Wrestling Finishes Fourth in Congressional Cup

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February 7, 1999

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Virginia’s Jim Harshaw (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley), ranked 16th nationally, defeated 12th-ranked Andy Varner of Cal-State Bakersfield to win the 165-pound division at the Congressional Cup today and help the Cavaliers to a fourth-place finish in the team competition. It is his second consecutive tournament title, coming off his third consecutive championship at the Virginia Intercollegiate meet last month. The Cavaliers finished fourth overall, behind #12 Cal-State Bakersfield (97), Lehigh (95), and Hofstra (54) with 49 points.

Matt Roth (Wescosville, Pa./Parkland), Virginia’s career leader in pins, added two this weekend to increase his total to 24. He also advanced to the finals where he was defeated by 12th-ranked Moses Delfin of Cal-State Bakersfield 5-2. The pins were Roth’s sixth and seventh pins of the season, a mark achieved by only eight other wrestlers in UVa history. Bob Seidel (Wall, N.J./Wall) pinned his first opponent in the 133-pound bracket to advance to the semifinals where he lost to Roman Flezar of Hofstra, ranked ninth in the country. His sixth pin of the season leaves him one shy of the freshman record at Virginia.

P.J. Bory (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) took third place at 141, and teammate John Pozniak (State College, Pa./State College) took fourth at 149. In the semifinals, he lost to fifth-ranked Ryan Berholz of Lehigh in overtime criteria.

Craig Fenstermaker (Hilton Head, S.C./Northampton (Pa.)) also finished third for the Cavaliers, defeating Josh Schroeder of American in a rematch of a first-round bout in the third place final. Virginia (5-5-1, 1-2 ACC) returns to dual match action as the Cavaliers travel to James Madison for a match against the Dukes on Tuesday, Feb. 9. The match is slated to begin at 7:00 pm.

Final team scoring                        Virginia place-winners1. Cal State Bakersfield    97            125  Matt Roth, 2nd2. Lehigh                   95            141  P. J. Bory, 3rd3. Hofstra                  54            149  John Pozniak, 4th4. Virginia                 49            165  Jim Harshaw, 1st5. American               31.5            197  Craig Fenstermaker, 3rd6. Rutgers                  267. Maryland               17.58. Carson-Newman            14