Jan. 18, 2009

Tech rallies past Rutgers to remain undefeated

pin by D.J. Bruce at 197 pounds highlighted a big comeback as the Virginia Tech wrestling team rallied for a 24-21 win over Rutgers Sunday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum. Tech trailed 21-12 with three bouts remaining, but battled hard to win the dual meet and move to 12-0 on the year.

After losing four matches in a row to fall behind, Tommy Spellman beat McPaul Ogbonna 6-1 at 184 pounds to bring the Hokies within six points with two matches left. Bruce whipped the crowd into a frenzy with a first-period pin of Karim Mahmoud at 197 pounds to tie the match up. Bruce, who has won seven matches in a row, took down Mahmoud and locked up a cradle early. Mahmoud squirmed and wiggled, but was finally pinned at the 1:39 mark.

Virginia Wrestling Pounds Appalachian State, 35-9

The Virginia wrestling team won the final eight weight classes in coasting to a 35-9 victory Sunday over Appalachian State at Memorial Gymnasium. Virginia evens its dual-meet record at 7-7, while Appalachian State drops to 5-10.

No. 17 Rocco Caponi (Sr., Uniontown, Ohio) scored a 2-0 win over Dylan Temple at 184 pounds as he won his 102nd career match to move into a third-place tie on the all-time wins ledger at Virginia. He now is tied with Jim Harshaw (1996-99) and Matt Roth (1995-99) for third and needs 10 wins to reach second place.

Maryland Wrestling Goes 1-1 Sunday in Nebraska

The University of Maryland wrestling team split a pair of duals in Nebraska Sunday, defeating South Dakota State, 29-9, before losing to host, fourth-ranked Nebraska, 26-13.

Maryland (4-7-1) had a relatively-easy time against South Dakota State, despite the match being tied at the midway point.

A forfeit and a Bradley Nielson decision put the Terps up 9-0 after two matches, but the Jackrabbits responded with three straight victories to knot the score at 9-9, including an upset at 197 pounds, when Tyler Sorenson edged No. 11 Hudson Taylor, 13-11. However, the Terps took the final five matchups en route to the win.

Unfortunately, the Terps fell behind big early against No. 4 Nebraska. The Cornhuskers went up 16-0 in the first four matches, highlighted by the 197-pound bout, where No. 2 Craig Brester outlasted Taylor, 7-4.