The National Duals Invitational gave us an early rivalry showdown between No. 10 Virginia Tech and No. 7 NC State with the Hokies putting on a show and making an early statement in the ACC race.
No. 10 Virginia Tech Wrestling took down No. 7 NC State on a night where the Hokies won seven of ten matchups, saw their biggest star deliver, and pulled off a major upset over a former ACC champion. Here's how it all went down.
- 125: No. 4 Eddie Ventresca wins against No. 1 Vincent Robinson 4-1
- 133: No. 17 Dillon Campbell wins against No. 18 Zach Redding 5-1
- 141: No. 17 Tom Crook loses to No. 7 Ryan Jack 8-4
- 149: Collin Gaj loses to No. 10 Koy Buesgens 4-1
- 157: Noah Nininger wins against No. 4 Jackson Arrington 7-6
- 165: Ryan Burton wins via major decision against Will Denny 15-7
- 174: No. 23 Sergio Desiante loses to No. 5 Matty Singleton 7-1
- 184: No. 22 Jaden Bullock wins against Don Cates 4-1
- 197: No. 23 Sonny Sasso wins via major decision against Cason Howle 11-0
- HWT: No. 18 Jimmy Mullen wins via tech fall against Everest Ouellette 22-5
The showdown of the night came at the start with defending ACC champ Eddie Ventresca improving to 3-0 against defending national champ Vincent Robinson via a 4-1 victory. Ventresca continues to have Robinson's number and showed again why he is a serious threat to win a national title.
Dillon Campbell is now 8-0 on the season, picking up ranked wins left and right including a comfortable 5-1 victory over Zach Redding. At this point, Campbell seems to be the guy and has legit potential to make a run at an All-American honor this season. Of course, Aaron Seidel being the guy still shouldn't be ruled out given how well the true freshman looked prior to the season.
Tom Crook put up a good effort but came up short against Ryan Jack at 141 in a rivalry that Crook has struggled with over the years. Collin Gaj continued to look strong against tough competition as he slid down to 149 but came up short against Koy Buesgens 4-1.
Noah Nininger's breakout weekend in Tulsa is official as he pulled off a stunning comeback to take down former ACC 149 champ and No. 4 at 157 Jackson Arrington 7-6. Nininger has been quite good this weekend and is likely solidfying his starting spot for now at 149, though he and Gaj could bounce back and forth between 149 and 157 while regular 157 starter Ethen Miller recovers from injury.
Ryan Burton continues to be the brightest of the true freshmen for the Hokies with another strong performance, this time with a major decision victory over Will Denny 15-7.
Sergio Desiante fell to 0-3 on the weekend though this loss came against his toughest competition as he lost 7-1 to No. 5 Matty Singleton.
After facing tougher competition to start this weekend, No. 22 Jaden Bullock picked up his first win of the weekend 4-1 over Don Cates.
Sonny Sasso's big weekend continued with a major decision over Cason Howle 11-0 while Jimmy Mullen had his best performance yet in Tulsa with a 22-5 tech fall to finish off a dominant victory.
