November 14, 2001

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - The Virginia Tech wrestling team fell behind early, but came back in grand fashion to gain a 43-7 victory at Gardner-Webb Wednesday evening at the Lutz-Yelton Convocation Center.

Virginia Tech's Mike Cox earned a 4-1 win over Robbie Pritz in the match opener at 157 pounds, giving the Hokies a quick 3-0 edge. A spirited effort by Gardner-Webb's Matt Klinger at 165 pounds resulted in an 11-4 major decision over Tech's Jake Wareing for a 4-3 Gardner-Webb lead after two bouts.

The match was all Virginia Tech from that point on, with the only Gardner-Webb victory in the final eight individual matches coming with heavyweight Jonathan Richard's 7-5 decision over Tech's Pete Pool.

At 174 pounds, freshman Tomas Ovalle gained his first collegiate victory with a 13-4 major decision over Kevin Fields. Scott Justus, ranked No. 8 nationally at 184 pounds, pinned Gardner-Webb's Michael Mays in 4:33 while the Hokies' Michael Carr pinned GWU's Darryl Scott in 4:41 at 197 pounds.

At 125 pounds, Geoff Head gained a victory via forfeit and the David Hoffman won by injury forfeit at 133 pounds. The Hokies' two-time All-American, 141-pound phenom Sean Gray, pinned Gardner-Webb freshman Brian Dixon in 53 seconds. Gray is currently rated No. 2 nationally in his weight class. Virginia Tech's Reed Carpenter finished the match with a pin of Dan Elliott at 149 pounds at the 2:15 mark.

With the win, Tech improves to 1-1 overall on the young season. Gardner-Webb (0-1) is in its second season of transition to the NCAA Division I level. The Hokies are back in action this weekend, participating in the Navy Classic on Saturday.

MATCH SCORE
Virginia Tech (1-1)  43
Gardner-Webb (0-1)    7
Wt.  Result                                              GW   VT
157  Mike Cox (VT) dec. Rob Pritz, 4-1                    0    3
165  Matt Klinger (GW) maj. dec. Jake Wareing, 11-4       4    3
174  Tomas Ovalle (VT) maj. dec. Kevin Fields, 13-4       3    7
184  #8 Scott Justus (VT) fall Michael Mays, 4:33         3   13
197  Michael Carr (VT) fall Darryl Scott, 4:41            3   19
285  Jonathan Richard (GW) dec. Pete Pool, 7-5            7   19		
125  Geoff Head (VT) win by forfeit                       7   25
133  David Hoffman (VT) win by injury forfeit             7   31
141  #2 Sean Gray (VT) fall Brian Dixon, :53              7   37
149  Reed Carpenter (VT) fall Dan Elliott, 2:15           7   43