North Carolina
Virginia Tech
Tar Heels Fall At Virginia Tech
January 18, 2014 | Wrestling
BLACKSBURG, Va. --- Junior Evan Henderson improved to 24-3 on the year but the North Carolina wrestling team dropped its Atlantic Coast Conference opener 29-3 to No. 16 Virginia Tech Friday night at Cassell Coliseum. The Tar Heels lost a number of tightly contested bouts at the lower weights before the Hokies pulled away late in the dual.
No. 20 Nathan Kraisser and No. 19 Joey Dance were even after three periods at 125, but the Hokie freshman scored a takedown with three seconds left in the first overtime period to win 4-2. Virginia Tech made it 6-0 with Dennis Gustafson's 10-3 victory over Troy Heilmann at 135.
No. 6 Henderson put the Tar Heels on the board with a 1-0 victory over Erik Spjut at 141, as the junior All-America stayed in control the entire bout and used a second-period escape to score the lone point. From there it was all Hokies, however, as the hosts won at the final seven weights to secure their first ACC win of 2014.
Christian Barber battled No. 20 Zach Neibert closely at 149 before falling 4-0 after a late two-point near fall. Jake Crawford led 4-2 early at 157 but Sal Mastriani used three late takedowns to rally for an 8-6 victory.
At 165, John Michael Staudenmayer had a takedown in the final seconds of his bout with Chris Moon but did not get the necessary near fall points and came up just short, 4-3. After Scott Marmoll lost 7-2 at 174, Alex Utley fell to No. 17 Nick Vetterlein at 184, 7-5.
Virginia Tech dominated the final two weights, scoring a pair of major decisions at 197 and 285 to complete the 29-3 victory.
Carolina makes its Chapel Hill debut Saturday night as the Tar Heels host No. 24 Stanford at Carmichael Arena at 7 p.m. Admission is free, and there will be plenty of promotions and giveaways for fans in attendance.
No. 16 Virginia Tech (12-2, 1-1 ACC) 29, North Carolina (5-5, 0-1 ACC) 3
125: #19 Joey Dance (VT) dec. #20 Nathan Kraisser, 4-2 (SV) - VT leads 3-0
133: Dennis Gustafson (VT) dec. Troy Heilmann, 10-3 - VT leads 6-0
141: #6 Evan Henderson (NC) dec. Erik Spjut, 1-0 - VT leads 6-3
149: #20 Zach Neibert (VT) dec. Christian Barber, 4-0 - VT leads 9-3
157: Sal Mastriani (VT) dec. Jake Crawford, 8-6 - VT leads 12-3
165: Chris Moon (VT) dec. John Staudenmayer, 4-3 - VT leads 15-3
174: John Dickson (VT) dec. Scott Marmoll, 7-2 - VT leads 18-3
184: #17 Nick Vetterlein (VT) dec. Alex Utley, 7-5 - VT leads 21-3
197: Chris Penny (VT) maj. dec. Frank Abbondanza, 14-3 - VT leads 25-3
285: #20 Ty Walz (VT) maj. dec. Bob Coe, 20-7 - VT wins 29-3
Players Mentioned
