Virginia Falls 27-12 To Navy

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Jan. 15, 2000

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia wrestling teamhosted the first of its two opponents on the afternoon with a dual matchagainst the Navy Midshipmen at Memorial Gymnasium. The Cavaliers werecoming off a 27-9 loss to North Carolina in their ACC opener on Fridayevening and were looking to record their second dual match victory of theseason. UVa jumped out to an early 7-4 lead, but Navy scored the match’snext 23 points en route to a 27-12 win.

UVa’s Dave Takseraas (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) began the afternoonoff with the first match at 133 lbs. Takseraas gave Virginia an early 3-0lead after topping Navy’s Phil MacNaughton by the count of 4-2. At 141,the Mid’s Mark Conley posted a 13-4 major decision victory over Virginia’sJason Bernd Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) to give Navy a 4-3 edge.However, UVa responded right back with a major decision victory of its ownwhen the Cavaliers’ John Pozniak (State College, Pa./State College)recorded a 17-9 win over the Mid’s Tom Storer at 149 to make it a 7-4Virginia lead.

However, it was nearly all Navy from that point on for theremainder of the afternoon, as the Midshipmen won six of the last sevenmatches, including a span of six consecutive bouts. Navy’s Don Watersdefeated UVa’s Don Carlo-Clauss (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Olympia) by thescore of 5-3 at 157 and the Mid’s James Griffin topped Virginia’s BrianMuir (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) by the score of 5-3 at 165 to giveNavy a 10-7 lead. The Mid’s would extend their lead to 15-7 after Navy’sMark Newman recorded a 21-6 technical fall victory over UVa’s Steve Mazzola(Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edwards) at 174.

At 184, the Midshipmens’ Mike Bigrigg posted a 9-6 decision overthe Cavaliers’ Ryan McGrath (Blairstown, N.J./Blair Academy) and Navy’sJustin Woodruff pinned Virginia’s Andy DeMartino (No. Va.,Jefferson HighSchool) at 4:38 to extend the Mid’s lead to 24-7. In the heavyweightmatch, Navy’s Steve Kovack topped UVa’s Ryan Painter (Rainelle,W.V./Rainelle) in the closest match of the afternoon by the score of 3-1 inovertime to make it a 27-7 Midshipmen lead.

Virginia’s Steve Garland (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown), rankedfourth in the country at 125 lbs., entered the match with an overall recordof 12-2 on the season. Garland looked to record his 13th victory of theseason, and did so with authority. He recorded a 15-0 technical fall winover the Mid’s Ryan Heineman to close out the dual.

With the loss, UVa’s overall record falls to 1-4, while the victoryimproves Navy’s mark to 3-1 on the season. Virginia will return to homeaction on Saturday, January 15th when the Cavaliers host the Old DominionMonarchs in dual meet competition. The meet will begin at 6:00 p.m. andwill be held at Memorial Gymnasium.

Team Results:

Navy      27Virginia  12

Individual Results:

Wgt. Results                                                 Score      Team Score (UVa/Navy)133  Dave Takseraas (UVa) def. Phil MacNaughton (Navy)         4-2          3-0141  Mark Conley (Navy) def. Jason Bernd (UVa)             MD 13-4          3-4149  John Pozniak (UVa) def. Tom Storer (Navy)             MD 17-9          7-4157  Don Waters (Navy) def. Don Carlo-Clauss (UVa)             5-3          7-7165  James Griffin (Navy) def. Brian Muir (UVa)                5-3         7-10174  Mark newman (Navy) def. Steve Mazzola (UVa)           TF 21-6         7-15184  Mike Bigrigg (Navy) def. Ryan McGrath (UVa)               9-6         7-18197  Justin Woodruff (Navy) def. Andy DeMartino (UVa)  Fall @ 4:38         7-24Hwt  Steve Kovack (Navy) def. Ryan Painter (UVa)               3-1 (OT)    7-27125  Steve Garland (UVa) def. Ryan Heineman (Navy)         TF 15-0        12-27