No. 6 Virginia Tech Wrestling Drops Meeting With No. 3 Oklahoma State, 19-12

In front of a raucous crowd of over 6,000 in Cassell Coliseum, No. 3 Oklahoma State (14-1) proved too much to handle for No. 6 Virginia Tech (10-3). While the top-10 showdown resulted in a 19-12 loss for the Hokies, head coach Tony Robie was encouraged by the fight his team showed Sunday afternoon.

"I think it's a good kind of barometer for where we're at," Robie said on competing against the third-ranked team in the nation. "It's kind of practice for the end of the year, so it was pretty good."

The Hokies started the meet off strong with No. 3 Eddie Ventresca finally defeating No. 7 Troy Spratley via a 2-1 decision. The redshirt senior lost his previous two matches versus Spratley, including in the 2025 NCAA Semifinal, but put away the bout in tiebreakers to put the Hokies ahead early. It was his 13th consecutive victory this season.

"I just think Eddie just keeps getting better," Robie said. "It's his belief in himself... he's finding ways to win, and that's a skill in our sport even if it's not the prettiest thing in the world."

In a highly anticipated matchup between two of the nation's best freshmen, No. 6 Aaron Seidel faced No. 10 Jax Forrest, who had defeated Seidel twice previously in high school. Seidel was in control for most of the match, applying pressure and taking the early lead en route to three takedowns for the bout.

Seidel took a a 6-2 into the third period, but Forrest scored a takedown and four back points to take a 9-6 lead. With time ticking down under a minute, Seidel landed his final takedown of the bout and looked for back points of his own, but but none were awarded and Forrest managed to escape, making the score 10-9. Robie challenged the no-call, hoping for back points, but the ruling was upheld. Forrest evaded Seidel as time expired to hand Virginia Tech's freshman phenom his first loss of the season.

Despite the result, Robie was pleased with what he saw from his freshman phenomenon.

"I thought, really, it was a positive," Robie said. If you look at the match as a whole, he scored three takedowns against a really good guy. That's not easy to do, and we gave up seven [points] in one exchange, so the likelihood of that happening again is probably not real high. I look at that match like I think we've got the best guy in the country and I think he's going to show that when he gets to Cleveland."

Virginia Tech stole a couple of matches away from Oklahoma State at 149 pounds and 197 pounds. With Collin Gaj out with an injury, Drew Gorman bumped up a weight class to face the Cowboys' backup, Beau Hickman. After the bout headed into sudden victory, Gorman tallied the decisive takedown to take the 4-1 victory, cutting Oklahoma State's lead to 7-6.

Robie believed Gorman took strides on the big stage.

"I thought he did a great job controlling his emotions and just staying calm and being steady," Robie said. "Sometimes it takes a little bit longer to put some points on the board. It took him a little while tonight but it. was good practice for him as well."

No. 14 Sonny Sasso later upset No. 7 Cody Merrill after the latter got hit with his second stall call in the third period. Sasso evaded a last minute shot by Merrill to hang on to win 2-1. While it might not've been the most entertaining win, Coach Robie was satisfied with his effort.

"He put himself in a position to win," Robie said. I thought he was offensive, got the leg a couple times, took some risk... so that was a great win for him."

No. 32 Jaden Bullock earned the 2-0 decision over Oklahoma State's Trevor Dopps. Bullock got an escape and rode out Dopps for the in in the final period.

No. 16 Ethen Miller suffered what was arguably the most controversial loss of the afternoon to No. 7 Landon Robideau.

Miller was hit with two back-to-back stall calls in the second period, much to the chagrin of the crowd inside Cassell Coliseum. The calls gave Robideau a 1-0 lead heading into the second period. He started on bottom and quickly escaped. Miller was later hit with his third stall call to push Robideau's lead to 3-0 at the start of the third period, in which Miller started on bottom. He escaped and needed to find some offense, so started to push the pace. His effort was rewarded in the form of two stall calls against Robideau two stall calls back-to-back, putting the bout to within one point. He was unable to score, however, handing the Cowboys another three team points.

No. 33 Sergio Desiante battled against Penn State transfer No. 7 Alex Facundo. Desiante took multiple shots and had Facundo on the ropes several times, but couldn't finish, allowing the Cowboys' grappler to take advantage. period The match was tied at 1-1 in the third before Facundo fought off Desiante's attack and secured the bout-winning takedown, resulting in a 4-1 decision.

Despite the result, Robie thought Desiante's performance was admirable, but illustrated an area of improvement for his upperweight.

"I thought Sergio wrestled really well, did a lot of really good things, but he has to figure out how to finish takedowns and finish matches," Robie said.

Final results:

• 125: No. 3 Eddie Ventresca (VT) dec. No. 7 Troy Spratley (OSU), 2-1 in tiebreakers

• 133: No. 10 Jax Forrest (OSU) dec. No. 6 Aaron Seidel (VT), 10-9

• 141: No. 2 Sergio Vega (OSU) maj. dec. No. 22 Tom Crook (VT), 11-2

• 149: Drew Gorman (VT) dec. Beau Hickman (OSU), 4-1 in SV

• 157: No. 7 Landon Robideau (OSU) dec. No. 16 Ethen Miller (VT), 3-2

• 165: No. 2 Dee Lockett (OSU) dec. No. 33 Mac Church (VT), 8-2

• 174: No. 7 Alex Facundo (OSU) dec. No. 30 Sergio Desiante (VT), 4-1

• 184: No. 32 Jaden Bullock (VT) dec. Trevor Dopps (OSU), 2-0

• 197: No. 14 Sonny Sasso (VT) dec No. 7 Cody Merrill (OSU), 2-1

• HWT: No. 7 Konnor Doucet (OSU) dec. No. 16 Jimmy Mullen (VT), 6-1

The Hokies will close out the regular season on Friday in Cassell Coliseum against Duke. The meet will start at 7 p.m. and will air on the ACC Network Extra.