EDINBORO, Pa. (January 10, 2014) – Ernest James is all too familiar with matches coming down to him. The fifth-year senior has been in that position many times, and the big heavyweight came through once again on Friday afternoon. His sudden victory win at heavyweight provided 15th-ranked Edinboro with the winning points in a 17-16 victory over 25th-ranked Old Dominion in the quarterfinals of the Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va.

After jumping out to an 11-0 lead, Edinboro found itself trailing 16-14 heading into the final bout. The Monarchs rallied for wins in five of six matches to almost pull of the upset.

James, ranked 17th by Amateur Wrestling News and 19th by InterMat, faced Matt Tourdot with the match on the line. The two exchanged escapes in the second and third period before James recorded the lone takedown in the overtime period with a 3-1 sudden victory decision. He improved to 15-5 with the victory.

Kory Mines got Edinboro off to a great start with a big win at 125 lbs. The redshirt junior improved to 14-5 with a 15-4 major decision over Brandon Jeske, who came in ranked 20th by both Amateur Wrestling News and InterMat. Mines is not ranked by InterMat but is 17th in the Amateur Wrestling News' rankings.

A.J. Schopp, ranked third by InterMat and fourth by AWN at 133 lbs., picked up his 12th win by bonus points with a 9-0 major decision over Scott Festeje. Schopp is now 19-1.

In the feature match of the dual, top-ranked Mitchell Port met fourth-ranked Chris Mecate at 141 lbs. Port took a 2-1 lead after one period thanks to a takedown 30 seconds into the match. Mecate rode out Port almost the entire second period, but in the final ten seconds Port would escape for a 3-1 lead. Starting in the neutral position and with Mecate owning riding time, Port made sure there was no upset as the redshirt junior picked up his second takedown with just over a minute remaining for the 5-1 decision and an 11-0 Edinboro lead. He remained undefeated at 15-0 while Mecate fell to 17-5.

Old Dominon would get on the board with an upset at 149 lbs., as Alexander Richardson claimed a 5-3 decision over Dave Habat (16-4), who came in ranked 13th by InterMat and 14th by Amateur Wrestling News. It was the third straight loss suffered by Habat.

Johnny Greisheimer continued his strong wrestling with his fifth straight win, an 8-3 decision at 157 lbs. over Tristan Warner. Greisheimer, ranked 18th by Amateur Wrestling News and 20th by InterMat, improved to 15-6 as Edinboro boosted its lead to 14-3.

Devin Geoghegan won by major decision over Zach Towers (6-5), 12-4, at 165 lbs., and Billy Curling followed with a 5-3 decision over Patrick Jennings (6-6) at 174 lbs., narrowing the gap to 14-10.

The Monarchs would also win at 184 and 197 lbs., making it four straight victories, to take a 16-14 lead. Nick Mitchell (6-6), filling in at 184 lbs. for Vic Avery, lost an 8-5 decision to Jack Dechow. Vince Pickett couldn't stop the bleeding, as dropped a 2-0 decision to Kevin Beazley at 197 lbs. Beazley prevailed thanks to a second period escape and a riding time point, paving the way for James dramatic victory.

Edinboro moves on to Saturday's semifinals where they will meet Virginia Tech at 2 p.m. A year ago the Hokies handed the Fighting Scots a 23-10 defeat in the semifinals on their wat to the championship, and they also claimed a 23-14 win over Edinboro to start the 2013-14 campaign.