December 1, 2002

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Senior Scott Justus provided the lone bright spot as the Virginia Tech wrestling team fell to third-ranked and two-time defending national champion Minnesota, 46-4, Sunday evening at Williams Arena. The win moves the Golden Gophers to 2-1 while the Hokies fall to 0-1.

The match started at 174 pounds, where Minnesota's Josh McLay, ranked 19th in the nation, earned a technical fall over Tomas Ovalle, winning 18-2. Tech scored its lone points of the match when Justus got a 21-8 major decision over Casey Flaherty. The senior from Grundy, Va., led 13-4 after one period after ending the first period with a near fall. Leading 14-4 heading into the final period, the eighth-ranked Justus got three takedowns and a point for riding time to make it 21-8.

The Gophers rebounded at 197 pounds when Jacob Lininger, a transfer from Pittsburgh, earned a 11-2 major decision over Canaan Prater. At heavyweight, Minnesota's Chad Mentel downed Tech's Kris Wiedegreen 4-2 to make it 12-4, Gophers.

The match then moved to the lighter weights where UM's Bobby Lowe earned a major decision with a 18-8 win over Geoff Head of Tech at 125 pounds. After the break, at 133 pounds, fourth-ranked Ryan Lewis of UM pinned freshman Kyle Graham at the 4:21 mark before Minnesota's Trent Hatlevig pinned Aaron Brown at 141 pounds in the third period.

At 149 pounds, top-ranked Jared Lawrence of Minnesota pinned Tech's Reed Carpenter in the first period. At 157 pounds, Tech forfeited, giving top-ranked Luke Becker a win and six points for the Gophers. The final match was at 165 pounds, where third-ranked Jacob Volkmann earned a disqualification victory over Mike Cox after Cox was called for too many stalling penalties.

Tech (0-1) is back in action on Dec. 6&7, taking part in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Open. The Hokies then return home on Dec. 14 for their first home meet of the season, hosting Chattanooga at 1 p.m., at Cassell Coliseum.

#3 Minnesota (2-1)   46
Virginia Tech (0-1)   4
                                                          UM  VT
174  #19 Josh McLay (UM) TF Tomas Ovalle, 18-2             5   0
184  Scott Justus (VT) maj. dec. Casey Flaherty, 21-8      5   4
197  Jacob Lininger (UM) maj. dec. Canaan Prater, 11-2     9   4
285  Chad Mentel (UM) dec. Kris Wiedegreen, 4-2           12   4
125  Bobby Lowe (UM) maj. dec. Geoff Head, 18-8           16   4
133  #4 Ryan Lewis (UM) fall Kyle Graham, 4:21            22   4
141  Trent Hatlevig (UM) fall Aaron Brown                 28   4
149  #1 Jared Lawrence (UM) fall Reed Carpenter           34   4
157  #1 Luke Becker (UM) win by forfeit                   40   4
165  #3 Jacob Volkmann (UM) DQ over Mike Cox              46   4