No. 7 Virginia Tech Beats No. 24 Stanford 22-14

No. 7 Virginia Tech took down No. 24 Stanford on the mats in Cassell Coliseum Friday night. Three true freshman came up big in their home debuts. Here’s how it went down:

• 125: #3 Eddie Ventresca got the decision over #12 Nico Provo, 6-2

• 133: Aaron Siedel took the major decision over #7 Tyler Knox, 13-0

• 141: #22 Tom Crook lost to #18 Jack Consiglio, 5-6

• 149: #10 Collin Gaj got the decision over #9 Aden Valencia, 2-1

• 157: #16 Ethen Miller lost to #10 Daniel Cardenas, 11-2

• 165: #14 Ryan Burton got the decision over EJ Parco, 8-2

• 174: #33 Sergio Desiante got the decision over Collin Guffey, 8-6

• 184: #31 Jaden Bullock lost to #33 Adam Wojcikiewicz, 5-6

• 197: #15 Sonny Sasso lost via major decision to #17 Angelo Posada, 4-13

• HWT: #16 Jimmy Mullen pinned Luke Duthie 2:58

One of the biggest highlights of the night was true freshman Aaron Seidel making his dual debut after having his redshirt pulled when Dillon Campbell underwent season ending surgery treat an unspecified injury. Seidel entered the night with an unblemished 11-0 record in his open meet appearances, with nine of his victories coming via tech falls and two of them by pins. Seidel faced off against 2025 All-American No. 7 Tyler Knox. Seidel rose to the occasion, earning two takedowns, four near-fall points, a reversal, and a riding time point in his first match in front of Hokie Nation. He received a standing ovation at the end of his dominant win.

With the team score at 16-14 in favor of the Hokies, Jimmy Mullen stepped onto the mat looking to end the night with fireworks. The heavyweight wasted no time getting his first takedown early in the first period. Stanford’s Luke Duthie escaped, but Mullen took him down again shortly after. With a raucous Cassell Coliseum crown cheering him on, Mullen turned Duthie and secured the pin to seal Virginia Tech's victory.

“Jimmy’s our heavyweight cell,” said true freshman, Collin Gaj. “A lot of times matches come down to him, so whenever we have to send him out there to get the win, that's what we expected.”

True freshmen Ryan Burton and Gaj each won their Cassell Coliseum debut matches by decision.

Gaj’s bout was scoreless heading into the second period. The Quakertown, PA native started down and quickly escaped to go up 1-0. No. 7 Aden Valencia started the final period on bottom and Gaj rode him out until just before the buzzer, which gave him the riding time point and the 2-1 victory.

Burton returned to the mat after Mac Church started the dual season. Burton got his first takedown in the second period to go up 3-1. He started the third period down and escaped quickly. The Montvale, NJ native got one more takedown and secured the riding time point to earn the impressive 8-2 decision to continue his steady freshman campaign.

Virginia Tech travels to Raleigh next Friday, January 30 to face No. 8 NC State. The Hokies defeated their ACC rivals earlier this season in the third round of the National Duals Invitational by a score of 25-8. Friday’s meet starts at 7 p.m. and will air on the ACC Network.