Nov. 12, 2007

Virginia Has Big Day at Brute/Bearcat Open

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - The Virginia wrestling team had a solid day Saturday at the Brute/Bearcat Open in Binghamton, N.Y., as four wrestlers reached the championship match of their respective weight classes. Rocco Caponi (Uniontown, Ohio) highlighted the Cavaliers' big day by winning the title at 184 pounds, defeating Cornell's Nate Holly, 8-5, in the final. In all, the Cavaliers had placewinners in eight of the 10 weight classes.

Brent Jones (So., Burke, Va.) at 197, Brent Fiorito (So., Palm, Pa.) at 165 and Anthony Burke (Jr., Poquoson, Va.) at 125 each took runner-up honors at their respective weight classes. Fiorito defeated 10th-ranked Zach Shanaman of Pennsylvania in the semifinals en route to his second-place finish.

The Cavaliers also got third-place finishes from Ross Gitomer (So., Flemington, N.J.) at 125, Kellon Balum (So., Herndon, Pa.) at 141 and Chris Henrich (Fr., Lansdale, Pa.) at 174.

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Duke's Degli Obizzi and Barone Win Titles At UNC Pembroke Open

PEMBROKE, N.C. -- The Duke wrestling team continued its early season success as seven of their 16 competing wrestlers placed in the top five at the UNC Pembroke Open on Saturday. Redshirt sophomores Michael Degli Obizzi and John Barone won their weight classes, each going 5-0 at 149 and 184 pounds, respectively. Three more Blue Devils finished just out of the top five, losing in the fifth-place match.

At 133 pounds, redshirt senior captain Bryan Gibson won his first three matches and then pinned his first opponent in wrestlebacks before falling in the third place match to take fourth in Pembroke. It was Gibson's first competition of the season, and with his four wins he moved into 18th on the all-time Duke wins list with 67 career victories.

On his way to the championship at 149 pounds, Degli Obizzi picked up two major decisions, a fall and a technical fall. He defeated the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds at the tournament in his first action of 2007-08 after redshirting last season.

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Caldwell Dominates At NC State Open

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Darrion Caldwell was Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Year as a freshman in 2006-07 for a reason, and he showed why Saturday at the NC State Open at Reynolds Coliseum.

Caldwell barely broke a sweat in the 149-pound bracket, winning a 12-5 decision over Andrew Saunders of UNC Greensboro, then winning three consecutive first-period pins to win the bracket. Caldwell pinned Lester France of Old Dominion in 61 seconds, flattened Maryland's Ryan Brown in a minute and 30 seconds, then won the finals by pinning ODU's Joey Metzler in 28 seconds.

"Darrion Caldwell was incredible," Wolfpack head coach Carter Jordan said, understating the obvious. "He really looked amazing."

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Hokies Rally To Start Season With Victory

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Two late pins and an upset at 174 pounds sparked the Virginia Tech wrestling squad to a 21-16, come-from-behind victory over Appalachian State Sunday evening at Cassell Coliseum.

The Hokies found themselves in a quick 10-0 hole after dropping the first three matches. At 141 pounds, Chris Diaz fell to Marcus Cox, 5-3 and Matt Rosen dropped a 10-2 major decision to No. 5 Scott Ervin at 149 pounds. Andre Johnson bumped up to 157 pounds, but was dealt a 7-1 loss by Eddie Hutchinson to make it 10-0.

At 165 pounds, Matt Epperly made his return to the mat and came up with a dominating 5-0 victory over Tommy Hutchinson. Epperly missed most of last year, and was granted a medical hardship waiver, after fracturing his back early last season.

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Young Tar Heels Shine At Michigan State Open

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Redshirt freshman Nick Stabile and freshman Michael Robinson each brought home individual titles in the Freshman/Sophomore Division, and junior Justin Dobies posted a third-place finish at heavyweight in the Open Division to lead North Carolina's contingent at the Michigan State Open Sunday at Jenison Field House.

Stabile, who was victorious at 141 pounds, and Robinson, who won at 125, led a strong showing by the Tar Heels in the Freshman/Sophomore Division. Twelve of the 14 Carolina wrestlers entered placed in the top five of their respective weight classes. In addition to Stabile and Robinson, Danny Lopes (133), Keenan Duffie (149) and Thomas Scotton (157) each posted runner-up finishes. Jason DeLuca (third at 125), Jeremy Shaw (fifth at 133), Mike Rappo (third at 149), Thomas Ferguson (fourth at 157), Rudy Moures (fifth at 157), Kyle Kiss (fifth at 174) and Nick Tenpenny (fourth at 184) also finished as placewinners.

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Maryland Drops Meet to Penn State, 34-3

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Redshirt sophomore Stephen Bell improved his individual record to 4-0 with a win at 133 pounds, but the Maryland wrestling team lost at No. 11 Penn State, 34-3, on November 11. The Nittany Lions won nine of the 10 matches in their season opener en route to the win.

Bell was the lone winner for the Terps, recording a 12-11 decision against Tim Haas. Haas entered the third period with an 8-6 edge over Bell, who chose to start down. He quickly scored a reversal to tie the score. Haas escaped with 1:40 left in regulation to take the lead back, but Bell notched another takedown with under a minute to go to regain the lead, 10-9. Haas escaped before the final whistle to send it into overtime.

Neither wrestler could get the win in overtime and in the first tiebreaker, Haas chose down and escaped to take an 11-10 lead. Bell also chose down in the second tiebreaker and Haas almost rode him out for the win, but Bell reversed with one second remaining to take the 12-11 decision.

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