UNI’s Blaize Cabell Upsets Virginia Tech’s #7 Ty Walz [VIDEOS]

UNI’s No. 15 Blaize Cabell upset Virginia Tech’s No. 7 Ty Walz at heavyweight in front of a sold-out West Gym, but the Hokies would get the team win on January 16, 2015.

Tech snapped the UNI’s 12-dual home streak with a 20-12 win over the Panthers.

The streak dated back to the beginning of the 2013-14 season. The Panthers’ last loss in the West Gym was against No. 1 Oklahoma State in 2013.

“I give them some credit,” said head coach Doug Schwab. “This is a hostile atmosphere, and you could feel the tide change. And we have to go them and they came to us. Our guys have to pursue those situations.”

The Panthers fall to 6-4, and the Hokies improve to 9-1.

The dual was the first sell-out crowd for UNI wrestling this season.

The Panthers got the early lead starting with Basil Minto at 197 pounds.

Minto struck early with takedown to go up 2-0. Jared Haught got an escape soon after the restart to narrow the gap. Minto scrambled early at the start of the second to pull ahead 3-1. A takedown by Haught tied it up with 1:17 left in the second. Minto got another scramble off the restart to regain the lead, 4-3, but an escape by Haught in the third would tie it back up at 4-4 and take it to overtime. Minto grabbed the takedown to win 6-4 and give the Panthers the team 3-0 lead.

It was a rematch at heavyweight with Tech’s No. 7 Ty Walz and No. 15 Blaize Cabell. Cabell led the series 1-0 with a win over Walz at the 2013 Cliff Keen Invite. Walz would get the lead at the start of the second with an escape. Cabell tied it back up with an escape of his own to start the third. After two more takedowns and a Walz escape, Cabell would go on to win 5-3.

“That’s a good win for him,” Schwab said of Cabell. “He had a couple of good attacks. I think he can get even more attacks than he did. That’s a big win for him. He’s got a little roll going for him. He needs to keep riding the momentum.”

No. 6 Dylan Peters was looking to avenge two losses to No. 4 Joey Dance at 125 pounds. Dance got the early lead with a takedown. Peters narrowed the gap with an escape, but gave up another escape early in the second period. Peters trailed 5-3 and made a late attempt at a takedown but wasn’t able to get control before time ran out. Dance got the 5-3 decision.

No. 18 Kevin Norstrem got out to an early lead with a couple of takedowns at 133 pounds. Gaul tied it up with two escapes. Norstrem took the lead at the start of the third with an escape and takedown to go up 7-4. An escape would narrow the gap, but another takedown would give Norstrem the 10-5 decision. Norstrem earned more than two minutes in riding time.

No. 3 Devin Carter dominated the match at 141 pounds to win by technical fall in 4 minutes, 47 seconds.

Gunnar Wolfensperger came within seconds of knocking off No. 13 Sal Mastriani at 149 pounds, but Mastriani held on for the 7-6 decision to put the Hokies up 14-6 in team scoring. After two scoreless periods, Jarrett Jensen preserved his 2 minutes of riding time with an escape to start the third to go up 1-0. He quickly countered with a takedown and went on to earn 3:33 in riding time. A stall point in favor of Jensen gave UNI the 5-0 decision.

UNI narrowed Virginia Tech’s lead to 14-9.

No. 12 Cooper Moore took the 165-pound match down to the wire. After two scoreless periods, Moore gave up the escape to Chad Strube, who earned two minutes in riding time in the second. Moore grabbed a takedown for the lead, but Strube still had riding time. Moore sealed the win with a takedown in the last two seconds of the match. He beat Strube 4-3 and pulled UNI within two points in team scoring.

“Cooper found a way to win, and he is just going to keep on getting better,” said Schwab.

Curt Maas put up a fight at 174 pounds, but No. 9 Zach Epperly took the match, 6-2.

UNI trailed 17-12 heading into the final match of the night.

Jared Haught got the early lead and trailed 7-1 to start the third. He would go on to get the major decision 10-3 to seal the win for Virginia Tech, 20-12.

“It was a great atmosphere,” said Schwab. “We gutted out some wins. We stole the momentum early, but we just weren’t able to tip them over the edge.”

UP NEXT

UNI will hit the road for about a month. The first stop for the Panthers will be Central Michigan Jan. 25. Central Michigan is ranked sixth in the MAC. They compete again at No. 3 Missouri Jan. 31. UNI’s next and final home dual will be 7 p.m. Feb. 20 against Old Dominion.

Virginia Tech 20, UNI 12
January 14, 2015
Officials: Curt Frost and Michael Vantiger
Attendance: 2,100 (sold out)

125-#4 Joey Dance (VT) dec. #6 Dylan Peters (UNI) 5-3

133-#18 Kevin Norstrem (VT) dec. Leighton Gaul (UNI) 10-5

141-#3 Devin Carter (VT) tech fall Jake Hodges (UNI) 22-7 (4:47)

149-#13 Sal Mastriani (VT) dec. Gunnar Wolfensperger 7-6

157-Jarrett Jensen (UNI) dec. Jake Spengler (VT) 5-0

165-#12 Cooper Moore (UNI) dec. Chad Strube (VT) 4-3

174-#9 Zach Epperly (VT) dec. Curt Maas (UNI) 6-2

184-Austin Gabel (VT) maj. dec. Cody Caldwell (UNI) 10-3

197-Basil Minto (UNI) dec. Jared Haught (VT) 6-4 SV1

285-#15 Blaize Cabell (UNI) dec. #7 Ty Walz (VT) 5-3