Wrestling to Face No. 5 Virginia Tech, The Citadel on Opening Day of Virginia Duals

1/5/2016 4:25:00 PM | Wrestling

By: TBD

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell wrestling team will be making the trip to Hampton, Virginia, this weekend to compete in the Virginia Duals for a ninth consecutive year. Brackets for the two-day event that begins Friday were released on Tuesday and the Bison will face The Citadel (9 a.m.) and No. 5 Virginia Tech (1 p.m.) on the opening day.

Twelve teams will compete at the Virginia Duals and they are divided into four three-team pools that will each do round-robin dual matches on Friday. The top team in each pool will advance to Saturday's semifinal, which will be held at 2 p.m. The finals are scheduled for Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Each team is guaranteed to wrestle four dual matches.

Bucknell (2-1, 1-1 EIWA) posted a 2-2 record at last year's Virginia Duals, including a 25-12 win over No. 17 Rider.

This year's field includes three teams that are nationally ranked in the USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll. No. 18 Iowa State and No. 24 Old Dominion join No. 5 Virginia Tech as ranked squads in action at the Virginia Duals.

After focusing more on tournament competition over the season's first two months, Bucknell will wrestle only duals over the next two months, starting this weekend.

A number of Bison are having strong seasons, and that is shown in some of the national rankings. Senior 125-pounder Paul Petrov (No. 11) and sophomore 141-pounder Tyler Smith (No. 20) are nationally ranked by Intermat, while five Bucknell wrestlers are ranked by Wrestling Report. Joe Stolfi (No. 7 at 285) and Petrov (No. 9) are in the Wrestling Report top 10, while Smith (No. 17), Rustin Barrick (No. 26 at 174) and Tom Sleigh (No. 21 at 184) are also ranked. As a team, the Bison are 24th in the Wrestling Report rankings.

Bucknell has wrestled just twice in the last month. The Bison defeated Gardner-Webb by a 22-16 score on Dec. 19 and followed that with a fourth-place showing at the Lock Haven Classic last week. Among the highlights at the one-day event were titles by Stolfi and Sleigh.

Stolfi missed the early part of the season with an injury and made his season debut at the Lock Haven Classic. He posted a 4-0 record with three pins. Included in the victories was his 100th career win. He also holds Bucknell's career pins record with 55.

Petrov enters the Virginia Duals with a team-best 17-2 record this year. The two-time NCAA qualifier is now 95-32 in his career to rank eighth on the program's all-time wins list.

Friday's match will mark the fourth time Bucknell and The Citadel (3-0, 1-0 So. Con.) have squared off. The last two times the teams met was at the Virginia Duals in 2012 and 2014.

Bucknell head coach Dan Wirnsberger spent six years (1996-2002) as an assistant at Virginia Tech (4-1, 0-0 ACC) and he will get a chance to lead the Bison against the Hokies for a second time. Their only previous matchup was at the ACC Challenge in 2009. Virginia Tech won that match by a 19-17 score.

Virginia Tech assistant coach Dave Hoffman is a former Bucknell assistant, having spent 2006-12 on the Bison sideline.

Bucknell will begin a streak of home dual matches following the Virginia Duals. The Bison will begin a five-match homestand next Friday, Jan. 15, when they welcome Oklahoma to Sojka Pavilion for a 7 p.m. match. Bucknell will not go on the road again until a Feb. 7 dual at Sacred Heart.

Bucknell vs. The Citadel
Record: The Citadel leads, 2-1
First Meeting: 2008
Streak: The Citadel +2
Last Bucknell Win: 2008
Last The Citadel Win: 2014
Series:
Jan. 26, 2008 – Bucknell 22, The Citadel 12 (Lynchburg, Va.)
Jan. 13, 2012 – The Citadel 21, Bucknell 16 (Hampton, Va.)
Jan. 10, 2014 – The Citadel 19, Bucknell 18 (Hampton, Va.)

Bucknell vs. Virginia Tech
Record: Virginia Tech leads, 1-0
First Meeting: 2009
Streak: Virginia Tech +1
Last Bucknell Win: N/A
Last Virginia Tech Win: 2009
Series:
Nov. 15, 2009 – Virginia Tech 19, Bucknell 17 (Chapel Hill, N.C.)

Bucknell Projected Virginia Duals Lineup (2-1, 1-1 EIWA)
125: No. 11 Paul Petrov (17-2)
133: Grim Gonzalez (4-6) or Ben Bliss (3-9)
141: No. 20 Tyler Smith (11-6)
149: Victor Lopez (15-6) or Collin Boylan (7-5)
157: Zach Kelly (4-3)
165: Robert Schlitt (9-10) or D.J. Hollingshead (8-10)
174: Rustin Barrick (11-6) or Austin Wetterau (2-6)
184: Tom Sleigh (11-3)
197: Tyler Greene (9-5) or Rory Bonner (7-6)
285: Joe Stolfi (4-0) or Chuck Boddy (5-10)