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Jan. 24, 2004
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia wrestling team recorded a pair of dual match victories over the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Davidson Wildcats in the Cavaliers’ home-opening event at UVa’s Memorial Gymnasium. Virginia defeat North Carolina in Dual I by the score of 24-20 in an Atlantic Coast Conference match before posting a 38-8 victory over Davidson in a non-conference match in Dual III. The Tar Heels defeated the Wildcasts 30-7 in a non-conference match in Dual II.
Virginia’s ranked duo of #2 Scott Moore at 141-pounds and #12 Tim Foley at 165-pounds continued to impress this season. Moore went 2-0 with two falls and improved his record to 32-0 overall, 5-0 in dual match action with 23 of his wins coming by fall. Foley went 2-0 with a fall and a technical fall and improved his record to 20-3 overall, 5-0 in dual match action with nine of his wins coming by fall.
In Dual I, North Carolina jumped out to an early 3-0 lead when UNC’s Drew Forshey posted a 5-1 victory over UVa’s Brian Sticca at 125-pounds. The Tar Heels extended their lead to 8-0 after UNC’s’ Bobby Shaw defeated the Cavaliers’ Ryan Stewart with a 17-1 technical fall victory at 133-pounds. However, Virginia came right back at 141-pounds as UVa’s Moore pinned UNC’s Rick Seibold just :52 seconds into the match to make the score 8-6.
North Carolina responded in the next match at 141-pounds as UNC’s Andrew Slack earned a 5-3 decision over UVa’s Aaron Martin to make it a 11-6 Tar Heel advantage. At 149-pounds, Virginia came back again as the Cavaliers’ Paul Bjorlo won a hard-fought 3-2 decision over UNC’s Ashton Buswell to cut North Carolina’s lead to 11-9. One match later, Virginia took its first lead of the dual thanks to Foley’s pin of Garrett Atkinson at 1:31 at 165-pounds to give UVa a 15-11 lead.
The Cavaliers’ Michael Grogan helped to extend Virginia’s lead to 18-11 at 174-pounds after he posted a 7-3 decision over the Tar Heels’ Joshua Lee. North Carolina gained ground after the 184-pound bout as North Carolina’s Mark Canty pinned Virginia’s Drew Michelotti at 4:03 to pull UNC within one team point of UVa at 18-17.
However, the Cavaliers’ Kevin Collier sealed the deal for UVa when the 197-pounder pinned UNC’s Venroy July at 4:02 to secure the victory for Virginia. Collier’s fall was his first match this season and gave Virginia a 24-17 lead. The Tar Heels’ Ryan Adams recorded a 13-6 decision over the Cavaliers’ Andrew Leffler in the heavyweight class to make the final score 24-20.
The victory was just UVa’s second over UNC in the last 29 years in dual match action dating back to the 1975 season. However, it was Virginia’s second consecutive win over North Carolina after also posting a 20-17 win last season in Chapel Hill, N.C. exactly one-year ago (January 24, 2002) to break the 28-year losing streak against the Tar Heels.
In Dual II, UNC rebounded from its loss to UVa with a convincing 30-7 victory over Davidson. The Tar Heels won all but two matches, including six wins by decision and two bouts by forfeit. Virginia also cruised to a win over Davidson in Dual III after posting a 38-8 victory over the Wildcats. UVa also won all but two matches, including two falls, two technical fall victories and one major decision. The Cavaliers also won one match by forfeit.
With the two victories, Virginia’s record improves to 3-2 overall, 1-0 in the ACC. The Cavaliers will return to home action on Saturday, January 31st when Virginia hosts a quad-meet with Kent State, Virginia Tech and Old Dominion at UVa’s Memorial Gymnasium. The tentative schedule of events for the quad-meet is: Virginia vs. Old Dominion and Kent State vs. Virginia Tech at noon, Virginia vs. Kent State and Virginia Tech vs. Old Dominion at 2:00 PM and Virginia vs. Virginia Tech and Kent State vs. Old Dominion at 4:00 PM. All six matches are scheduled to be held at UVa’s Memorial Gymnasium.
Here is a complete look at all of the team and individual results from today’s Tri-Meet action for Virginia, North Carolina and Davidson:
Dual INorth Carolina 20Virginia 24
W/L Opponents Result Score125 Drew Forshey (UNC) def. Brian Sticca (UVa) 5-1 0-3133 Bobby Shaw (UNC) def. Ryan Stewart (UVa) TF, 17-1 0-8141 Scott Moore (UVa) def. Rick Seibold (UNC) Fall @ :52 6-8149 Andrew Slack (UNC) def. Aaron Martin (UVa) 5-3 6-11157 Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Ashton Buswell (UNC) 3-2 9-11165 Tim Foley (UVa) def. Garrett Atkinson (UNC) Fall @ 1:31 15-11174 Michael Grogan (UVa) def. Joshua Lee (UNC) 7-3 18-11184 Mark Canty (UNC) def. Drew Michelotti (UVa) Fall @ 4:03 18-17197 Kevin Collier (UVa) def. Venroy July (UNC) Fall @ 4:02 24-17HWT Ryan Adams (UNC) def. Andrew Leffler (UVa) 13-6 24-20
Dual IIDavidson 7North Carolina 30
W/L Opponents Result Score125 Patrick Coman (Davidson) def. Drew Forshey (UNC) 8-6 (OT) 0-3133 Bobby Shaw (UNC) def. Jim Avola (Davidson) 4-3 3-3141 Travis Sickle (UNC) def. Matt Leonard (Davidson) 8-5 6-3149 Andrew Slack (UNC) def. Marc LaRochelle (Davidson) 9-5 9-3157 Adam Buswell (UNC) def. Adam Sperling (Davidson) 5-4 12-3165 Garrett Atkinson (UNC) def. Marcus Boyd (Davidson) 11-4 15-3174 Mark O’Hair (Davidson) def. Nick Coleman (UNC) MD, 11-0 15-7184 Mark Canty (UNC) – No Match Forfeit 21-7197 Venroy July (UNC) def. Jayson Powers (Davidson) 5-3 24-7HWT Ryan Adams (UNC) – No Match Forfeit 30-7
Dual IIIDavidson 8Virginia 38
W/L Opponents Result Score125 Brian Sticca (UVa) def. Patrick Coman (Davidson) MD, 13-4 4-0133 Jim Avola (Davidson) def. Ryan Stewart (UVa) MD, 12-2 4-4141 Scott Moore (UVa) def. Matt Leonard (Davidson) Fall @ 1:55 10-4149 Aaron Martin (UVa) def. Marc LaRochelle (Davidson) 6-1 13-4157 Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Adam Sperling (Davidson) 8-3 16-4165 Tim Foley (UVa) def. Marcus Boyd (Davidson) TF, 19-2 21-4174 Mark O’Hair (Davidson) def. Drew Michelotti (UVa) MD, 8-0 21-8184 Michael Grogan (UVa) def. Patrick Scandling (Davidson) Fall @ 5:31 27-8197 Scott Smith (UVa) def. Jayson Powers (Davidson) TF, 18-2 32-8HWT Andrew Leffler (UVa) – No Match Forfeit 38-8
— UVa —