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Jan. 7, 2004
RICHMOND, Va. – UVa 157-pounder Paul Bjorlo defeated redshirt sophomore Chris Hardy by the score of 7-3 in the final match of the evening to seal a 23-19 victory for the Virginia wrestling team over VMI in the Second Annual “Wrestling Rumble on the River” Wednesday night. The match was wrestled in front of a raucous crowd of 1,052 at Scott Gymnasium on the campus of St. Christopher’s School.
Both teams were wrestling their first dual matches of the year. UVa’s win snapped a two-match winning streak by VMI over the Cavaliers.
Virginia took an early 3-0 lead as junior 165-pounder Paul Dunstan defeated sophomore P.J. Neumann 3-0 in the evening’s first match. The Cavaliers’ Tim Foley followed that up with a 15-0 technical fall over Keydet redshirt freshman Aaron Kerkhof at 174 lbs. to give UVa an 8-0 lead. Foley is currently ranked in Intermat’s top 20. UVa extended the lead to 11 as freshman Michael Grogan defeated VMI’s redshirt freshman Corry Murray 11-5 at 184 lbs.
The Keydets got on the board when senior Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week Jason Cox scored a 20-3 technical fall over Virginia’s freshman Scott Smith at 197 lbs. The win cut UVa’s lead to 11-5. VMI senior 285-pounder Scott Buhman trimmed the lead to 11-9 by recording a 13-0 major decision over Cavalier junior Andrew Leffler.
The Cavaliers opened the second half of the match with a win as sophomore Brian Sticca outlasted VMI’s senior Juan Sanchez 7-2 at 125 lbs.
VMI took its first and only lead of the night (15-14) when sophomore 133-pounder Micah Amrozowicz pinned sophomore Ryan Stewart in 3:36. UVa took the lead right back when the Cavaliers’ 2003 All-American Scott Moore pinned VMI freshman David Metzler in 1:15. Moore is ranked second nationally by Intermat and is now 25-0 on the year with 19 wins coming by fall.
Keydet freshman Sam Alvarenga then rallied to beat UVa’s 149-pounder Aaron Martin, 15-6 in a major decision, cutting the UVa lead to 20-19 and setting up the final match of the night.
“We took advantage of where our talents lied,” said UVa head coach Lenny Bernstein. “We moved some guys around and our strategy paid off. The last five matches could have gone either way. VMI always wrestles hard.”
“We have a lot of young wrestlers,” said VMI head coach John Trudgeon. “Wethrew them into the fire early and will improve from this match.”
The Cavaliers will return to action on January 9-10 when UVa competes in the 2004 Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va. The event is scheduled to take place at the Hampton Coliseum.
Wgt. Opponents Result Team Score165 lbs. Paul Dunstan (UVa) def. P.J. Neumann (VMI) 7-3 UVA, 3-0174 lbs. Tim Foley (UVa) def. Aaron Kerkhof (VMI) TF @ 6:32 UVA, 8-0184 lbs. Michael Grogan (UVa) def. Corry Murray (VMI) 11-5 UVa, 11-0197 lbs. Jason Cox (VMI) def. Scott Smith (UVa) TF, 20-3 UVa, 11-5285 lbs. Scott Buhman (VMI) def. Andrew Leffler (UVa) MD, 13-0 UVa, 11-9125 lbs. Brian Sticca (UVa) def. Juan Sanchez (VMI) 7-2 14-9 UVa133 lbs. Micah Amrozowicz (VMI) def. Ryan Stewart (UVa) Fall @ 3:36 15-14 VMI141 lbs. Scott Moore (UVa) def. David Metzler (VMI) Fall @ 1:15 20-15 UVa149 lbs. Sam Alvarenga (VMI) def. Aaron Martin (UVa) MD, 15-6 20-19 UVa157 lbs. Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Chris Hardy (VMI) 7-3 23-19 UVa
— UVa —