UVa's Will Durkee, Rocco Caponi And Paul Bjorlo Shine For Virginia Wrestling In 2004 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

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Dec. 5, 2004

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – The University of Virginia wrestling team turned in a solid performance at the 2004 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and was highlighted by the trio of Will Durkee, Rocco Caponi and Paul Bjorlo in the event. UVa sent a total of 10 wrestlers to compete in the invitational with Durkee, Caponi and Bjorlo each placing in the top eight spots in their respective weight classes. Durkee (165-pounds) and Caponi (174-pounds) each finished in sixth place while Bjorlo (157-pounds) took eighth place in his class. The Las Vegas Invitational is regarded as one of the top invitationals in the country and features some of the best competition in the nation.

Durkee finished sixth with a record of 6-3 at 165-pounds while Caponi also placed sixth with a mark of 5-3 at 174-pounds. Bjorlo earned his eighth place finish with a record of 5-3 at 157-pounds.

Four other UVa wrestlers recorded victories in the event. Virginia’s Paul Dunstan finished 4-2 at 149-pounds, Nick Smith posted a mark of 3-2 at heavyweight, Chet Naylor went 2-2 at 141-pounds and Scott Smith finished 1-2 at 197-pounds. The Cavaliers’ Kyle Narkiewicz (184-pounds), Steve Hromada (133-pounds) and Adam Kimbrell (125-pounds) also competed in the event but finished 0-2 in their respective weight classes.

Virginia (2-1) will return to dual match action on Friday, December 10th when UVa travels to Blacksburg, Va. to face the Virginia Tech Hokies in an Atlantic Coast Conference dual match. The dual is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM.

Here is a look at Virginia’s individual results from the 2004 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational:

2004 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

W/L	Opponents						Result		Event/Date125L	Christian Bowerman (Fresno State) def. Adam Kimbrell (UVa) Fall @ 1:38	Las Vegas Inv. 12/3L	Nate Engel (Missouri Valley) def. Adam Kimbrell (UVa) 	Fall @ 4:55	Las Vegas Inv. 12/4

133L Justin Pearch (North Idaho) def. Stephen Hromada (UVa) 7-4 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3L Matthew Benza (Air Force) def. Stephen Hromada (UVa) 7-2 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3

141L Richard LaForge (Hofstra) def. Chet Naylor (UVa) Fall @ 4:41 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Chet Naylor (UVa) def. Rod McCollum (NC State) 7-5 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Chet Naylor (UVa) def. Daniel Alejandro (CS Bakerfield) 4-2 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3L Jacob Skoles (Boise State) def. Chet Naylor (UVa) Fall @ 3:02 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3

149L Matt Kocher (Pittsburgh) def. Paul Dunstan (UVa) 6-0 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Paul Dunstan (UVa) def. Mitch Morgan (Utah Valley State) 10-4 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Paul Dunstan (UVa) def. Josh Peterson (Air Force) 7-1 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Paul Dunstan (UVa) def. Kyle Bernholz (Penn) 6-4 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Paul Dunstan (UVa) def. Danny Cadwallader (Fresno State) 7-5 OT Las Vegas Inv. 12/4L Craig Henning (Wisconsin) def. Paul Dunstan (UVa) MD, 11-2 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4

157 *** 8th Place ***W Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Brock Wittmeyer (Penn) 2-1 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Mikell Surber (Northern Colorado) 12-6 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3L Ryan Bertin (Michigan) def. Paul Bjorlo (UVa) MD, 17-6 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Darion Terry (Missouri Valley) 6-1 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. James Strouse (Hofstra) 4-3 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4W Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Keeegan Mueller (Ohio State) Fall @ 5:33 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4L Brian Stith (Arizona State) def. Paul Bjorlo (UVa) 5-4 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4L Tyler Turner (Wisconsin) def. Paul Bjorlo (UVa) 6-2 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4

165 *** 6th Place ***W Will Durkee (UVa) def. Zach Fryling (West Virginia) 3-2 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Will Durkee (UVa) def. Beau Tresemer (Air Force) 4-0 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3L John DeCeault (Purdue) def. Will Durkee (UVa) 5-3 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Will Durkee (UVa) def. Richard Ferguson (Penn) TF, 16-0 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Will Durkee (UVa) def. Frank Richmond (Cal-Davis) 7-1 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4W Will Durkee (UVa) def. Brody Barrios (Cal Poly) 6-3 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4W Will Durkee (UVa) def. Pat Pitsch (Arizona State) 12-5 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4L Jacob Klein (Nebraska) def. Will Durkee (UVa) 4-1 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4L Christian Arellano (CS Bakersfield) def. Will Durkee (UVa) 13-7 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4

174 *** 6th Place ***W Rocco C aponi (UVa) def. Jason Carrrasco (CS Bakersfield) Fall @ 6:09 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3L Marc Harwood (Nebraska) def. Rocco C aponi (UVa) Fall @ 0:38 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Rocco C aponi (UVa) def. Kyle Frawley (North Idaho) 6-5 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Rocco Caponi (UVa) def. Matt Trout (Western State) 5-1 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Rocco Caponi (UVa) def. Dustin Wiles (Penn) MD, 12-0 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4W Rocco Caponi (UVa) def. Ryan Wilman (West Virginia) 8-4 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4L Eric Ring (Edinboro) def. Rocco Caponi (UVa) 2-0 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4L Nick Roy (Michigan) def. Rocco Caponi (UVa) 4-3 Las Vegas Inv. 12/4

184L Garrett Hicks (Buffalo) def. Kyle Narkiewicz (UVa) 2-1 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3L Ivan Bigney (Utah Valley State) def. Kyle Narkiewicz (UVa) 5-2 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3

197L Mazi Burke (Montana St. Northern) def. Scott Smith (UVa) MD, 17-3 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Scott Smith (UVa) def. Aaron Brown (The Citadel) 10-6 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3L Cody Mumma (Western State) def. Scott Smith (UVa) 5-1 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3

HWTL Kirk Nail (Ohio State) def. Nick Smith (UVa) 3-1 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Nick Smith (UVa) def. Dugan Whitman (Utah Valley State) Fall @ 3:34 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Nick Smith (UVa) def. Daniel Ott (CS Fullerton) Fall @ 6:54 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3W Nick Smith (UVa) def. Daren Murphy (San Francisco State) 2-1 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3L Eric Smith (Boise State) def. Nick Smith (UVa) MD, 10-1 Las Vegas Inv. 12/3

— UVa —