Virginia Tech wrestling preview of the quad meet in morgantown

Josh Coover

January 10, 2021

The Virginia Tech men’s wrestling team travels to Morgantown, West Virginia today to face the Ohio Wildcats, Kent State and West Virginia in a quad match. The Hokies are coming off a 28-6 win over the Campbell Fighting Camels in Cassel Coliseum last Saturday.

Virginia Tech moved up one spot in the national rankings from No. 9 to No. 8 after its blowout win against the Fighting Camels.

The Bobcats of Ohio enter this quad match after losing their season opener at Buffalo 20-12. Meanwhile, West Virginia and Kent State look to begin their 2021 regular season against the Hokies in their quad match today.

For Virginia Tech, wrestlers like Sam Hillegas looks to continue his hot start after winning his match up last Saturday against Shannon Hanna. The No. 20 ranked wrestler in the nation, Bryce Andonian, looks to continue his success after upsetting the No. 9 wrestler in the nation, Josh Heil, with a 12-9 decision last week.

Finally, Sam Latona, Andy Smith and Korbin Myers are all looking to keep their success alive after winning their matches last Saturday. Latona and Myers won their dual matches where Latona won his 5-3 and Myers won his 12-7.

Looking at the opponents for the Hokies, West Virginia finished last season 4-12 overall, 1-7 in conference play and lost to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg 36-3. This will be the 25th meeting all time between the Hokies and the Mountaineers. Virginia Tech’s all-time record against the Mountaineers is 11-11-2 and Tech enters this Sunday's quad match with a five-match win streak against West Virginia.

For Kent State, the Hokies are 0-4 all time against the Golden Flashes. Last time these two teams met, Virginia Tech lost to Kent State 25-18 . The Hokies are seeking their first team win in program history against the Golden Flashes.

Virginia Tech holds a 2-8 record all-time against its final opponent, the Ohio Bobcats. The last time these two teams met, the Hokies beat the Bobcats 28-14 in Blacksburg. The Hokies are seeking their third win all-time against the Bobcats today.

The Hokies should sweep the quad match and come back home to Blacksburg with an impressive start to the season at 4-0. It will not be easy though, since the Mountaineers wrestler Noah Adams out of the 197-pound weight class was ranked number [CD11] 1 in the WIN preseason poll before the season started. The two wrestlers for the Hokies out of that same weight division, Stan Smeltzer and Andy Smith, both won their matches last Saturday and will have their hands full with Adams.

The leadership from the Hokie upperclassmen like Mekhi Lewis and Hunter Bolen will be huge in keeping the Hokies focused in this quad match. Both Lewis and Bolen won their matches last Saturday with Lewis winning 13-4 and 17-2 and Bolen winning 4-3. Keeping this Virginia Tech team mentally and physically focused during the quad match will be huge for the team’s success on Sunday.