HAMPTON, Va. - A technical fall early on and four wins in the final five matches sparked the Virginia Tech wrestling team to a 17-16 upset win over sixth-seeded Oregon State in the first round of the Virginia Duals Friday morning at the Hampton Coliseum.

The win was the just the second-ever in the opening round of the Duals for the Tech wrestling team. The Hokies beat Rider 17-13 in the opening round of the 2000 Virginia Duals.

The match opened at 125 pounds where Tech's Justin Staylor had an 8-4 lead early, but ended up giving up six takedowns to Jake Gonzales as Gonzales took the 14-13 win. Nick Murray then gave the Hokies five points with a dominating technical fall of Ryan Enoch at 133 pounds. The freshman used three near-fall combinations in the first period and two more in the second to win 15-0, ending the match at the 4:24 mark.

At 141 pounds, OSU's Heinrich Barnes put the Beavers back ahead with a 10-2 major decision over freshman Chris Diaz. Barnes took control early, picking up three takedowns in the first period and one more in the second en route to the victory. The Beavers extended their lead at 149 pounds when Kyle Larson rallied to beat Matt Rosen, 13-11 in sudden victory. Rosen led 8-3 heading to the final stanza, but Larson used four takedowns in the third period to force overtime, where he picked up a quick takedown to end it. Dan Brasetta then beat Tech's Andre Johnson 4-1 at 157 pounds to extend OSU's lead.

Trailing 13-5 halfway through, the Hokies then went on a run to take control. Starting at 165 pounds, Matt Epperly scored a takedown with less than 10 seconds left in the third period to pick up a 5-4 win over Keegan Davis. Eric Decker, ranked 19^th in the country, used a takedown in the first period and then traded escapes with Neal Beaudry in the final two periods. That was all the action at 174 pounds, but it was enough for Decker to earn the 3-1 win.

Freshman Tommy Spellman stepped up for the Hokies at 184 pounds to give Tech the lead with two matches left. Spellman used a takedown and three near-fall points in the first period, three escapes, a takedown in the third period and riding time to pick up the 11-6 win over Kyle Bressler. At 197 pounds, Kevin O'Connor put the Hokies up four with a 5-3 decision over Brice Arand. After a scoreless first stanza, O'Connor started the second period with an escape and later got a takedown. He picked up a takedown late in the third to seal the win.

Leading by four with just one match to go, freshman David Marone put up a good fight at heavyweight, but lost to Travis Gardner 9-7 in sudden victory. Marone got a takedown in the first period and reversed Gardner in the second period, but a second stall warning late put him down two. Marone got a takedown to send it to sudden victory, but Gardner got the takedown to pick up the win.

The win moves the Hokies to 3-1 on the year while the Beavers fall to 5-3. The Hokies were led on the bench by associate head coach Tony Robie, who was filling in for head coach Kevin Dresser. Dresser was attending to a family issue and will join the team for Saturday's action.

Tech will now face 23^rd-ranked and third-seeded Old Dominion in the quarterfinals at 3 p.m.

Virginia Tech (3-1)          17
#6 seed Oregon State (5-3)   16

125: Jake Gonzales (OSU) dec. Justin Staylor, 14-13
133: Nick Murray (VT) tech fall Ryan Enoch, 4:24 (15-0)
141: Heinrich Barnes (OSU) maj. dec. Chris Diaz, 10-2
149: Kyle Larson (OSU) dec. Matt Rosen, 13-11 (SV)
157: Dan Brasetta (OSU) dec. Andre Johnson, 4-1
165: Matt Epperly (VT) dec. Keegan Davis, 5-4
174: #19 Eric Decker (VT) dec. Neal Beuadry, 3-1
184: Tommy Spellman (VT) dec. Kyle Bressler, 11-6
197: Kevin O'Connor (VT) dec. Brice Arand, 5-3
285: Travis Gardner (OSU) dec. David Marone, 9-7 (SV)