Virginia Defeats American 24-19 In Regular Season Finale

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Feb. 19, 2005

WASHINGTON D.C. – The University of Virginia wrestling team took an 18-0 lead to start the match on forfeits and won two out of the seven wrestled bouts that propelled them to a 24-19 victory over American at Bender Arena on Saturday night. The dual match was UVa’s regular season finale and was Virginia’s second win of the day. The Cavaliers defeated the Maryland Terrapins 26-11 earlier in College Park, Md. in an ACC dual.

In the Virginia/American dual, the Eagles fell behind 18-0 due to their usual forfeits at the weight classes of 125, 133 and 141. AU junior Tom Kniezewski jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a takedown of Virginia’s Paul Dunstan and after one he lead by a score of 2-1. An escape from Dunstan tied the match at 2-2 before the AU junior took his opponent down again. After an escape by Kniezewski put the score at 5-3, the action was heavy as a shot by Dunstan was fended off by the AU matman.

The 157 bout between No. 4 Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov and Virginia’s Jim Hartley started with a four straight takedowns by the AU transfer. After Hartley was cut loose by Abdurakhmanov four times he reversed a move and was able to take down the AU grappler to make the score 8-6. The second period started with Abdurkhmanov up 9-6. Two takedowns later and time running out in the second Abdurakhmanov found himself up 14-7. An AU takedown and two escapes by UVa found the match ending by a score of 17-9.

AU sophomore Dwayne Hash-Barberis found himself down 2-1 at the end of the first to Virginia’s Paul Bjorlo but his escape to start the second tied the match at 2-2. Bjorlo took Hash-Barberis down and an escape put the score at 4-3 in favor of the Cavaliers. An escape by Bjorlo at the start of the third finished the scoring at 5-3.

The 174 lbs. match found Daniel Waters taken down by UVa’s Damien Johnson early in the period but the AU senior reversed control and the score was tied at 2-2. The second period began with Waters reversing Johnson again and then taking the Virginia sophomore down for a 6-4 lead heading into the final period. A takedown mid way through the period had AU’s Waters ahead 8-5 and with riding time Waters took the 9-5 victory.

At 184 lbs. American’s Tyler Flatt and UVA’s Chudi Uraih found themselves knotted at 0-0 after one. With Flatt on the bottom to start the second it took him almost half the period to escape earning a 1-0 advantage. Uriah tied the score at 1-1 early in the third with the escape. Uriah repeatedly backed up on numerous Flatt shots that cause the ref to hit UVa with a stalling call to put the American freshman up 2-1 with 37 seconds left. A unsuccessful shot by Uriah had Flatt throw him down but the ref didn’t award points for the takedown and the match ended at 2-1.

AU freshman Josh Glenn moved up to wrestle at 197 where he met Virginia sophomore Scott Smith. The action was subtle until with 11 seconds left in the first Glenn launched an offensive attack that had Smith on his back but time ran out. Glenn built a 6-0 lead early in the second and with control managed to get his opponent in a cradle and pin him with one second left in the frame.

With the match on the line, AU freshman Adam LoPiccolo met with the much heavier Nick Smith of Virginia at heavyweight. LoPiccolo had Smith in a cradle but couldn’t get the pin and the score rested at 5-2. LoPiccolo was taken down to cut his lead to one and struggled to get up from Smith who held a 2:09 advantage in riding time going into the final period. A neutral start chosen by Smith favored the Eagles, but LoPiccolo was taken down with 1:10 left in the match. Riding time gave Smith an extra point and he won the match 8-5.

With the victory, Virginia’s record improves to 6-11 overall. The loss dropped American to 4-12 on the season.

The Cavaliers will return to action on March 5th when UVa tavels to Greensboro, N.C. to compete in the ACC Championships. The event will be hosted by UNC Greensboro.

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

Team ScoreVirginia		24American	19

Wgt. Opponents Result UVa/AU125 Anthony Burke (UVa) def. AU (Forfeit) Forfeit 6-0133 Byron Dunlap (UVa) def. AU (Forfeit) Forfeit 12-0141 Chet Naylor (UVa) def. AU (Forfeit) Forfeit 18-0149 Tom Kniezewski (American) def. Paul Dunstan (UVa) 5-3 18-3157 Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov (AU) def. Jim Hartley (UVa) MD, 17-9 18-7165 Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Dwayne Hash-Barberis (UVa) 5-3 21-7174 Dan Waters (American) def. Damian Johnson (UVa) 9-5 21-10184 Tyler Flatt (American) def. Chudi Uraih (UVa) 2-1 21-13197 Josh Glenn (American) def. Scott Smith (UVa) Fall @ 4:59 21-19HWT Nick Smith (UVa) def. Adam LoPiccolo (American) 8-5 24-19

— UVa —