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March 14, 2007
Charlottesville, VA – Virginia wrestlers Eric Albright and Rocco Caponi will begin their quests for NCAA Championships Thursday at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich. Albright will compete in the 133-pound division while Caponi wrestles at 184. This is Albright’s first trip to the NCAAs while Caponi competed as a true freshman in 2005.
Albright will be the first Cavalier on the mats. Thursday morning he will meet Kyle Anson of Northern Iowa in the first round. The winner meets Chattanooga’s Matt Keller, the No. 5 seed, in Thursday’s second round. The quarterfinals take place Friday morning, semifinals are Friday night and championship bouts are held Saturday.
Albright was one of four ACC wrestlers to earn at-large invitations to the NCAAs. He reached the finals of the ACC Championships where he lost to North Carolina’s Evan Sola. Albright compiled a 29-10 record this season, went 12-5 in dual matches and was 4-1 against conference foes. He is 3-7 versus other wrestles in his weight division at the NCAAs.
This is Caponi’s second trip to the NCAAs. He qualified as an at-large participant in 2005 as a true freshman. He redshirted the 2006 season and did not have a chance to return to the tournament. This year Caponi earned his spot at nationals by winning the ACC title at 184. He is seeded 12th at the NCAAs and drew a first-round bye. He will wrestle for the first time Friday night against the winner of the opening round match between Raymond Jordan of Missouri and Trevor Brandvold of Wisconsin. Jordan is the No. 5 seed and defeated Caponi 13-4 at the Cliff Keen Invitational on Dec. 2. Caponi is 4-5 against other competitors in his weight class. He enters the NCAAs having won his last five matches. He finished the season with a 31-7 record.