Kevin Dresser"I told them to be ready to go two matches," said Virginia Tech coach Kevin Dresser. "I said, 'We're good enough to beat Oklahoma State. But in the event that we don't, we've got to be ready to go. We're preparing for the national tournament. They believed. All it takes is one spark."
That spark came at 174 pounds. With Oklahoma State holding onto a slim 10-9 lead after 165 pounds, Virginia Tech fifth-year senior Matt Epperly gave the Hokies the spark they needed by pinning ninth-ranked Mike Benefiel.
"This is great for our team," said Epperly, a two-time NCAA qualifier. "When we first got there, everyone said Dresser is never going to make a program at Virginia Tech after it was ripped apart. This is my fifth year there. We're just building and this just proves to everyone that we're building and coming back."
Epperly was a four-time state champion for Dresser at Christiansburg and was recruited by Tom Brands to Virginia Tech. He was one of the few wrestles who opted to stay at Virginia Tech after Brands left and Dresser took over. Epperly started the season at 165 pounds, but after struggling with consistency, Dresser made the decision to move him up to 174 pounds.
"I gave him the whole month of December off," said Dresser. "He wasn't wrestling well. I brought him into my office about November 26 and said, 'I'll see you on December 26. I said, 'Stay out of trouble.' He's the kind of kid that when he's fresh, he's really good. Obviously, he's really fresh right now."
Matt Epperly"That would be huge," said Epperly. "It would be the biggest thing that has ever happened to the program. It would be a huge step for Virginia Tech wrestling. Better things are going to come for this program."
Virginia Tech will now face third-seeded Wisconsin in the semifinals on Sunday. The Badgers hammered South Dakota State, 46-3 in the opening round, and topped American, 23-16, in the quarterfinals.
The other semifinal match in Division I will pit the nation's No. 1 team, Cornell, against fourth-seeded Minnesota.
Rob Koll"I was really worried about Missouri," said Cornell coach Rob Koll. "I looked at how we matched up. I didn't want it to be 5-5, but I thought there was a good chance it would be 5-5."
Both teams won five matches, but Mack Lewnes (174) and Steve Bosak (184) picked up bonus points for Cornell, a major decision and technical fall respectively, which proved to be the difference in the dual meet.
Cornell is without two if its starters, All-Americans Mike Grey (133) and Cam Simaz (197).
"We've got some guys out, but for the most part we wrestled pretty tough," said NCAA champion Kyle Dake. "We just have to keep chugging along and keep winning those individual matches."
Koll was just happy to come out with two victories on Saturday.
"I'm happy," said Koll. "I'm relieved. I don't want to lose to Brian Smith, who coached with me for five years. I never would have lived that one down."
Koll said it's "terribly disappointing" not to have three-time defending national champion Iowa not competing in Cedar Falls.
"I would have liked to have Iowa here with our full team," said Koll. "They beat us every time we've wrestled them. This is a year I think we have a good shot at beating them. I would have really liked to return the favor."
J Robinson"They were favored in five and we were favored in five," said Robinson of the dual meet against Boise State. "We knew it was going to come down to bonus points. So we needed bonus points along the way.
The Gophers got those much-needed bonus points from No. 2 Mike Thorn at 141 pounds. With the Gophers trailing 4-3, Thorn pinned No. 11 Levi Jones in 49 seconds.
Thorn said he wasn't thinking about bonus points right from the start.
"I think bonus after a few takedowns," said Thorn. "I was just thinking get to my offense and get it going, turn it around our way."
Minnesota is competing with five freshmen in its lineup and without the services of All-American Sonny Yohn (197), who strained his knee and is expected to be out of the lineup for the next two to three weeks.
Mike ThornRobinson believes that improvement throughout the season is integral to the team's success.
"Our biggest thing is that we just have to keep improving," said Robinson. "Our young guys have to improve. When you have a guy like (Kevin) Steinhaus, or (Tony) Nelson in there, they come in as freshmen and they win. That's what has to happen and it has to be fueled by the rest of our guys. We just have to keep improving from week to week to week and I think that's what we're doing."
Thorn is looking forward to the opportunity to face No. 1 Cornell.
"It's cool," said Thorn. "Cornell has a lot of big names. It will be cool to see what our guys can do, if our freshmen can step up. It's going to take a total team effort."
The semifinals are set for 11 a.m. CST.
Semifinal Projected Matchups
Cornell vs. Minnesota
125: No. 14 Frank Perrelli (Cornell) vs. No. 6 Zach Sanders (Minnesota)
133: Joe Stanzione (Cornell) vs. David Thorn (Minnesota)
141: Mike Nevinger (Cornell) vs. No. 2 Mike Thorn (Minnesota)
149: No. 2 Kyle Dake (Cornell) vs. Danny Zilverberg/Pat Smith (Minnesota)
157: No. 10 D.J. Meagher (Cornell) vs. Alec Ortiz (Minnesota)
165: No. 3 Justin Kerber (Cornell) vs. No. 7 Cody Yohn (Minnesota)
174: No. 2 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) vs. No. 8 Scott Glasser (Minnesota)
184: No. 4 Steve Bosak (Cornell) vs. No. 7 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota)
197: Maciej Jochym (Cornell) vs. Joe Nord (Minnesota)
285: Oney Snyder (Cornell) vs. No. 9 Tony Nelson (Minnesota)
Wisconsin vs. Virginia Tech
125: Tom Kelliher (Wisconsin) vs. No. 11 Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech)
133: No. 3 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) vs. No. 8 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech)
141: Danny Arnel (Wisconsin) vs. No. 5 Chris Diaz (Virginia Tech)
149: No. 10 Cole Schmitt (Wisconsin) vs. No. 9 Brian Stephens (Virginia Tech)
157: Kalvin York (Wisconsin) vs. No. 5 Jesse Dong (Virginia Tech)
165: No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) vs. No. 14 Pete Yates (Virginia Tech)
174: Shawn Perry (Wisconsin) vs. Matt Epperly (Virginia Tech)
184: No. 5 Travis Rutt (Wisconsin) vs. No. 16 Tommy Spellman (Virginia Tech)
197: Derrick Borlie (Wisconsin) vs. Chris Penny (Virginia Tech)
285: No. 18 Eric Bugenhagen (Wisconsin) vs. David Marone (Virginia Tech)
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