Wrestling Opens 2007-08 Season with Quad Meet Saturday

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The Virginia wrestling team begins its 2007-08 season Saturday, playing host to a quad meet at Memorial Gymnasium. The Cavaliers are slated to take on Wagner at 9 a.m., Anderson at 11 a.m. and VMI at 1 p.m. There will be two mats of action taking place throughout the day. Admission is free.

Head coach Steve Garland is entering his second season at the helm of the UVa program after leading the Cavaliers to a 7-10 dual-meet record and fourth-place finish at the ACC championships last year.

Virginia has four wrestlers ranked among the nation’s preseason top 30, led by Eric Albright (Jr., York, Pa.) whose highest ranking is eighth nationally at 133 pounds by InterMat. Rocco Caponi (Jr., Uniontown, Ohio) is ranked ninth at 184 by Amateur Wrestling News, while Brent Jones (So., Burke, Va.) stands 19th in the AWN preseason rankings at 197. Kellon Balum (So., Herndon, Pa.) is ranked 26th at 141 pounds by Wrestling USA magazine.

Caponi, the defending ACC champion at 184, and Albright each competed at the NCAA championships last season. The Cavaliers return 10 starters (including two redshirts).

Virginia also welcomes in one of the nation’s premier freshman classes. The group of 10 first-years was a consensus Top-10 class according to the national recruiting publications.

Virginia hits the road next weekend, heading to Binghamton, N.Y., for the Binghamton Open.

Saturday’s Schedule
Virginia vs. Wagner, 9 a.m.
Anderson vs. VMI, 9 a.m.

Virginia vs. Anderson, 11 a.m.
VMI vs. Wagner, 11 a.m.

Virginia vs. VMI, 1 p.m.
Anderson vs. Wagner, 1 p.m.