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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The No. 25 Virginia wrestling team, fresh off earning its first-ever national team ranking, looks to back up that standing Friday and Saturday as it competes in the 28th annual Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va. The Cavaliers (7-1) are ranked this week in the Wrestling International Newsmagazine (W.I.N.) poll.
The 16-team competition opens at 9 a.m. Friday with Virginia, the No. 5 seed, battling Ohio University. The Cavaliers will then take on either No. 4-seed Pennsylvania or North Dakota State at 1 p.m. Friday. Virginia earned the No. 5 seed in the event behind fifth-ranked Oklahoma State, No. 13 Illinois, No. 19 Old Dominion and Penn, who are seeds 1-4, respectively.
Oklahoma State, Drexel, Rider, Duquesne, Illinois, Old Dominion, Oregon State, Kent State, Lock Haven, Virginia Tech, Bucknell and Lehigh round out the field. The huge event also features another bracket of smaller college teams as well as three divisions of high-school action.
Virginia has four wrestlers ranked this week in the national polls. With a 21-1 record, Rocco Caponi (Jr., Uniontown, Ohio) is ranked as high as eighth nationally in the InterMat rankings at 184 pounds. Freshman Michael Chaires (Scotia, N.Y.) is 13th at 165 pounds, according to W.I.N. Magazine, while Eric Albright (Jr., York, Va.) stands 15th nationally at 133 pounds in the InterMat rankings. Brent Jones (So., Burke, Va.) holds the No. 19 national ranking at 197 pounds according to InterMat.
The Cavaliers will be out to avenge an 18-12 dual-meet loss to Ohio last season in Athens, Ohio. The Bobcats hold a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series. Virginia is 0-3 all-time against Penn and has split two meetings with North Dakota State.