VT Wrestling Team Wallops Wolfpack, Finishes Perfect 3-0 at Moss Arts Center

The Moss Arts Center might merely be a home away from home for the Hokies' wrestling team, but it seems as if the setting suits the squad just fine.

Tech finished its trio of matches at the center on a high note against N.C. State Sunday, beating the Wolfpack 29-9 and going a perfect 3-0 on the big stage.

"I'm starting to like the Moss Arts Center more and more with every match," said head coach Kevin Dresser.

As well he should. After earning a close victory over UVA last weekend, the Hokies manhandled No. 13 Pittsburgh 26-10 on Friday and won eight of 10 matches against the up-and-coming Wolfpack in two of their finer performances of the season.

"I thought we were so-so against UVA, and then we did a good job Friday night against Pitt and we kind of one upped it today," Dresser said. "And I'll tell you what, that's a good team. They're kind of on a roll right now, I think they'll be a top 20 team next week in the rankings, but we put it to them today and that's what we're supposed to do.

"That's what wrestling is, you put it to people, and the worse you beat people up and make them look bad, the more points you get in this sport, that's why I like it."

The crowd on hand at the center was certainly smaller Sunday afternoon than the team's sellout against the rival Wahoos last weekend, but Dresser said they more than made up with enthusiasm.

"We probably had a few less people in there today because it's a 65 degree and sunny day in Southwest Virginia, so I'm sure we had less people than last Sunday," Dresser said. "But the people who showed up were a lot louder because we gave them a reason to get loud. We didn't do that as much last week against UVA, but we did this time."

One of that crowd's loudest moments came after Devin Carter, the third-ranked 141-pounder in the nation, pinned N.C. State's Sam Speno just 2:40 into the match, a result that left him a little room to celebrate afterward.

Carter took an extra few seconds after being declared the victor to exhort the crowd to get louder, and they heartily roared their approval.

"It's nuts, it's pretty loud, there's a lot of lights on you, obviously they're not surrounding you, but it's nice to have one way to look when you try to pump up the crowd," Carter said. "It's something I started last year and when you get a big win, you kind of pump up the crowd for everyone that's going to wrestle after you."

His efforts paid dividends. Carter's pin increased Tech's lead to 9-0 after an 8-2 decision by No. 17 Kevin Norstrem at 133 pounds started things off.

The result looks all the more impressive considering that Carter just had a knee scope last week, keeping him out of the team's meet with the Cavaliers. But after earning a technical fall against the Panthers and topping that result Sunday, it seems as if the knee is feeling alright.

"I definitely think I'm feeling 100 percent right now," Carter said. "Obviously, I had that knee surgery, but now I'm feeling good."

His coach isn't quite buying that level of optimism, but he still is certainly seeing progress.

"Devin's nuts, I disagree with him that he's where he needs to be, but he's not that far off," Dresser said. "I never doubt him, but we've got to make a step and we've got to get him healthy to do that."

Up next, No. 10 Sal Mastriani took the stage against Sam Melikian at 149 pounds, and the match provided plenty of drama.

Mastriani was down 6-5 heading into the final period, but scored a reversal to reclaim the lead at 7-6 with just a few seconds remaining.

But the referee awarded Melikian with a reversal of his own as the buzzer sounded, temporarily giving him an 8-7 advantage and the win.

Upon further review, the call was waved off, securing the narrow 7-6 decision for Mastriani.

Mastriani says he never doubted that things would go in his favor based on when he scored his final points.

"When I was looking at the clock, I saw one second left, and I can calculate one second in my head when I'm wrestling, so for that call to not be overturned, I would've been surprised," Mastriani said. "But I want to thank the crowd, the last 30 seconds, they did a really awesome job motivating me to want to win that match when things were tough."

Things weren't very suspenseful from that point forward. The Hokies won four of their next five matches, with the lead even swelling to a 24-point cushion after one match.

The lone interesting contest left on the docket was a matchup of each squad's heavyweights.

Tech's Ty Walz is no slouch at 285 pounds, where he's ranked eighth in the nation, but he was tasked with going up against the top man in the country in the class in Nick Gwiazdowski.
Walz kept things close early, but as he tried to pursue a late takedown to tie the score in the third period, Gwiazdowski saw an opening and he took it. He grabbed Walz's leg and pinned him with only 20 seconds remaining in the match.

Dresser says he can't fault his heavyweight for coming up just short against such a gifted opponent.

"He might be, pound for pound, and there's a lot of pounds in Gwiazdowski, but he might be one of the best guys in the nation," Dresser said. "I love the way he wrestles, I love the way he carries himself wrestling, he is a tough customer. With that said, I think Ty Walz made a lot of progress, I think he got closer to him. He got pinned in a scramble trying to get a takedown, but that guy's really good, we might wrestle him again and never beat him. I like that we're getting closer and closer to him."

Gwiazdowski mimicked Carter after the match was over, putting on an extra little display to some lustrous boos from the crowd, but with his team down 26-9, he didn't have too much to celebrate.

Tech closed out the meet with an 11-5 decision courtesy of No. 4 Joey Dance at 125 pounds to finish off the Pack.

"I think this weekend we made a big statement, beating Pitt and beating up on NC State," Mastriani said.

The team also made quite the statement about the viability of the Moss Arts Center as a space for exciting wrestling matches, and Dresser can't wait to get back to it for more.

"We're definitely going to schedule two next year, I don't know about three, we'll kind of look at it," Dresser said. "I think we've kind of educated everybody and the crowds should be really good again."

The staff at the center share his enthusiasm.

"We just think it was a great success," said Ruth Waalkes, the center's executive director. "We really felt everything went off well, the audience was respectful of the space, and we think we got some people to see what an incredible resource we have in the center."

Waalkes isn't quite as willing as Dresser to declare more matches a done deal, but she says that they're looking closely at the possibility.

"We're really hopeful we can make it work," Waalkes said. "We're putting the finishing touches on our performance schedule, and once that's nailed down, we can sit down and figure it out."

But in the near term, the team is getting ready to head back to Cassell Coliseum for one final home meet against Duke before the season's final stretch kicks in.

"I'm excited to get back to Cassell, I love Cassell too," Dresser said. "Everybody needs to come out, it's free, free, free, it's the last time you're going to see Devin Carter wrestle, and what a treat it's been for Hokies fans to watch him the last five years, so it's going to be a great weekend."

The team has less than a week to nurse some of its bumps and bruises, and Dresser is hoping the squad can stay as healthy as possible as they prep for Senior Night.

"We have to heal up this week and try to get a couple good workouts in, but we're not going to have much time to prepare for Duke," Dresser said. "But I think we're in pretty good shape overall, we just need to be healthier on Saturday."

If they can keep everyone on the mat and win next weekend, the Hokies will finish the season as regular season champs in the ACC.

But they're also still firmly keeping their eyes on the real prize: a third straight conference tourney crown.

"Right now we've got guys kind of dinged up, so just going forward, getting everyone healthy and feeling good and everybody individually improving, I think we're going to be a dangerous team," Mastriani said. "I'm excited for when that time comes, and hopefully it will be next weekend against Duke, and that will be a sight to see."