PHILADELPHIA - The Virginia Tech wrestling team rallied from eight points down to win four of the final five matches and beat Drexel, 21-17, Sunday afternoon at the Daskalakis Athletic Center in the first of two matches on the day for the Hokies.

The match started at 133 pounds, where Drexel's William Martin picked up four team points with a 15-7 major decision over Nick Murray. The Hokies got on the board at 141 pounds when freshman Chris Diaz picked up his first collegiate dual victory, a 5-3 win over Morgan Remillard. After a scoreless first period, Diaz got a two-point nearfall and then got a takedown late in the period to lead 4-1. Remillard got a takedown late, but Diaz had riding time to pick up the 5-3 win.

At 149 pounds, Matt Rosen used a pair of near-fall combinations near the end of the second period to open up a 10-5 lead over Kyle Bub. He started the period with a reversal and gave up a reversal late, but held on for the 13-7 win to give Tech a 6-4 lead. The lead was short-lived as eighth-ranked Ryan Hluschak dominated Tech's Mark Czarny, winning 19-9 to make it 8-6. Czarny helped the team out though, picking up a takedown late to avoid getting the technical fall and saved the team a point.

At 165 pounds, the Dragons extended their lead when William Haydt picked up a quick fall of Matt Epperly just 58 seconds in. Epperly was in on a shot, but Haydt countered it with a cement mixer from the standing position to get the pin.

Down 14-6, 18^th-ranked Eric Decker struggled with Scott Hunter, but picked up a 2-1, first-overtime win to bring the Hokies to back within five. Both wrestlers picked up an escape in regulation to send it to overtime, where no scoring occurred in the sudden victory. Decker picked up an escape with five seconds left in his 30-second period and then rode Hunter the full 30 seconds of Hunter's period to hold on for the win.

At 184 pounds, Tommy Spellman controlled the match from the beginning, picking up a 6-1 decision over Justin Wieller. Spellman got a quick takedown in the first period and got another one with 30 seconds left in the period to cruise to the win and make it 14-12 with three matches remaining.

Tech took the lead following Kevin O'Connor's pin of Kyle Frey in the 197-pound match. Leading 1-0 in the second, O'Connor countered a Frey shot by whipping him to his back, sinking the reverse half and getting the fall at 4:46 to give Tech a 18-14 lead.

Freshman Cody Gardner clinched the win for the Hokies with a 8-3 victory over Bryant Deinhardt at the heavyweight class. Gardner got an early takedown but was reversed and escaped to end the period with a 3-2 lead. He got a takedown with five seconds left in the second period and an escape to start the third. He had several good chances at takedowns, but couldn't convert and Deinhardt was called for two stall warnings, giving Gardner another point.

The match concluded at 125 pounds with Drexel's Steve Mytych beating Steve Armor 5-0 to make the final match score 21-17.

Tech (2-0) will wrestle again this evening, traveling across town to take on No. 23 Penn at 5 p.m., at The Palestra.

Virginia Tech (2-0)   21
Drexel (0-1)          17

133: William Martin (D) maj. dec. Nick Murray, 15-7
141: Chris Diaz (VT) dec. Morgan Remillard, 5-3
149: Matt Rosen (VT) dec. Kyle Bub, 13-7
157: #8 Ryan Hluschak (D) maj. dec. Mark Czarny, 19-9
165: William Haydt (D) fall Matt Epperly, 0:58
174: #18 Eric Decker (VT) dec. Scott Hunter, 2-1 (OT-1)
184: Tommy Spellman (VT) dec. Justin Wieller, 6-1
197: Kevin O'Connor fall Kyle Frey, 4:46
285: Cody Gardner (VT) dec. Bryant Deinhardt, 8-3
125: Steve Mytych (D) dec. Steve Armor, 5-0