HAMPTON, Va. - Despite losing three of the first five matches, the Virginia Tech wrestling team rallied to beat North Dakota State, 22-13, Saturday morning in the consolation bracket at the Virginia Duals. The win now sets up a 4 p.m., matchup against seventh-seeded Kent State.

The Bison jumped out to a 7-0 lead after winning matches at 125 and 133 pounds. Chris Diaz got Tech on the board at 141 pounds with an 8-4 decision over Gabriel Mooney. The freshman trailed 3-1 early in the second period, but got three takedowns the rest of the way to pick up the win. At 149 pounds, Matt Rosen jumped out to a 9-2 win after one period and never looked back, picking up a 15-8 decision over Vince Salminen. Adam Aho picked up three teams for the Bison with a win over Andre Johnson at 157 pounds and NDSU led10-6 halfway through the match.

Tech dominated the next four matches to come back and put things away. At 165 pounds, Matt Epperly used seven takedowns to help propel him to a 17-9 major decision over Andre Patelson. Eric Decker blanked Mike Quamme 7-0 at 174 and Tommy Spellman pinned Kenny Moenkedrick in just 1:31 to put the Hokies up nine. Kevin O'Connor iced the match with a 5-0 win over Jacob Bryce. At heavyweight, David Marone put up a good fight, but gave up an escape with less than five seconds left and a much bigger Tyler Hemmesch got away with a 6-5 win.

The win moves the Hokies to 4-2 on the year. The win was Tech's second of the weekend, marking just the second time in nine trips to the Duals that Tech has won two matches or more. In 2000, Tech went 3-2 at the event.

Virginia Tech       22
North Dakota State  13

125: Eric Hoffman (NDSU) maj. dec. Steve Armor, 15-6
133: Eric Sanders (NDSU) dec. Jared Jones, 6-0
141: Chris Diaz (VT) dec. Gabriel Mooney, 8-4
149: Matt Rosen (VT) dec. Vince Salminen, 15-8
157: Adam Aho (NDSU) dec. Andre Johnson, 8-2
165: Matt Epperly (VT) maj. dec. Andre Patelson, 17-9
174: #19 Eric Decker (VT) dec. Mike Quamme, 7-0
184: Tommy Spellman (VT) fall Kenny Moenkedrick, 1:31
197: Kevin O'Connor (VT) dec. Jacob Bryce, 5-0
285: Tyler Hemmesch (NDSU) dec. David Marone, 6-5