Virginia Wrestling Falls To North Carolina, 27-9

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Jan. 14, 2000

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia wrestling teamlooked to snap a 25-match losing skid to the North Carolina Tar Heels inthe Cavaliers first Atlantic Coast Conference match of the season. UVa hadnot won against UNC since a 28-14 victory in the 1974-1975 season in ChapelHill, N.C. Virginia entered the match coming off a 22-16 loss to NorthCarolina when the two teams faced one another on January 7th at the 2000Virginia Duals in Norfolk, Va. On this evening, Virginia jumped out to a6-4 after three matches before North Carolina took control of the match enroute to a 27-9 victory over the Cavaliers at Memorial Gymnasium.

UNC took and early 4-0 lead when Brad Byers recorded a majordecision victory over UVa’s Dave Takseraas (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) by thescore of 14-5 in the 133 lbs. class. The Cavaliers then managed to postback-to-back wins to claim an early 6-4 lead. At 141, P.J. Bory (Suffern,Va./Suffern) recorded Virginia’s first win of the match by topping NorthCarolina’s Rusty Lee by the count of 8-2 to trim Carolina’s lead to 4-3.John Pozniak (State College, Pa./State College) then gave the Cavalierstheir first and only lead of the match when he gathered a 6-1 victory overthe Tar Heels’ Aaron Gilson at 149 to make it a 6-4 contest in favor of UVa.

However, it was nearly all North Carolina from there on, as the TarHeels won six of the last seven matches in the dual. UNC’s Dennis Landinpinned UVa’s Don Carlo-Clauss (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Olympia) just :23seconds into the match at 157 and North Carolina’s Jamie Graudle defeatedVirginia’s Brian Muir (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) by the score of9-3 at 165 to give UNC a 13-6 lead. The Tar Heels would extend their leadto 18-6 after UNC’s Cory Bell posted a 15-0 technical fall victory overUVa’s Steve Mazzola (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edwards) at 174.

The Cavaliers would not quit though and managed their third victoryof the match at 184 when Ryan McGrath (Blairstown, N.J./Blair Academy)edged Carolina’s Nick Richmond by the score of 3-1 in overtime to pullVirginia within nine team points at 18-9. However, North Carolina won thelast three matches and pulled away for the win. Clint Osborn toppedVirginia’s Jimi Massey (Williamsport, Md./Williamsport) by the count of 6-2at 197 and the Tar Heels’ Matt Kenny pulled out a 9-7 overtime win overUVa’s Josh Etu (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) in the heavyweight bout.

Last but not least, in probably the most anticipated match of theevening, two of the nations elite wrestlers squared-off in the final matchof the evening in the 125 lbs. class. Virginia’s Steve Garland(Middletown, N.Y./Middletown), ranked fourth in the country at 125, enteredthe match with an overall record of 12-1 on the season. He faced NorthCarolina’s Skyler Holman, who entered the match ranked 12th in the countrywith an overall mark of 22-5. After a back and forth affair, Holman upsetGarland by the score of 10-5, giving the Tar Heels a 27-9 victory over theCavaliers.

With the loss, UVa falls to 1-3-0 overall, 0-1 in the ACC. Thevictory improves UNC’s record to 2-2 overall, 1-1 in the conference. TheTar Heels have now defeated the Cavaliers 26 consecutive times.

Virginia will return to home action on Saturday, January 15th whenthe Cavaliers host the Navy Midshipmen and the Old Dominion Monarchs indual meet competition. UVa will face Navy at 1:00 p.m. and will meet ODUat 7:00 p.m. Both competitions will be held at Memorial Gymnasium. NorthCarolina will travel to College Park, Md. to face the Maryland Terrapins onSaturday, January 15th in an ACC dual. That contest is scheduled to beginat 2:00 p.m.

Team Results:

North Carolina      27Virginia             9

Individual Results:

Wgt.   Results                     Score   Team Score                                             (UVa/UNC)133 Brad Byers (UNC) def. Dave Takseraas (UVa)  MD 14-5       0-4141 P.J. Bory (UVa) def. Rusty Lee (UNC)            8-2       3-4149 John Pozniak (UVa) def. Aaron Gilson (UNC)      6-1       6-4157 Dennis Landin (UNC) def. Don Carlo-Clauss (UVa) Pin @:23  6-10165 Jamie Graudle (UNC) def. Brian Muir (UVa)       9-3       6-13174 Cory Bell (UNC) def. Steve Mazzola (UVa)    TF 15-0       6-18184 Ryan McGrath (UVa) def. Nick Richmond (UNC)  3-1 (OT)     9-18197 Clint Osborn (UNC) def. Jimi Massey (UVa)       6-2       9-21Hwt Matt Kenny (UNC) def. Josh Etu (UVa)         9-7 (OT)     9-24125 Skyler Holman (UNC) def. Steve Garland (UVa)   10-5       9-27