Virginia Tech's Brian Stephens (right) battles Oklahoma State's Jamal Parks at 149. Photo by Tim Tushla, WIN Magazine.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Virginia Tech’s Matt Epperly was struggling.

So Hokies coach Kevin Dresser told the fifth-year senior, who he coached to four Virginia state high school titles, to take some time off.

Epperly stayed off the mat between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the break paid off in a huge way when he pinned Oklahoma State’s Mike Benefiel at the NWCA National Duals.

That dramatic win gave No. 7 seed Virginia Tech a stunning 18-16 win over No. 2 Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon at the UNI-Dome.

“By far, this is the biggest win for the Virginia Tech program,” said Dresser, a past NCAA champion for Iowa. “All 10 guys went out and fought their tails off for us today. The guys believed. All it takes is one spark and we got that spark at 174 pounds from Matt Epperly today. We had some of our top guys go down, but we had others step up, including David Marone coming up huge with the match on the line. I’m so proud of this team, but it’s time to start thinking about tomorrow.”

Benefiel led 3-1 midway through the second period at 174 pounds before Epperly shot in on a leg attack for a match-tying takedown. The unseeded Epperly then tilted the ninth-ranked Benefiel to his back to record the pin.

“When I hit that tilt, I could tell right away his back was flat on the mat. I thought, ‘Oh man, here it is,’” Epperly said. “This is great for our team. When we first got there, everybody said, ‘Dresser’s never going to make a program there at Virginia Tech after it was ripped apart.’ This just proves to everyone that we’re building and we’re coming back.”

Oklahoma State still led 16-15 entering the heavyweight match, but Virginia Tech’s David Marone downed OSU backup Blake Rosholt 10-4 to seal the win for Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech advances to face No. 3 seed Wisconsin in Sunday’s semifinals at 11 a.m.

Top-ranked Cornell is wrestling without All-Americans Mike Grey and Cam Simaz, but the Big Red still worked its way into the semifinals.

Cornell moved halfway toward a title after beating Ohio State (27-6) and Missouri (18-15) on Saturday at the UNI-Dome.

Cornell advances to face No. 4 Minnesota in the semifinals on Sunday at 11 a.m. Minnesota beat No. 5 Boise State 18-17 in the quarterfinals.

The finals are set for 3 p.m. Sunday.

Returning Division I champion Iowa is not entered in this year’s event.

Defending champions who advanced to the semifinals on Saturday include Nebraska-Omaha (Division II), Augsburg (Division III) and Notre Dame (NAIA).

Interview with Virginia Tech’s Matt Epperly

Interview with Virginia Tech coach Kevin Dresser

Interview with Minnesota coach J Robinson

Interview with Cornell coach Rob Koll

Interview with Nebraska-Omaha coach Mike Denney