ACC Title on the line, #8 VT goes on the Road to face #3 NCSU Friday 7pm

The Monster NCSU Preview

Gonna write this early again as i dont know what the end of my week will be like. If youre following along, i dont need to remind you what this one counts for, but just in case, the winner wins the ACC and likely gets the championship/1st consolation Bowl matchup (likely to be iowa). With that in mind this is going to be very close. Lets break it down:
Rankings are Flowrestling/Intermat

  • 125 #3/3 Joey Dance vs. Sean Fausz -
  • This is one the hokies have to mark down as a gimme and prior to Fausz upset of lambert, i felt a lot better about it. Since mid season, Fausz has steadily improved, a SV loss to Klimara then a win over jeske. Dance should be the winner here, the big question is, do we need bonus points? If so, you have to like this match as one of the better chances to earn them, and its still a tough call. For the prediction I'm saying Dance by decision. This match also tells us a bit where joeys at mentally. If we see a loose wrestler, ready to rock and roll, im going to feel even better about march.
    Tech 3-0

  • 133 Dennis Gustafson vs. Jamal Morris-
  • So i put dennis on upset watch and he goes out, shuts out his opponent from edinboro en route to a TF. Shows what i know. Morris is a middle of the road guy that i think Dennis has to beat if he wants that 3 seed (may already be out of reach). Total toss up here and really dependent on the form we see from gustafson. Also think he must take the first good committed shot, because he has not wrestled well from behind. To win the dual, the hokies have to get the decision here. I'll say gus by decision, but its tenuous at best
    Tech 6-0

  • 141 #8/8 Solomon Chishko vs. #3/3 Kevin Jack -
  • The first Monster matchup of the night. Solomon will tote a fresh new ranking into Raleigh and will have to defend it against national finalist contender Kevin Jack. Last we saw jack, he was dashing the championship dreams of devin carter in the NCAA quarterfinals. I'm actually taking that loss a little better now as carter has rolled with jack and can provide a little feel feedback to Sully. Sully is scorching hot right now and even though on paper its an upset, I wont bet against him (Jack is just as red hot,since his unexpected loss to Bleise). Their common opponents from wrestlestats are super close too. Gonna be a homer here, Chishko by decision with the upset.
    Tech 9-0.

  • 149 Sal Mastriani vs. Beau Donahue -
  • Swing match where I've got no idea what to expect. Like gus, im gonna put this one on sals mental game. Skills wise, Sal can win this thing, and he could even push it close to a major if he's sharp. But his focus and conditioning have been all over the map (mostly out of his control with the ankle) In consecutive weeks, he took steps forward with WVU UVA and Pitt, then stepped back against lugo (who to his credit could be a phenom freshman). Having done the entire preview, i circled back to this and predicted, a loss for sal, but i think this could flip.
    Tech 9-3

  • 157 #6/4 Nick Brascetta vs. #4/5 Tommy Gantt -
  • So ive flipflopped on this match back and fourth about 80 times in the last 8 weeks. Its so darn lose. Ultimately what i'm afraid of is nick's gas tank may be lacking. I have no idea what shape he's in come the end of the third or in SV. Hard to do like wrestler comparisons with nick having so few matches. In non-homer fashion, I'm calling Gantt by decision here, but i think its real tight and could easily be flipped in March at ACCs.
    Tech 9-6

  • 165 #13/12 David McFadden vs. #6/4 Max Roskopf -
  • Well we're starting to see a pattern emerge with David McFadden. Slow starts leading to breakneck third period comebacks. A win is a win but thats a tendency that comes back to bite you some days. and its awful to match up with Roskopf who loves to ride in a variety of ways (he's also strong as an ox). I was very impressed with Roskopf at the All Star match, before he started climbing the rankings, and i continue to see growth from him. Roskopf is going to want to slow this match down and drag it out while McFadden wants pedal to the floor action. Interesting style clash. Ultimately i have to pick Roskopf as i think he rides away about 3 mins of the match
    Tech 9-9

  • 174 #5/3 Zach Epperly vs. Nicky Hall -
  • Another Gotta have it match, and the other decent chance at bonus points should we need them. Gone from last year is Renda, who's up at 184, and Hall takes his place. Theyve essentially done a flip flop at 174 184 from a year ago and it seems to be working better for both wrestlers. Epp is probably about 5 points better on an average day, and i think we see a real scramble in the third for Bonus points here. Ultimately i think the home crowd allows Hall to slow things down, Tech By decision.
    Tech 12-9

  • 184 #5/7 Zack Zavatsky vs #15/18 Pete Renda -
  • This ones got trap match written all over it. Depending on how high ZZ climbs, he'll have that big ranking and target on his back. Renda was underranked last year due to that meat grinder at 174 in the ACC. This year he's really improved and has some very solid wins under his belt against pretty much the middle of the top 20 in 184. ZZ is the better wrestler, but i get that uneasy feeling like i did when he dropped that gimme to Utley from UNC at the hokie open. Ill predict a win here, but this one could get flipped. Upset watch for sure.
    Tech 15-9

  • 197 #12/7 Jared Haught vs. #18/15 Michael Boykin -
  • Jared Haughts got his groove back and thats fantastic for the hokies. Last year Ness and Boykin were the two conference opponents Haught could regularly beat and i dont see nay reason to change that. Boykin did have a moster win over smith 2 weekends ago in SV 3, a marathon match, so his conditioning is on point, but i just like my boy, Jared Haught in this one, Haught by decision
    Tech 18-9

  • 285 #3/3 Ty Walz vs. #1/1 Nick Gwiazdowski -
  • So this is the one ty has worked all offseason for. I hope he doesnt go in extra tight, but im not feeling so hot for this one. I will cheer my brains out for Ty, but Gwiaz is a once in a generation type HWT. He has killed Ty in the past on counter offense either on broken holds on Ty's shot attempts, or defense and re-attacks. For walz to win, he wil need to cleanly and quickly finish every shot. He will also need to get out quickly, as Gwiaz is super heavy and exhausting on top. Ultimately i think Ty falls by a 5-3 score, but its tantilizingly close, with ACCs just around the corner.
    Tech 18-12

So there you have it, tech by a 6-4 match advantage. Based on my preview, we are most likely to "throw one back" at 133, 141, 184 and 197 (and probably not favored at 133 or 141). A bonus point will be a big deal in this one, as both teams are so closely matched. And a pin blows this thing wide open, cause i dont see that much separation. If dance hits that pancake or bundle late, ill be ecstatic.

Still i think the Hokies knock off NCSU in dramatic fashion. Having said that, this is the type of dual where the preview is meaningless, just like PSU.

The Match Can be viewed Free through NCSU's version of Hokiesports:
http://gopack.com/watch/?Live=162

Go Hokies!

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“You got one guy going boom, one guy going whack, and one guy not getting in the endzone.”
― John Madden (describing VT's offense?)

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“You got one guy going boom, one guy going whack, and one guy not getting in the endzone.”
― John Madden (describing VT's offense?)

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“You got one guy going boom, one guy going whack, and one guy not getting in the endzone.”
― John Madden (describing VT's offense?)

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"...When we step on that field, they bleed like we bleed and we're gonna show the world."
-Corey Marshall

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Whadya mean I can't take off my sweater? I'm HOT!

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Whadya mean I can't take off my sweater? I'm HOT!

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“You got one guy going boom, one guy going whack, and one guy not getting in the endzone.”
― John Madden (describing VT's offense?)

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Outspoken team cake advocate. Hates terrapins. Resident Macho Man Gif Poster. Distant cousin to Dork Magic. Frequently misspells words.

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My wife takes the kids and leaves the house while I watch my Hokie games.........nuff said