Virginia Wrestling Defeats James Madison in Non-Conference Dual, 26-21
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Jan. 15, 2003
HARRISONBURG, Va. – The University of Virginia wrestling team defeated the James Madison Dukes by the score of 26-21 in a non-conference dual match. The Cavaliers won six of the ten bouts on the evening, but needed to win the last match to claim the dual. After watching its 20-9 lead disappear after seven matches, UVa fell behind by the score of 21-20 with one bout remaining. But in the final match, the Cavaliers’ heavyweight Josh Etu (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) pinned JMU’s Matt Coffey at 2:55 to give Virginia the five-point victory.
UVa jumped out to an early 3-0 lead when 125-pounder Brian Sticca (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Salem) defeated Brian Kibler by the score of 14-7. James Madison won back-to-back matches at 133 and 141 to take a 9-3 lead before the Cavaliers won four consecutive bouts to pull out to a 20-9 lead.
UVa’s Paul Bjorlo (Reston, Va./South Lakes) got things started for Virginia by posting an 8-6 decision over Kevin Gaughan at 149 to cut the Dukes’ lead to 9-6 before Tim Foley (Stafford, Va.North Stafford) pinned Aaron Swift at 2:19 in the 157 class to give UVa a 12-9 advantage. The Cavaliers’ Will Durkee (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shady Side Academy) recorded an 11-3 major decision over Brian Hanifan at 165 to give UVa a 16-9 lead before 174-pounder Brian Muir (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) earned a 9-1 major decision over JMU’s Steve Broglie to push Virginia’s lead to 20-9.
James Madison claimed team points from both the 184 and 197 classes to take a 21-20 lead heading into the final bout of the match, the heavyweight class. That’s where UVa’s Etu recorded the fall over Coffey to lift the Cavaliers to a 26-21 win.
With the victory, Virginia’s record improves to 2-4 overall in dual match action, while the loss drops James Madison’s record to 0-2 in dual match action on the year. UVa is now 16-4-1 all-time against JMU in wrestling.
The Cavaliers will return to tournament action on Sunday, January 19th when UVa travels to Lexington, Va. to compete in the 2003 Virginia Intercollegiates State Wrestling Championships (VISWC). The event will be hosted by the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and is scheduled to begin at 11:00 AM.
Here is a look at the individual results for the UVa/JMU dual match
Result Opponents Result Team Score UVa/JMU125 Brian Sticca (UVa) def. Brian Kibler (JMU) 14-7 3-0133 Jon Huesdash (JMU) def. Ian DeRath (UVa) Fall @ 3:48 3-6141 Chris Wilson (JMU) def. Joey Carpenter (UVa) 10-7 3-9149 Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Kevin Gaughan (JMU) 8-6 6-9157 Tim Foley (UVa) def. Aaron Swift (JMU) Fall @ 2:19 12-9165 Will Durkee (UVa) def. Brian Hanifan (JMU) MD, 11-3 16-9174 Brian Muir (UVa) def. Steve Broglie (JMU) MD, 9-1 20-9184 Dave Colabella (JMU) vs. No Match Forfeit 20-15197 Steve Kodish (JMU) def. Zach Freday (UVa) Fall @ 6:02 20-21HWT Josh Etu (UVa) def. Matt Coffey (JMU) Fall @ 2:55 26-21
— UVa —