Wrestlers Defeat James Madison 24-13

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February 9, 1999

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Virginia’s Matt Roth (Wescosville, Pa./Parkland) pinned his opponent with just nine seconds to go in the match, giving the Cavaliers six crucial points at 125 and helping Virginia defeat in-state rival James Madison 24-13 tonight in Harrisonburg. Virginia won six of the ten bouts as they defeated the Dukes for the third consecutive time.

James Madison jumped on top in the first match as Nathan Rickman decisioned John Qualter (Short Hills, N.J./Millburn) 6-2 at 174. But Virginia won at both 184 and 197 as Ryan McGrath (Blairstown, N.J./Blair Academy) decisioned Eric Leonard 8-3 at 184 and Craig Fenstermaker (Hilton Head, S.C./Northampton (S.C.)) scored a major decision over Elliott Williams 12-4 at 197 to give the Cavaliers the lead for good at 7-3 after three bouts. The Dukes cut the deficit to one as D. J. Hockman slipped past Ryan Painter (Rainelle, W.V./Rainelle) 4-2 in overtime, but Roth’s pin at 125 gave the Cavaliers a seven-point cushion halfway through the meet.

Freshman Bob Seidel (Wall, N.J./Wall) defeated JMU’s Dave Vollmer 15-9 at 133 to increase the lead to 10, but JMU scored a major decision at 141 to pull within six. John Pozniak (State College, Pa./State College) won the next bout for the Cavaliers with a 10-3 decision at 149, but JMU earned those points right back with a 4-0 decision at 157. Cavalier senior Jim Harshaw (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) closed out the match for the Cavaliers with a technical fall over Kris Bishop with a 16-1 win at 165 for his 31st win of the season, which leads the team. Harshaw was named the ACC Player of the Week for his efforts last week.

Virginia will return home to face the Spartans of Norfolk State on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 1:00 pm.

Virginia vs James Madison

                                              Team Points (UVA-JMU)174 Nathan Rickman (JMU) dec. John Qualter         6-2         0-3 184 McGrath (UVA) dec. Leonard                     8-3         3-3 197 Fenstermaker (UVA) maj dec. Williams          12-4         7-3 HWT Hockman (JMU) dec. Painter                     4-2 ot      7-6 125 Roth (UVA) WBF Jonathan Huesdash               6:51       13-6 133 Seidel (UVA) dec. Vollmer                     15-9        16-6 141 Mike Coyle (JMU) maj dec. Mike Pacillo        16-4        16-10 149 Pozniak (UVA) dec. Jim O'Connor               10-3        19-10 157 Seth Cameron (JMU) dec. Greg Francesca         4-0        19-13 165 Harshaw (UVA) tech fall Kris Bishop           16-1        24-13