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Feb. 8, 2007

Charlottesville, VA – The Virginia wrestling team (6-7) looks to raise it record above the .500 mark with a pair of home matches this weekend against ACC foes NC State and Duke. The Cavaliers enter Friday’s meeting with the Wolfpack sporting a 1-1 record in conference action. The showdown with NC State is set to start at 7 p.m. The Cavaliers return to the mat at UVa’s Memorial Gym Saturday at 1 p.m. to face Duke.

Friday the Virginia wrestling program will honor three of the greatest team’s in the program’s history. During intermission members of the Cavaliers’ 1974, 1975 and 1977 ACC Championship teams will be recognized in addition to George Edwards, who coached the UVa program for a quarter century. Among the returning wrestlers are three-time ACC Champions Bob Harwick and John Pegues

This weekends matches mark the debut of Virginia wrestling on ACC Select, the conference’s new live webcasting service on the Internet. ACC Select events are available live and on-demand exclusively at www.accselect.com on a per-event basis ($3.99 per event) or All Event Pass (available for a limited time at the introductory price of $5.99 per month).

NC State enters Friday’s contest 9-7 with a 2-2 mark in ACC matches. In their most recent action, the Wolfpack upset No. 18 Indiana 22-18 and toppled rival North Carolina 25-12 Wednesday night. NC State is led by three wrestlers currently ranked in the top-20 of their division. At 197 pounds, sophomore Ryan Goodman is 15-2 overall this season including a 9-1 record in duals. He is ranked 15th at that weight. Senior Jainor Palma is the ninth-ranked heavyweight in the nation with an 18-5 record. At 141 pounds, freshman Darrion Caldwell is ranked No. 20 and has put together an impressive 12-3 record, and is also 9-1 in dual matches. Junior Jody Hamrah is ranked No. 18 at 157 and is 14-6 this season. Last year the Wolfpack downed Virginia 22-15 in Raleigh.

Duke will be wrestling for the first time since losing at North Carolina on Jan. 31. The Blue Devils come to Charlottesville sporting a 7-6 overall record, but are 0-3 in ACC competition. Duke has a pair of 19-win wrestlers on its roster this season. Voris Tejada at 149 pounds sports a 19-8 overall record and John Barone is 19-9 at 174/184 this year. Last season the Cavaliers handed the Blue Devils a 25-13 loss in Durham.

Virginia is looking to rebound following an 18-12 road setback at Ohio last weekend. Earlier in the day the Cavaliers defeated Ashland 38-3 in the triangle meet. Virginia enters the weekend with Rocco Caponi the team’s lone ranked wrestler at No. 19 at 184 pounds. Last weekend Caponi won twice, to improve to 28-7 overall and 10-2 in duals. Eric Albright, who has been ranked most of the season at 133, fell out of the top-20 after splitting his matches. He enters the weekend with a 25-8 record.

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