CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The Maryland Terrapins finished second in the dual wrestling season in the ACC behind Virginia Tech, but came to the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia for the conference championship not content with runner-up. Six Terps advanced to the finals and five of them left with individual titles. Senior Mike Letts was named the tournament outstanding wrestler and defeated No. 4 Chris Henrich of Virginia in the 174-pound final. Virginia Tech trailed Maryland by a narrow margin heading into the final round and also advanced six, but only came away with three champions. Host Virginia finished in third place with no champions.
Final Team Scores:
Maryland 94.5
Virginia Tech 82.5
Virginia 69
North Carolina 37
NC State 34.5
Duke 9
Finals:
125- No. 13 Jarrod Garnett (VT) dec. Matt Snyder (UVA), 6-4 SV
133- No. 9 Devin Carter (VT) tech. fall over Joe Spisak, 19-4
141- No. 16 Jon Kohler (MD) dec. Darrius Little (NCST), 3-1 SV
149- No. 1 Darrion Caldwell (NCST) dec. Derek Valenti (UVA), 6-3
157- No. 5 Jesse Dong (VT) dec. No. 15 Kyle John (MD), 6-3
165- No. 4 Josh Asper (MD) dec. No. 20 Pete Yates (VT), 9-3
174- No. 15 Mike Letts (MD) dec. No. 4 Chris Henrich (UVA), 4-2
184- Corey Peltier (MD) dec. Diego Bencomo (DUKE), 3-1
197- Zac Bennett (UNC) dec. Chris Penny (VT), 9-4
HWT- Spencer Myers (MD) dec. David Marone (VT), 3-2 TB2
Weight Class Summaries:
125:
No major surprises at 125 as No. 1 Jarrod Garnett from Virginia Tech and No. 2 Matt Snyder from Virginia advanced to face each other in the final. The two wrestled a tight match during the dual meet season with Garnett coming out on top in overtime. On Saturday, the match was decided in similar fashion with Garnett getting a first OT period takedown for the 6-4 win.
133:
No. 1 Devin Carter from Virginia Tech continues to look very impressive heading to Philadelphia as he rolled into the final with a first period pin in the semis. He faced No. 3 Joseph Spisak from Virginia and scored a technical fall at the 5:42 mark. Carter has had an outstanding freshman season and is sure to make some noise at the NCAA tournament.
141:
No. 1 John Kohler of Maryland advanced to the final uneventfully although the opposite of the draw was less straightforward. Virginia's Nick Nelson, seeded No. 5 upset No. 2 seed Chris Diaz from Virginia Tech, 6-5 in OT periods and then lost to No. 3 Darrius Little of NC State in the semi-finals. Kohler and Little wrestled to a 1-1 draw at the end of regulation with Kohler taking the title with a first OT period takedown.
149:
No. 1 Darrion Caldwell cruised into the final to face Virginia's Derek Valenti who was ranked No. 2 and proved that his win over Virginia Tech's Brian Stephens in the dual season was not an upset by beating him again in the semifinals 3-1. It would have definitely been an upset had he managed to beat Caldwell who is undefeated this season in limited action and won the ACC title 6-3. Caldwell definitely does not look to have the same form or conditioning that he did 2 years ago and is likely to have this become apparent in Philadelphia.
157:
No. 1 Jesse Dong from Virginia Tech cruised through the weight class with a fall, a 6-1 decision and a 6-3 decision in the final over No. 2 Kyle John from Maryland. He is wrestling with a lot of confidence and appears ready to make a deep run at the national tournament.
165:
While he was not named the tournament's outstanding wrestler, Maryland's Josh Asper was one of the best wrestlers in the arena . He defeated Virginia's Jedd Moore in the semis by major decision and the dispatched of No. 2 seed Pete Yates from Virginia Tech in the final 9-3. Only a sophomore, Asper in ranked No. 4 nationally by Intermat and will definitely be an ACC wrestler with a legitimate chance at a national title in Philadelphia.
174:
Senior Mike Letts of Maryland won his 3rd ACC title by defeating Virginia's Chris Henrich 4-2 in the final. Henrich was ranked No. 4 nationally while Letts sat at No. 15, however their match in the dual season was a narrow 3-2 decision win for Henrich on a late takedown so this was sure to be an excellent match. Letts got a takedown early in the match and was able to hold off Henrich's pressure in the third period. His major decision win in the semis over UNC's Thomas Ferguson and his victory over Henrich led to Letts being named the tournament Outstanding Wrestler.
184:
No. 1 Jon Fausey of Virginia was upset by No. 4 seed Diego Bencomo of Duke in the semi-finals providing the Blue Devil's only finalist. No. 2 seed Antonio Giorgio of UNC lost his first round match so Bencomo faced No. 3 Corey Peltier of Maryland but lost a close decision 3-1.
197:
No. 4 Chris Penny of Virginia Tech beat No. 1 Mike Salopek in the semis by major decision to face No. 2 Zac Bennett of UNC. Bennett, however, proved to be too much for him in the final as he secured the Tarheels' lone title by the score of 9-5
285:
With the team title already secured, Maryland's No. 2 Spencer Myers put the exclamation point on the championship by defeating Virginia Tech's No. 1 David Marone 3-2.
Congratulations to the Maryland Terrapins who now own 23 ACC championships and many thanks to Virginia for hosting the tournament in a beautiful venue for wrestling! See you in Philadelphia!
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