Virginia Wrestling Tops Duke to Remain Undefeated in the ACC, 29-6

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Feb. 15, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia wrestling team improved to 3-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference by defeating the Duke Blue Devils by the score of 29-6 in an ACC dual match at UVa’s Memorial Gymnasium. The Cavaliers won eight on the ten bouts in the match to pull out a 23-point victory.

Virginia won the first five matches of the dual and took an early 3-0 lead when 125-pounder Brian Sticca (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Salem) picked up a hard-fought 6-4 overtime victory over Tommy Hoang before the Cavaliers’ Joe Alexander (Franklin, N.J./Delsea Regional) defeated Andy Soliman by the score of 10-3 in the 133-pound match to make it a 6-0 contest. UVa 141-pounder Bob Seidel (Wall, N.J./Wall) also earned a 10-3 decision, this one coming at 141-pounds over Adam Benitez to give Virginia a 9-0 lead. The Cavaliers extended their lead to 12-0 when 149-pounder Paul Bjorlo (Reston, Va./South Lakes) recorded a 9-4 decision over Brandon Foose. UVa’s 157-pounder Tim Foley (Stafford, Va./Brooke Point) gave Virginia a 17-0 lead when he recorded a 16-0 techinical fall win over Ben Balmages.

The Blue Devils finally got on the scoreboard and won their first bout to make it a 17-3 contest when Michaelk Mitchell defeated Will Durkee (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shady Side Academy) 3-2 in the 165-pound match. The Cavaliers bounced right back and picked up a win at 184 when Brian Muir (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) defeated Tim Marcantonio by the count of 9-4 to give UVa a 20-3 lead. After Duke Tom Cass picked up a 3-2 win over Scott Mania (Virginia Beach, Va./Cox) at 184 to make the score 20-6, Virginia won the last two matches when Andy DeMartino (McLean, Va./Jefferson) topped Andrew Herbert in the 197-pound bout before the Cavaliers’ Josh Etu (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) pinned Roy Williams just :21 into the heavyweight match. With DeMartino’s and Etu’s wins, UVa finished with a 29-6 decision.

With the victory, Virginia’s record improves to 10-5 overall, 3-0 in the ACC. The loss drops Duke’s record to 9-9 overall, 1-2 in the conference.

The Cavaliers will return to action on Wednesday, February 19th when UVa travels to College Park, Md. to face the Maryland Terrapins in an ACC dual match. Competition is scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM. Here is a look at the results for the match:

Team ScoresDuke		6Virginia	29

Weight	Opponents							Result		Team - UVa/Duke125	Brian Sticca (UVa) def. Tommy Hoang (Duke)		6-4 (OT)		3-0133	Joe Alexander (UVa) def. Andy Soliman (Duke)		10-3			6-0141	Bob Seidel (UVa) def. Adam Benitez (Duke)			10-3			9-0149	Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Brandon Foose (Duke)		9-4			12-0157	Tim Foley (UVa) def. Ben Balmages (Duke)			TF, 16-0		17-0165	Michael Mitchell (Duke) def. Will Durkee (UVa)		3-2			17-3174	Brian Muir (UVa) def. Tim Marcantonio (Duke)		9-4			20-3184	Tom Cass (Duke) def. Scott Mania (UVa)			3-2			20-6197	Andy DeMartino (UVa) def. Andrew Herbert (Duke)		8-2			23-6HWT	Josh Etu (UVa) def. Roy Williams (Duke)			Fall @ :21		29-6

— UVa —