth-Place Match: lost to Dalton Henderson (VMI), 4-0

141: Nick Anderson - 1-1
First Round: def. James McCord (Davidson), 7-2
Second Round: lost to Alfred Bannister (MD), inj. def. (4:04)
Forfeited out

149: Solomon Chishko (unattached) - 1-2
First Round: def. Anderson Pope (UNC), 11-4
Second Round: lost to Alexander Richardson (ODU), 7-2
Consolations: lost to Derrick Evanovich (MD) inj. def.

149: Taylor Misuna (unattached) - 1-2
First Round: def. Codi Rothermel (Newberry), 11-4
Second Round: lost to Kevin Birmingham (Davidson), 7-5 (SV)
Consolations: lost to Zachary Finesilver (Duke), fall 6:50

149: Chad Saunders (unattached) - 1-2
First Round: def. Jake Krall (VMI), MD 12-3
Second Round: lost to Cohl Fulk (NCSU), 8-1
Consolations: lost to Marcus Cain (Duke), 5-0

149: Brent Waterman - 2-2
First Round: won by forfeit over Joe Jarrells (VMI)
Second Round: lost to Rodney Shepard (NCSU), 4-1
Consolations: def. Anderson Pope (UNC), 3-1
Consolations: lost to Jake DeAngelo (NCSU), 6-0

157: Jake Spengler (unattached) - 4-1; SECOND PLACE
First Round: def. Chad Wood (Newberry), 9-3
Second Round: def. Daniel Luty (Campbell), 7-3
Quarterfinals: def. Tobias Hague (MD), 5-3
Semifinals: def. Robert Henderson (UNC), 6-5
Championship: lost to Immmanuel Kerr-Brown (Duke), 12-5

157: Justus Weaver (unattached) - 1-2
First Round: lost to Immmanuel Kerr-Brown (Duke), TF 21-3
Consolations: def. Joey DiMartino (UNC-Pembroke), 7-5
Consolations: lost to Milo Shelton (UNC-Pembroke), 11-9 (SV)

174: Tae Leary - 2-2
Second Round: lost to Nathaniel Powers (Davidson), 4-2
Consolations: def. Konner Pritchard (Davidson), 3-1 (SV)
Consolations: def. Joe Balboni (ODU), 6-5
Consolations: lost to Terrence Zaleski (UNC-Pembroke), 10-4

197: David Reck - 2-1; THIRD PLACE
Second Round: def. Scott Marmoll (UNC), 6-2
Quarterfinals: def. Derrick Maisonet (NCSU), 9-3
Semifinals: lost to Conner Hartmann (Duke), 6-0
Third-Place Match: def. Cody Brundage (Newberry), 10-3

285: Dan Garwood - 4-1; THIRD PLACE
First Round: Ed Isola (Davidson), fall 2:48
Second Round: def. Daniel Adkins (Newberry), 3-2
Quarterfinals: def. Juan Adams (VMI), 3-1 (SV)
Semifinals: lost to Nick Gwiazdowski (NCSU), fall 4:59
Thirrd-Place Match: def. Connor Tolley (Chattanooga), 7-1

285: Brandon Taylor - 1-2
First Round: def. Matt Colter (Newberry), 3-2
Second Round: lost to Connor Tolley (Chattanooga), 4-2 (SV)
Consolations: lost to Matt Tourdot (ODU), 11-5

For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Wrestling