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After a record-setting 2007-08 season, the Virginia wrestling team is gunning for even more success in 2008-09. The framework has been laid to accomplish big things, with the Cavaliers returning all but two of their starters from a year ago while welcoming in another acclaimed recruiting class.
This mixture has created even more competition in the Cavaliers’ wrestling room, and the team is using that intensity as a springboard to big things this year.
“There’s a culture on this team that is unmatched since I have been associated with this program three years as a coach and four years as a student-athlete,” said third-year Virginia head coach Steve Garland. “I’ve never seen the clicking of our guys like this. They have finally gotten to the point where they are not scared of anybody and they all have the same goals. There’s a swagger and work ethic which is unmatched by any team that I have seen here.”
The Cavaliers boasted plenty of depth last season, but ratcheted it up a notch this year after losing just three letterwinners from the 2007-08 team and bringing in a strong freshman class which is expected to contribute immediately.
Breaking down the Cavaliers by weight class:
125 Pounds
Reigning ACC Champion Ross Gitomer returns after going 37-13 in a breakout sophomore season.
“You look at the top 15 guys in the country and Ross has battled with every single one of them,” Garland said. “He has had good matches with them. He works harder than anyone you will ever see, he is very focused, he does well in school and he is one of the best leaders we have in the room because he backs up his words with his actions.”
Behind Gitomer is explosive freshman Joe Trause, a two-time New Jersey state champion who was recruited at 133 but currently is wrestling at 125.
133 Pounds
Redshirt freshman Matt Bonson won 20 matches in open tournaments last year and is battling with freshman Derek Valenti, a New Jersey state champion whose brother, Matthew, was a two-time NCAA champion at Penn.
“Bonson is going to shock a lot of people this year,” Garland said. “He is very dangerous from a lot of different positions. He is a very scrappy, Pennsylvania hard-working kid. Valenti is one of those freshmen who has come right in and made a mark on our program. He is very mature for his age.”
141 Pounds
Nick Nelson was the ACC runner-up last year and went 28-11 as a freshman. He upset sixth-ranked Joe Caramanica of NC State in the ACC semis and also lost close matches to nationally-ranked Kellen Russell (Michigan) and Jake Strayer (Penn State).
“We are really confident that Nick will be not only a national qualifier but do some damage on the national stage,” Garland said. “He also is a great student and is becoming the posterboy for our program on and off the mat.”
Redshirt freshman Scott O’Donnell also will push for time.
149 Pounds
Junior Kellon Balum will move up from 141 to 149 pounds this year. He went 20-7 last year and was the ACC runner-up at 141 in 2007.
“Kellon is very talented,” Garland said. “Last year cutting weight hurt him on the mat and also hurt him mentally. This will be a good move for him.”
Freshman Danny Clarke, a high school All-American, will give Balum a run at 149.
“A lot people don’t know about Danny coming in, but they’re going to know about him after this year,” Garland said. “He only started wrestling his freshman year of high school and his learning curve is through the roof.”
Sophomore Shawn Harris, the returning starter at 149, is going to redshirt this season in order to focus on physically maturing and getting more matches under his belt.
157 Pounds
The battle at 157 this season is one of the fiercest for UVa. Sophomore Danny Gonsor is back after an injury-plagued 2007-08 season, while freshman Jedd Moore also is in the mix,
“This is one of those weights that we have to make some tough decisions,” Garland said. “We have a lot of good options here.”
Gonsor was slowed by a back injury last year and went 10-9. Moore, dubbed the Machine’ by his teammates, was a two-time Ohio state champion and three-time high school All-American.
“Jedd trains like an animal and when he wrestles and he gets in a zone. You can’t stop him,” Garland said. “He continues to upgrade the culture in the program of going hard and battling for every point in the room and in the competition circle.”
Junior Kyle Artusio, who won 17 matches last season, and redshirt freshman Dave Ebbott, a 16-match winner, are vying for time on the mat as well.
165 Pounds
With returning starter Michael Chaires redshirting the season to focus on getting stronger, seniors Mike Sewell and Danny Artusio are aiming for the majority of the mat time. Sewell went 20-5 last year and defeated two national qualifiers.
Artusio, labeled “tougher than nails” by Garland, also has shown a marked improvement as he enters his senior season and will play a big role.
174 Pounds
Reigning ACC Freshman of the Year Chris Henrich is after a second-consecutive trip to the NCAA championships. Ranked as high as No. 14 in the preseason national polls, Henrich was the ACC runner-up last year and went 26-10 during his rookie year.
“Chris is becoming the face of the program,” Garland said. “It’s scary to think that he can beat any guy in the country that he wrestles. He is mature beyond his years and should be an All-American.”
184 Pounds
Three-time NCAA qualifier Rocco Caponi is back for his senior season. He had eye-popping numbers in 2007-08, going 39-4 with 13 falls en route to his second straight ACC championship. He has been seeded in the top 12 at nationals but fallen shy of All-America honors. Garland expects that to change this year.
197 Pounds
Junior Brent Jones went 32-12 last year, including several wins over nationally-ranked wrestlers. He had a standout offseason, winning the University National Freestyle Championship at 211 pounds and then competing in the Olympic Trials. He was dominant at times last year, recording a team-high 14 falls. Garland expects much of the same this year as Jones shoots for an NCAA berth.
Heavyweight
There is a three-way competition with juniors Jack Danilkowicz and Calvin Cardillo and freshman Ebe Nelson. Danilkowicz went 15-17 last year but finished strong with a third-place finish at the ACC Championships. Cardillo battled injuries throughout the year and is back to full strength after offseason surgery. Nelson, at 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, who also was recruited by several schools to play football, is just starting to tap into his full potential in wrestling.
Schedule
Garland never shies away from tough competition, and it has never been more evident than this year, as six preseason Top 25 teams line the dual-match schedule all on the road.
National powers Oklahoma State, Illinois, Wisconsin and Penn State help form a brutal November, while road tilts at Old Dominion and Maryland loom in February. In the ACC, Virginia plays host to Duke and NC State, travels to Maryland and North Carolina and wrestles Virginia Tech in Richmond.