Virginia pulls

away from ASU
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Appalachian State wrestling coach Paul Mance knew his team would have to provide a few surprises if it wanted to upset Virginia at the Holmes Center Saturday.

Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, there were few surprises in their 24-10 loss to the Cavaliers. One match that went Appalachian State’s way that was no surprise was at 149 pounds, where Scott Ervin, ranked 13th nationally, beat Pat Reilly 10-2.

Ervin (25-5) never trailed and built a 5-0 lead before Reilly got on the scoreboard with a reversal in the third period. That didn’t seem to bother Ervin, who added two more takedowns and a point for riding time to his victory.

“Scott wrestled well,” Mance said. “It’s hard for Scott because everybody’s going to try to slow the match down and not give him a chance to score much. He did a great job coming back and scoring and getting a decision for us.”

Appalachian State got two more victories against the Cavaliers. A pleasant surprise was at heavyweight, where the Mountaineers’ Jared Campbell came back from a 1-0 deficit and beat Jack Danilkowicz 2-1. The match was tied 1-1 in the third period until Campbell got a point for an escape.

“That was a good match at heavyweight,” Mance said. “Our kid did a good job. Jared wrestled a smart match. We’ve tried to get him not to be too aggressive because sometimes he takes bad shots and gets himself into trouble. But he was smart and aggressive, but not so aggressive that he took chances.”

The Mountaineers’ other victory took place at 157 pounds where Eddie Hutchinson beat Brent Fiorito 6-0. Hutchinson took advantage of two stalling points awarded to him by winning the riding time and getting a key takedown in the third period that gave him a 5-0 lead and effectively sealed the match.

The Mountaineers faced some tough matches. Virginia’s Rocco Caponi, ranked 10th overall with a 27-1 record, beat Austin Trotman 8-0 at 184 pounds. The Cavaliers’ Brent Jones, ranked 19th nationally at 197 pounds, downed Dylan Temple 10-4.

Virginia 24, App State 10
197—Brent Jones (Va.) d. Dylan Temple, 10-4.
285—Jared Campbell (ASU) d. Jack Danilkowicz, 2-1.
125—Ross Gitomer (Va.) md. Corey Hulsey, 12-3.
133—Eric Albright (Va.) d. Terreyl Williams, 4-3.
141—Nick Nelson (Va.) md. Marcus Cox, 15-6.
149—Scott Ervin (ASU) md. Pat Riley, 10-2.
157—Eddie Hutchinson (ASU) d. Brent Fiorito, 6-0.
165—Michael Chaires (Va.) d. Tommy Hutchinson (ASU).
174—Chris Henrich (Va.) d. Neal Martin, 11-4.
184—Rocco Caponi (Va.) md. Austin Trotman, 8-0.