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After much consideration, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert Turk issued a decision yesterday upholding the Commonwealth's motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought against Virginia Tech by five wrestlers who sought immediate transfer waivers, plaintiffs attorney John J. Robertson wrote in an e-mail.

Turk's decision, Robertson wrote, was "based on the sovereign immunity defense. He added that both the contract and tort claims for monetary damages could proceed when the waiting period was up, and when the Commonwealth denied the claims. He dismissed our requests for injunctive relief and mandamus, as well as our claim for due process violations under the Virginia Constitution."

I have little idea what any of that means. I will find out.

UPDATE: Jim Borschel, the father of wrestler Jay Borschel, said he expects the parents will appeal the decision, even if the process will take too long for their sons to save their fourth season of eligibility. It's the principle of the thing, he said.

Click on the "wrestling" category on the right for more information.

If anyone was counting down the days until Oct. 10, anxiously awaiting the next bit of news in the Virginia Tech wrestling lawsuit -- well, you'll have to wait a bit longer.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs and defendants met today in chambers with Montgomery County Circuit Court judge Robert M. D. Turk, but it will be about a week until Turk rules on the university's motion to have the suit dismissed, plaintiffs' attorney John J. Robertson said.

Dunno if this is going to be settled in time for the aggrieved wrestlers to compete in Iowa's season opener in a few weeks -- though in truth, some of them won't crack the Hawkeyes' lineup this year anyway.

Background info: April 6, May 19, May 25 and Sept. 28.

If anyone was wondering whatever happened to those wrestlers who sued Virginia Tech, well, not much has changed since the dispute first hit the courts.

All five wrestlers -- Jay Borschel, Brent Metcalf, Joe Slaton, T.H. Leet and Dan LeClere -- have enrolled at Iowa, are listed on the roster and are practicing with the Hawkeyes. The Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette had a feature story recently about how the guys are adjusting to their new lives as non-competing wrestlers. (The Gazette, unfortunately, no longer has the story on its primitive Web site.)

We're still scheduled for an Oct. 10 hearing in Montgomery County Circuit Court to decide the merits of the university's opening gambit, a motion to dismiss -- as is usually the case in such circumstances, I'm told.

Virginia Tech opens its wrestling season with a home meet Nov. 5, and two weeks later travels to a meet at Nebraska that is expected to also include Tom Brands and the Hawkeyes.

Background info for the uninitiated here, here and here.

If any of you were waiting for Virginia Tech's response to the lawsuit filed June 30 by the five wrestlers fighting for transfer releases, it should come this week. The deadline for the university to file a response in Montgomery County Circuit Court is Thursday -- three weeks from the day Tech president Charles Steger was served with papers, not three weeks from the day the suit was filed. This news comes from the plaintiffs' attorney, John J. Robertson of Long & Neyhart, P.C.

Click here for more background information.

An affidavit by former Virginia Tech wrestling coach Tom Brands supports claims by five Hokies wrestlers that VT athletic administrators promised unconditional transfer releases if the wrestlers wanted to leave.

For background info, today's RT story is here

UVa announced yesterday that Steve Garland, an NCAA runner-up for the Cavaliers in 2000, is its new wrestling coach. Garland, 28, was an assistant coach the past six seasons at Cornell, which placed in the top 11 at the past four NCAA championships. He replaces Lenny Bernstein, who resigned two weeks ago after 13 seasons as Cavs head coach.

Feast on a veritable smorgasbord of Kevin Dresser comments, first from a phone interview early Friday afternoon and then from his media session later in the day:

Q: What do you think of your first college head coaching job?

Obviously I’m excited. I’ve got a lot of work ahead and there’s a little bit of uncertainty any time you’re doing something new. But hey, I’m up for the challenge.

Q: How did it all come together?

I’ve been involved here in the last week and a half in trying to make sure that when Tom left, everything was good over here, and so I kind of got involved in some negotiations. I think at that point they felt like I would be a good choice and offered me the job Wednesday.

Q: Were you already comfortable with each other, given your 18 years in the area?

I’m sure that was a big factor, you know, just my reputation in Southwest Virginia made it an easy decision – made it an easier decision. That’s the key word: easier. I don’t think it was an easy decision, but I think that my reputation and just being here [helped]. Like I told everybody, there’s no secrets with Kevin Dresser in the wrestling world in Virginia.

Q: Was it an easy decision for you?

I can’t say it was an easy decision. You know, I’ve got a lot of relationships at Christiansburg. Any time you leave those relationships, that makes it tough. But from a challenging perspective, it was an easy decision. I feel like I’ve accomplished and taken Christiansburg to a level that I’m satisfied with right now. And I feel like I’ve left that program in good hands and in a good situation. So that made this decision real easy.

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Hokies AD Jim Weaver addressed the hiring of Kevin Dresser in an informal gathering with media members Friday afternoon:

Q: After the turmoil of the past week, do you feel like you have your man?

I don’t feel like we have him; we do have him. He’s right over there. We’re very pleased and proud to announce that Kevin Dresser is our new head wrestling coach here at Virginia Tech. He’s had a career of success wherever he’s been and whatever he’s done – all the way back to when he was an individual national champion on the collegiate level at the University of Iowa [and as] part of that coaching staff as a … grad assistant for a year or two, and then at Grundy and at Christiansburg High School. I think he has a real good knack of being able to develop wrestlers. I think that’s a trait we need to have in our head coach.

Q: Is it important to have a local guy?

Having someone from the local area … I think what this is going to mean for us is that we’re not going to have to be out looking for a wrestling coach every couple of years. He’s been in this area for some time, likes Southwest Virginia, and I think that’s important to the continuity that we want to create in our wrestling program. We made a very strong commitment when we hired Coach Brands two years ago. That very same commitment in still in progress and we intend to continue on that same road.

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Virginia Tech wrestling coach Kevin Dresser and athletic director Jim Weaver met with members of the media this afternoon at the Jamerson Athletic Center to discuss Dresser's hiring. We'll have full interview transcripts later today ...

Christiansburg High School coach Kevin Dresser confirmed he will be introduced this afternoon as Virginia Tech's new wrestling coach. Christiansburg assistant coach Daryl Weber will be promoted to take Dresser's place.