Virginia Wrestling Falls To #4 Lehigh In Non-Conference Dual Match, 22-13

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Feb. 5, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia wrestling team dropped a hard fought 22-13 decision to the #4 ranked Lehigh Mountain Hawks in a non-conference dual match at UVa’s Memorial Gymnasium. In front of pack house and raucous crowd, the Cavaliers gave the Mountain Hawks all they could handle before Lehigh won the final two bouts to break open a narrow three-point lead to pull out a nine-point victory over Virginia.

Virginia’s Anthony Burke opened the match with a 9-1 major decision over Lehigh’s Andrew Rizzi at 125-pounds to give the Cavaliers an early 4-0 lead in the match. At 133-pounds, UVa’s Byron Dunlap fell to Lehigh’s Matt Ciasulli 7-0, but Virginia maintained a 4-3 lead through two bouts. Virginia’s Chet Naylor then increased the Cavaliers’ lead to 7-3 with a 7-6 win over the Mountain Hawks’ Mark McCauley at 141-pounds.

At 149-pounds, Lehigh’s Matt Anderson pinned Virginia’s Paul Bowman at the 4:08 mark, giving the Mountain Hawks a 9-7 lead. But UVa quickly regained a 10-9 lead when the Cavaliers’ Paul Bjorlo delivered a 13-8 win over Lehigh’s Dave Nakasone at 157-pounds. The lead then switched sides again as Lehigh’s Brian Lamay recorded an 11-2 major decision at 165-pounds over Virginia’s Conor Manley, giving the Mountain Hawks a 13-10 advantage.

UVa’s Rocco Caponi wrestled through a grueling match at 174-pounds against Lehigh’s Travis Frick, but fell 6-2 to give the Mountain Hawks a 16-10 lead. However, Virginia’s Kyle Narkiewicz followed with a 7-5 overtime win over Lehigh’s Matt Cassidy at 184-pounds to bring the Cavaliers within three points at 16-13 with two bouts remaining in the dual.

At 197-pounds, Virginia’s Scott Smith fell to the Mountain Hawks’ Jon Bruno 10-9, giving Lehigh a 19-13 lead. Lehigh’s Paul Weibel the took the heavyweight match against UVa’s Nick Smith 9-3 to make the final score 22-13 in favor of Lehigh.

With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 4-9 overall. The victory improves Lehigh’s record to 17-3 on the season.

The Cavaliers will return to dual match action on Friday, February 11th when Virginia hosts the N.C. State Wolfpack in an Atlantic Coast Conference dual match. Competition is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM and will take place at UVa’s Memorial Gymnasium.

Here is a look at a match-by-match breakdown of the Virginia vs. Lehigh dual:

Wgt.	Opponents					Result	UVa/Lehigh125	Anthony Burke (UVa) def. Andrew Rizzi (Lehigh)	MD, 9-1		4-0133	Matt Ciasulli (Lehigh) def. Byron Dunlap (UVa)	7-0		4-3141	Chet Naylor (UVa) def. Mark McCauley (Lehigh)	7-6		7-3149	Matt Anderson (Lehigh) def. Paul Bowman (UVa)	Fall @ 4:08	7-9157	Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Dave Nakasone (Lehigh)	13-8		10-9165	Brian Lamay (Lehigh) def. Conor Manley (UVa)	MD, 11-2	10-13174	Travis Frick (Lehigh) def. Rocco Caponi (UVa)	6-2		10-16184	Kyle Narkiewicz (UVa) def. Matt Cassidy (Lehigh)	7-5 (OT)		13-16197	Jon Bruno (Lehigh) def. Scott Smith (UVa)		10-9		13-19HWT	Paul Weibel (Lehigh) def. Nick Smith (UVa)		9-3		13-22

— UVa —