PISCATAWAY, N.J. — The caution from Rutgers wrestling head coach Scott Goodale on Friday night was not to read too much into his team’s loss to Virginia Tech. Lessons will be learned from his Big Ten program that will be valuable for later this year.
Rutgers lost 19-12 on Friday night, with Virginia Tech sparked by two upsets in matches that Rutgers was projected to win.
At 165 pounds, unranked Rafael Hipolito beat No. 22 Anthony White (13-7). Then No. 9 Brian Soldano, in what was the biggest surprise of the night, was upended 10-9 by No. 21 Sam Fisher.
But for a Rutgers team that has ambitions of cracking the top 10 this season, the loss hurts. But, Goodale said after the match, the hurt can be valuable with lessons learned.
“I love these matchups. You know, we were fortunate to get this matchup and we’ll go back there next year,” Goodale said after the loss.
“It’s a good measuring stick. But these matches matter. These matches down the road are going to matter. I think of Soldano right off the bat, right? He’s ranked maybe eighth (No. 9) in the country that kid is may be twentieth (No. 21) in the country. That’s a huge win for that guy. So now we got to make up some ground, we got to beat somebody.”
Rutgers has ambitions of improving on their record from last year where they went 10-7 overall and won two of eight matches in the Big Ten.
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This is a program that has the talent to take the next step and be top 10 nationally and place some wrestlers on the podium this spring. That’s why Rutgers scheduled an opponent that was preseason top five in the nation.
“So they matter – these matches are really really important. Again, it’s not the end of the world. We like to get our hand raised and so that part’s frustrating, but they matter,” Goodale said.
“They matter – they matter for seeding. You know, if you’re fortunate enough to pick off one of those All-Americans…next thing you know, you’re a top-five guy. We weren’t able to do that tonight. So they’re important,. They matter. Again, like we told the team, it’s not the end of the world. It’s November 17. This is a great test for us against a well-coached team, conditioned team and this will prepare us to be prepared for the Big Ten.”