"The Hokie Open was a great gauge to evaluate our weaknesses and strenghts technically," head coach Steve Martin said. "With our young team we will continue to get better each week."
The Monarchs had seven wrestlers take finishes in the top-six of their weight class, starting with Nicholson taking first at 125 and Eric Dunnet taking fifth, also at 125.
Nicholson was solid all day, starting the day with a 6-2 win over Kent State's Steve Mitcheff, and following that with a 17-2 triumph over Gardner-Webb's Brett Kostern. The Des Moines, Iowa native fell behind early to Chattanooga's Presscott Garner in his next match, 6-3, but rallied for an exciting 17-11 win. He cruised past Iowa State's Patrick Hunter 16-3 to reach the finals before topping No. 10 Jarrod Garnett (VT), 5-3.
Dunnet was solid as well, picking up wins over Jake Corrill and Trevor Dearden. He took an early 2-0 lead over Garnett, but ended up falling 8-3. Dunnet fought back to pin UNCG's Robert Gribschaw to take fifth place.
Kyle Hutter defeated Iowa State's Tyler Cash with a takedown 17 seconds into overtime before falling to Virginia Tech's Devin Carter 11-3 in the finals.
Sophomore Brennan Brumley picked up four wins at 141 for the Monarchs. Brumley was dominant in his opener, pinning Gardner-Webb's Richard Spicel in the first period. He followed with wins over Danny Lopes (UNC) and Shawn Greevy (UTC) before falling to Virginia Tech's Zach Neibert.
Joey Metzler was solid on the day as well, winning his first three matches en route to a fourth place finish at 149-pounds.
Joey wrestled well throughout the tournament," Martin said. He wrestled hard for 7 minutes and he continues to make gains each match."
Joe Budi picked upa fourth place finish for ODU at 184-pounds. Budi was ahead 15-3 when Duke's Diego Bencomo was disqualified and beat UNC's Nick Tenpenny 8-2 before falling to UNC's Antonio Giorgio.
"We were pleased that Joe was attacking on his feet," Martin added. "He wrestled well in his matches but at times was overaggressive and made mistakes in each match cost him a title."
Grant Chapman and Dan Rivera had two wins apiece while Rodin Ndandula and Billy Curling also picked up wins.
"As a team we still have several weight classes that are up for grabs, we are looking forward to each day of practice as this is a team that will be twice as good at the end of the year," Martin said. "This is a hungry group that has a lot to prove to themselves."
The Monarchs are back in action next Sunday when they travel to Binghamton for the Binghamton Open.
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