In No. 21 Northwestern’s first wrestling match of the season, the team traveled to Blacksburg, Virginia to face off against No. 11 Virginia Tech. The Wildcats and Hokies battled, with the result of the match hanging on the last match.

NU’s Jack Heyob faced off against Virginia Tech’s John Borst in the 285-pound weight class but lost 9-0, giving the Cats an 0-1 start to their 2019-2020 campaign.

Last season, NU and the Hokies participated in a meet in Evanston, and the Cats won another close matchup 20-16. This weekend’s match was an outdoor match in Virginia, taking place at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park.

NU was led by junior Sebastian Rivera, who wrestled above his 125-weight class against Virginia Tech’s Collin Gerardi, who is 133. Despite the weight difference, Rivera won the matchup 13-4 in a major decision. But Rivera wasn’t the only Cat to win by major decision. NU junior Ryan Deakin and sophomore Yahya Thomas also won by major decisions.

Deakin and Thomas dominated their respective matchups, winning 12-3 and 12-2 respectively against the Hokies. The Cats also got wins from sophomores Tyler Morland and Lucas Davison to put themselves in position to take the match. However, the final matchup proved to be too much.

NU will return to action next week against No. 14 Northern Iowa in the team’s first home meet of the 2019-2020 season.

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