The Virginia Tech Hokies wrestling team finished sixth at the 2025 National Duals Invitational, held at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The event brought together 16 of the nation’s top collegiate wrestling teams.
Over the course of the tournament, Virginia Tech posted a 4-2 record, defeating three ranked opponents: No. 24 Wyoming, No. 7 NC State, and No. 15 Illinois. The Hokies’ two losses came against higher-ranked teams, including a rematch with No. 9 Minnesota that determined fifth place.
In their matchup against Illinois on Sunday morning, Virginia Tech overcame an early deficit to tie the dual meet score after heavyweight Jimmy Mullen secured an upset win over Illinois’ Luke Luffman. The outcome was decided by criteria based on most nearfall points awarded during matches, which favored Virginia Tech due to Noah Nininger’s earlier major decision victory at 149 pounds. This gave the Hokies a narrow 19-18 win.
“That was a fun one huh
Dual goes down to criteria of most near falls!
Faced adversity. Battled through. Onto the next one.#ALLINALLTHETIME#Hokiespic.twitter.com/O1Zi0FWHn2,” read a statement from Virginia Tech Wrestling on X (formerly Twitter).
Later that day, the Hokies faced Minnesota for fifth place but fell short with a final score of 10-25 despite wins from Dillon Campbell, Nininger, and Sonny Sasso.
Several individual wrestlers stood out during the tournament:
– Sonny Sasso went undefeated across five matches and defeated two ranked opponents.
– Dillon Campbell recorded four wins and lost narrowly to reigning national champion Lucas Byrd.
– Freshman Noah Nininger notched significant victories while competing above his usual weight class.
– Ryan Burton had notable performances including a win over Minnesota’s Andrew Sparks.
– Jimmy Mullen finished with four wins and three victories over ranked wrestlers.
Virginia Tech also achieved the fastest average takedown time in one round of competition at just under 50 seconds.
The team will return to competition at the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia on November 23.
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