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March 21, 2003
KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Three members of the University of Virginia wrestling team, Bob Seidel (Wall, N.J./Wall), Tim Foley (Stafford, Va./Brooke Point) and Joe Alexander (Franklin, N.J./Delsea Regional), took part in day two of the 2003 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Kemper Arena this afternoon. The trio of Cavaliers ended the fourth session of day two with their second losses of the event. Seidel finished with a record of 2-2 at 141-pounds, Foley finished 1-2 at 157-pounds and Alexander finished 0-2 at 133-pounds.
Seidel, who finished just two wins shy of becoming an All-American, defeated Pittsburgh’s Ronald Tarquinio by the score of 8-3 in his first match at 141 before falling to #4 seeded Jason Mester from Central Michigan by the score of 9-2 in the next round. Seidel then pulled an big upset by knocking off #10 seeded Gabe Vigil from Boise State by the score of 2-1 in his third match to advance to the next round for a showdown with Penn’s Doug McGraw. However, McGraw earned an 8-2 decision over Seidel to hand him his second loss of the tournament.
Foley defeated Bloomsburg’s George Carter by the score of 8-7 in his first match at 157 before falling to #9 seeded Alex Tirapella from Illinois by the score of 3-1 in the next round. Foley then fell to #8 seeded Joe Johnston from Iowa by the score of 11-7 in his third match to hand him his second loss in the event.
Alexander lost his first match to #8 seeded Mark Jayne from Illinois by fall at 6:32 in the 133 class before dropping a hard-fought 4-3 decision to Cornell’s Alejandro Alvarez in the consolation bracket.
Seidel wraps up the 2002-2003 season with a record of 28-12 overall. He finishes his career at UVa with 26 career pins which is the second most in school history, just two falls shy of tying the school-record of 28. Foley finishes the season with an overall record of 38-10. His 38 victories is the fourth highest single-season total at UVa and his 48 total matches competed in is tied for second all-time at Virginia in a single season. Alexander finishes the year with an overall record of 11-6 after missing most of the season with an injury.
Seidel was awarded an automatic entry to compete in Nationals after winning an individual title in the 2003 ACC Wrestling Championship, while Alexander and Foley were selected to compete at Nationals after gathering wildcard bids. A fourth Cavalier, UVa heavyweight Josh Etu (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury), also won his weight class in the ACC Championships and was awarded an automatic entry to compete at Nationals. However, Etu had to withdraw his name from competition after suffering a season-ending knee injury last Saturday in practice.
The 2003 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will continue on March 22nd.
Here is a individual look at the results for Alexander, Foley and Seidel at Nationals:
Weight Opponents Result
141W Bob Seidel (UVa) def. Ronald Tarquinio (Pitt) 8-3L #4 Jason Mester (CMU) def. Bob Seidel (UVa) 9-2W Bob Seidel (UVa) def. #10 Gabe Vigil (Boise St.) 2-1L Doug McGraw (Penn) def. Bob Seidel (UVa) 8-2
157W Tim Foley (UVa) def. George Carter (Bloomsburg) 8-7L #9 Alex Tirapella (Illinois) def. Tim Foley (UVa) 3-1L #8 Joe Johnston (Iowa) def. Tim Foley (UVa) 11-7
133L #8 Mark Jayne (Illinois) def. Joe Alexander (UVa) Fall @ 6:32L Alejandro Alvarez (Cornell) def. Joe Alexander (UVa) 4-3
— UVa —