EDINBORO, Pa. (January 11, 2014) – Back in November the Edinboro wrestling team began its dual meet season with a 23-14 loss at Virginia Tech. On Saturday the 14th-ranked Fighting Scots not only avenged that loss with a 23-9 defeat of the 15th-ranked Hokies, but in the process they advanced to the finals of the Virginia Duals. Edinboro, seeded second, will face top-seeded and 13th-ranked Virginia at 8 p.m. at the Hampton Coliseum. They victory boosted Edinboro to 4-2, while Virginia Tech is now 10-2.

Edinboro finished fourth in last year's Virginia Duals after falling in the semifinals to the Hokies 23-10. Virginia Tech would go on to claim the championship. The Fighting Scots were the Virginia Duals champions in 2007.

For the second day in a row Edinboro jumped out to a big lead. This time, though, the Fighting Scots gained an almost insurmountable advantage, winning the first five matches for a 17-0 lead. In addition, the upper weights did their part by winning two matches.

Kory Mines, ranked 17th by Amateur Wrestling News, got the Fighting Scots started with a 1-0 win over Joey Dance, the second time this year he has defeated the Hokie. Dance came in ranked 18th by AWN and 19th by InterMat.

A.J. Schopp, ranked third by InterMat and fourth by AWN at 133 lbs., picked up his 13th win by bonus points with a 10-2 major decision over Dennis Gustafson. Schopp is now 20-1.

Mitchell Port was not available in the season-opening dual due to an ankle injury. He wrestled on Saturday, and the top-ranked wrestler at 141 lbs. remained undefeated at 16-0 with a 12-3 decision over Erik Spjut.

Edinboro's advantage moved to 14-0 when Dave Habat continued his rivalry with 14th-ranked Zach Neibert with a 5-3 decision at 149 lbs. Habat, ranked 13th by InterMat and 14th by Amateur Wrestling News, snapped a three-match losing streak while boosting his record to 17-4.

Johnny Greisheimer picked up his sixth straight win with a 7-2 decision at 157 lbs. over Sal Mastriani. Greisheimer, ranked 18th by Amateur Wrestling News and 20th by InterMat, improved to 16-6 while giving the Scots a 17-0 lead.

VTU got on the board thanks to a 6-3 decision by Chris Moon over Zach Towers (6-6) at 165 lbs. Patrick Jennings (7-6) answered with a 7-4 decision over John Dickson at 174 lbs. to make it 20-3.

The Hokies received back-to-back wins at 184 and 197 lbs., but both came by decision as Edinboro wrapped up the victory despite 16th-ranked Nick Vetterlein's 3-2 decision over Nick Mitchell (6-7). Mitchell was filling in for injured Vic Avery. Chris Penny followed with a 5-3 decision over Vince Pickett (10-7) at 197 lbs.

Ernest James, now 16-5, wrapped up the win with a 3-1 decision in sudden victory over Ty Waltz in a matchup of nationally-ranked heavyweights. James, ranked 17th by Amateur Wrestling News and 19th by InterMat, won for the second day in a row by that score in sudden victory. It marked his second win this year in three meetings with Walz, who is ranked 20th by InterMat.

#14 EDINBORO 23, #15 VIRGINIA TECH 9
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Virginia Duals
Hampton Coliseum
Hampton, VA

125 lbs. – Kory Mines (EU) dec. #19 Joey Dance (VTU), 1-0
133 lbs. -- #3 A.J. Schopp (EU) maj. dec. Dennis Gustafson (VTU), 10-2
141 lbs. -- #1 Mitchell Port (EU) maj. dec. Erik Spjut (VTU), 12-3
149 lbs. -- #13 Dave Habat (EU) dec.# 14 Zach Neibert (VTU), 5-3
157 lbs. – #20 Johnny Greisheimer (EU) dec. Sal Mastriani (VTU), 7-2
165 lbs. – Chris Moon (VTU) dec. Zach Towers (EU), 6-3
174 lbs. – Patrick Jennings (EU) dec. John Dickson (VTU), 7-4
184 lbs. – #16 Nick Vetterlein (VTU) dec. Nick Mitchell (EU), 3-2
197 lbs. – Chris Penny (VTU) dec. Vince Pickett (EU), 5-3
Hwt. – #19 Ernest James (EU) dec. #20 Ty Walz (VTU), 3-1 sv

RECORDS: Edinboro 4-2
Virginia Tech 10-2