"It was good to get out of there with a win, especially with the caliber of program that Maryland has," Tech head coach Kevin Dresser said. "We did not talk about it much publicly, but six of our 10 guys had the flu this week. All of them sucked it up and wrestled. To get the win, considering the week we had, we will take it."
Freshman Jarrod Garnett, ranked 14th at 125 pounds, started the duel strong for Tech taking a 10-5 decision from Brendan Byrne of Maryland. Freshman Brock LiVorio, at 133 pounds and sophomore Chris Diaz, at 141 pounds, fell to 11th-ranked Steven Bell and 11th-ranked Alex Krom of Maryland, respectively, by major decision, as the Terrapins took the team lead 8-3.
The Hokies battled back though, behind freshman Pete Yates, ranked 20th at 149 pounds, who dominated the Terrapins' Dex Lederer. Yates scored seven take downs in the second period, the last coming at the 4:44 mark of the match, to earn a technical fall over Lederer, who suffered an ankle injury in the first period.
A 6-2 decision by Maryland's Kyle John over freshman Jesse Dong at 157 pounds briefly gave the Terrapins the lead at 11-8, but sophomore Matt Epperly scored a late take down in the third period over Brian Letters at 165 pounds to win 3-1 and even the team scoring up at 11 apiece.
Tech would win three of the final four matches to secure the victory over Maryland. Freshman Anthony Trongone and sophomore Tommy Spellman both earned major decisions over their opponents at 174 and 184 pounds, respectively. Sophomore D.J. Bruce competed well against 10th-ranked Hudson Taylor of Maryland at 197 pounds, but fell 11-3.
Heavyweight David Marone responded for the Hokies, though. The Broomfield, Colo., native registered an early take down and rode the momentum to victory, sealing the duel for Tech with a 4-2 decision over Patrick Gilmore of Maryland. Marone's victory gave the Hokies a 22-15 win over the Terrapins.
The 1,763 fans in attendance broke the old attendance record of 1,638, with Bud Foster, defensive coordinator for the Hokie football team, sitting on the bench as honorary coach. The Hokies also honored several other Tech programs in attendance.
Tech will return to the mat on Feb. 15 against Duke. The Blue Devils 8-3 overall with a 1-2 record in conference matches. Results will be available on hokiesports.com after the duel.
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