GLEN ALLEN, Va. - On a day when three of the Hokies' most-experienced wrestlers - Eric Decker, Matt Epperly and Justin Staylor - all lost, the youngsters on the Virginia Tech wrestling squad stepped up to lead Tech to an 18-16 upset win over the University of Virginia Sunday at Deep Run High School in the "Rumble on the River."

The Hokies got on the board in the second match when true freshman Tommy Spellman upset 10^th-ranked Rocco Caponi, 5-2, at 184 pounds. Caponi entered the match 30-1 on the year, but Spellman used a inside trip midway through the third period for a takedown and put him straight to his back for two back points and held on late for the upset win.

The upsets continued one match later as Kevin O'Connor upended 16^th-ranked Brent Jones, 5-2, at 197 pounds. O'Connor fell behind 4-1 in the second stanza, but got a reversal and two near-fall points. In the third period, he picked up an escape and a takedown to propel him to the win.

At heavyweight, freshman David Marone put the Hokies up 9-3 with a 3-1 sudden victory over Jack Danilkowicz. Tied 1-1 in overtime, Marone was awarded the takedown as the buzzer sounded to give him the win.

After dropping matches at 125 and 133 pounds and falling behind 10-9, Chris Diaz came up with the momentum swinger at 141 for the Hokies. He fell behind 8-0 midway through the second period to Kellon Balum, but battled back to trail just 9-7 with under a minute to go. Then, the freshman got a takedown right to Balum's back, whipping the crowed into a frenzy. As the clock ticked down, Diaz was awarded the pin with one second left to give the Hokies six big team points and put them up 15-10.

At 149 pounds, Matt Rosen came up with a big 4-1 win over Pat Riley. The two were tied late, but Rosen had riding time and got a takedown at the buzzer to secure the win.

Tech led 18-10 with two matches to go at that point. The match started at 174 pounds where Decker, ranked 20^th in the country, was beaten 6-2 by Chris Henrich. Staylor, another veteran, nearly pulled out a win, but dropped a 5-3 decision in the second sudden victory at 125 pounds. Jared Jones dropped a major decision at 133 pounds, but victories by Diaz and Rosen gave Tech an eight-point lead with two matches left.

After Andre Johnson fell 4-1 at 157 pounds to Drew DiPasquale, it all came down to the final match. Mike Chaires needed a pin to give UVa a win, and nearly caught Tech's Epperly in the first period. Epperly wiggled out of that, but Chaires eventually picked up a 6-3 win.

The win improves the young Hokies to 5-5 overall, 1-2 in the ACC. Virginia, which was receiving votes in the national poll, drops to 14-4 overall, 1-1 in the league.

Tech returns to action next weekend for a pair of non-conference home matches. The Hokies will host Ohio University Friday night at 7 o'clock and then host UNC Greensboro Sunday at 2 p.m.

Virginia Tech (5-5, 1-2 ACC)  18
Virginia (14-4, 1-1 ACC)      16