Virginia Wrestling Takes Ninth At UNCG's Southern Scuffle

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Dec. 29, 2003

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of Virginia wrestling team finished ninth with 44.50 points at the First Annual UNCG Southern Scuffle. UVa was one of 23 schools to send members to compete in the event. The Cavaliers had three wrestlers place in the event, including Scott Moore who won the 141-pound title with a 5-0 record and Paul Bjorlo who went 3-3 and placed sixth at 157-pounds. A third UVa wrestler, Will Durkee, competed unattached and placed fifth at 165-pounds with a record of 5-2.

Virginia’s 141-pounder Scott Moore continued his amazing run this season by going 5-0 in the event and claimed his fifth individual tournament championship title in as many events. Moore remaining undefeated on the season while improving his overall record to 24-0 including 18 wins by fall. He won his first four matches by fall after pinning Appalachian State’s Tim Paul at 6:27 in his first bout before recording a pair of pins in just over a minute against Duke’s Adam Benitez (fall at 1:07) and VMI’s Sam Alverenga (fall at 1:02). Moore pinned Edinboro’s Ron Doppelheuer at 2:44 in his fourth match. Moore then earned a hard-fought 5-4 victory over Missouri’s J.P. Reese who was seeded #2 at 141.

UVa’s duo of Paul Bjorlo and Paul Dunstan each competed at 157-pounds for the Cavaliers and both wrestlers got off to a good start. Bjorlo placed sixth at 157 after going 3-3 and recorded an 8-3 victory over Appalachian State’s Carl Elliott in his first match before pinning Edinboro’s Ryan Yates at 1:42 and defeated Maryland’s Jason Kiessling at 7-1 later in the event. Dunstan finished 2-2 and won his first two matches after he recorded a 12-4 major decision victory over Gardner Webb’s Adam Glaser before posting a 6-2 win over VMI’s P.J. Neumann.

The Cavaliers’ Tim Foley and Will Durkee both saw action at 165-pounds. Foley posted a 5-0 victory over The Citadel’s Mike Martinez in his first bout before having to miss his next two matches after two medical forfeits. Durkee, who competed unattached in the event, went 5-2 and took fifth place. He won his first two matches after pinning Old Dominion’s Josh Adams at 1:09 in his first match before earning a 5-1 victory over Appalachian State’s Lee Roper in his second bout. Durkee then closed out his run by winning three of his last four matches with wins over East Stroudsburg’s Jason Giandomenico (11-4), Duke’s Michael Mitchell (2-1) and Appalachian State’s Lee Roper (5-4)

UVa’s Aaron Martin picked up a pair of victories and finished 2-2 at 149-pounds after posting a 4-0 win over Rider’s Joe Galante in his first match and advancded past #7 seed Labe Black after a medical forfeit in his third match.

The trio of Scott Smith (197-pounds), Michael Grogan (174-pounds) and Chet Naylor (141-pounds) each recoded a win and finished 1-2 in their respective weight classes. Smith posted a 7-5 victory in overtime over East Stroudsburg’s Shawn McCracken, Grogan turned in a 7-2 victory over Maryland’s Sean Fehn and Naylor recorded a 14-5 major decision victory over Old Dominion’s a Billy Hayduk. Virginia’s Conor Manley competed unattached at 165-pounds and went 1-2 after recording an 18-2 technical fall victory over Davidson’s Marcus Boyd.

The Cavaliers’ duo of Ryan Stewart (125-pounds) and Drew Michelotti (165-pounds) went 0-2 in their weight classes after competing in a pair of matches.

Virginia will return to action on Wednesday, January 7th when UVa faces VMI in a non-conference dual match in Richmond, Va. The dual match is Virginia’s first of the 2003-04 season. The contest is scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM and will be held at St. Christopher’s School.

Here is a look at Virginia’s individual results from UNCG’s Southern Scuffle:

W/L	Opponents							Results125L	Jeff Sato (Columbia) def. Ryan Stewart (UVa)			13-7L	Garrett Cummings (NC State) def. Ryan Stewart (UVa)	TF, 18-3

141 *** 1st Place ***W Scott Moore (UVa) def. Tim Paul (Appalachian State) Fall @ 6:27W Scott Moore (UVa) def. Adam Benitez (Duke) Fall @ 1:07W Scott Moore (UVa) def. Sam Alverenga (VMI) Fall @ 1:02W Scott Moore (UVa) def. Ron Doppelheuer (Edinboro) Fall @ 2:44W Scott Moore (UVa) def. J.P. Reese (Missouri) 5-4

141L Tommy Owen (Minnesota) def. Chet Naylor (UVa) Fall @ 5:12W Chet Naylor (UVa) def. Billy Hayduk (Old Dominion) MD, 14-5L Alex Hernandez (NC State) def. Chet Naylor (UVa) Fall @ 1:05

149W Aaron Martin (UVa) def. Joe Galante (Rider) 4-0L Deonte Penn (Edinboro) def. Aaron Martin (UVa) 5-0W Aaron Martin (UVa) def. Labe Black (Rider) Med. For.L Mark Smith (East Stroudsburg) def. Aaron Martin (UVa) Fall @ 2:36

157W Paul Dunstan (UVa) def. Adam Glaser (Gardner Webb) MD, 12-4W Paul Dunstan (UVa) def. P.J. Neumann (VMI) 6-2L Kenny Burleson (Missouri) def. Paul Dunstan (UVa) Fall @ 2:49L Ashton Buswell (UNC) def. Paul Dunstan (UVa) 8-3

157 *** Sixth Place ***W Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Carl Elliott (Appalachian State) 8-3L Matt Nagel (Minnesota) def. Paul Bjorlo (UVa) 6-0W Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Ryan Yates (Edinboro) Fall @ 1:42W Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Jason Kiessling (Maryland) 7-1L Brad Cielesky (Slippery Rock) def. Paul Bjorlo (UVa) 6-1L Mike Parsons (VMI) def. Paul Bjorlo (UVa) 5-4

165W Tim Foley (UVa) def. Mike Martinez (The Citadel) 5-0NM Chris Stith (Virginia Tech) vs. Tim Foley (UVa) Med. For.NM Lee Roper (Appalachian State) vs. Tim Foley (UVa) Med. For.

165 *** 5th Place ***W Will Durkee (UVa) def. Josh Adams (Old Dominion) Fall @ 1:09W Will Durkee (UVa) def. Lee Roper (Appalachian State) 5-1L Jake Volkmann (Minnesota) def. Will Durkee (UVa) 4-2W Will Durkee (UVa) def. Jason Giandomenico (E. Stroudsburg) 11-4W Will Durkee (UVa) def. Michael Mitchell (Duke) 2-1L Matt King (Edinboro) def. Will Durkee (UVa) TF, 17-2W Will Durkee (UVa) def. Lee Roper (Appalachian State) 5-4

165W Conor Manley (UVa) def. Marcus Boyd (Davidson) TF, 18-2L Tyron Woodley (Missouri) def. Conor Manley (UVa) TF, 16-0L Gabe Conaghan (Missouri) def. Conor Manley (UVa) MD, 14-4

165L Ryan Cunningham (Rider) def. Drew Michelotti (UVa) MD, 15-6L Keith Ritter (UNCG) def. Drew Michelotti (UVa) MD, 13-4

174L Steve Borja (Virginia Tech) def. Michael Grogan (UVa) 7-3W Michael Grogan (UVa) def. Sean Fehn Maryland 7-2L Marc O’Hair (Davidson) def. Michael Grogan (UVa) 4-2

197W Scott Smith (UVa) def. Shawn McCracken (E. Stroudsburg) 7-5 (OT)L Damion Hahn (Minnesota) def. Scott Smith (UVa) MD, 15-2L Mike Lebella (Edinboro) def. Scott Smith (UVa) MD, 10-2

— UVa —