No. 21 Cavaliers Finish Strong at ACC/Big Ten Clash

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. The No. 21 Virginia wrestling team battled some strong competition Saturday at the ACC/Big Ten Clash at North Carolina’s Eddie Smith Field House, with the Cavaliers winning one of their three matches. Virginia knocked off Michigan State (23-15), while falling to No. 12 Wisconsin (25-15) and No. 9 Illinois (39-7). The Cavaliers were the only ACC team to knock off a Big Ten team Saturday.

“I am proud of our guys,” Virginia head coach Steve Garland said. “They fought hard today. We gave Wisconsin a heck of a match it was actually tied with only two bouts to go after we gave up six points right off the bat in the first match because of an injury. That’s pretty good against a top 10-level team. We have some technical things we need to work on, but we are confident we can correct the mistakes we are making.

“Michigan State is a tough team and it was great to end the day with a win there. We are the only ACC team to beat them today so certainly that is a big positive.

No. 15 Chris Henrich (So., Lansdale, Pa.) had a dominating day at 174 pounds, winning all three of his matches, with two coming by major decision and the other in a 7-0 blanking of Wisconsin’s Mike Felling. Henrich, who won the Michigan State Open last week, improved to 7-0 on the season.

Ninth-ranked Rocco Caponi (Sr., Uniontown, Ohio) won both of his matches at 184 pounds, while Brent Jones (Jr., Burke, Va.) went 2-1 at 197, including an upset of eighth-ranked Patrick Bond of Illinois. Jones also recorded a pin of Michigan State’s Tyler Dickenson for his 23rd career fall, moving him into a fifth-place tie with Tim Foley (1999-2004) on the UVa career list.

Virginia (1-2) fell into 6-0 holes in all three matches after taking forfeits at 125 pounds with 17th-ranked Ross Gitomer (Jr., Flemington, N.J.) sitting out with an injury.

In the opener, the Cavaliers wrestled Wisconsin (3-0) down to the wire. UVa won consecutive bouts at 165, 174 and 184 to knot the match at 15, but the Badgers used a pin by All-American and fifth-ranked Dallas Herbst at 197 and a major decision by All-American and third-ranked Kyle Massey at heavyweight to take a 25-15 decision.

Virginia ran into a buzzsaw in Illinois (3-0) in the second match. The Illini, boasting five ranked wrestlers in the lineup, jumped out to a 27-0 lead before Henrich posted a major decision for UVa at 174 pounds. Jones scored UVa’s other win with a 9-3 decision over Wise at 197.

In the finale against Michigan State (2-1), Virginia won six of the nine bouts in which it had a competing wrestler. Nick Nelson (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Henrich recorded major decisions at 141 and 174, respectively, while Jones pinned Dickenson in just 26 seconds at 197.

UVa’s tough early schedule continues next weekend at the Sprawl and Brawl in Binghamton, N.Y. The Cavaliers face No. 7 Penn State at 9:45 a.m. and AIC at 1:15 p.m. Sunday.

No. 12 Wisconsin 25, No. 21 Virginia 15
125 Drew Hammen (WIS) wins by forfeit; UVa 0, WIS 6
133 Matt Bonson (UVa) pins Erik Senescu (WIS), 5:37; UVa 6, WIS 6
141 No. 13 Zach Tanelli (WIS) dec. Nick Nelson (UVa), 4-1; UVa 6, WIS 9
149 No. 7 Kyle Ruschell (WIS) dec. Kellon Balum (UVa), 4-2; UVa 6, WIS 12
157 Ben Jordan (WIS) dec. Jedd Moore (UVa), 8-2; UVa 6, WIS 15
165 Mike Sewell (UVa) dec. Gabe Stopplemoor (WIS), 12-5; UVa 9, WIS 15
174 No. 15 Chris Henrich (UVa) dec. Mike Felling (WIS), 7-0; UVa 12, WIS 15
184 No. 9 Rocco Caponi (UVa) dec. Eric Bugenhagen (WIS), 3-0; UVa 15, WIS 15
197 No. 5 Dallas Herbst (WIS) pins Brent Jones (UVa), 1:08; UVa 15, WIS 21
285 No. 3 Kyle Massey (WIS) major dec. Jack Danilkowicz (UVa), 10-1; UVa 15, WIS 25

No. 9 Illinois 39, No. 21 Virginia 7
125 Bernard Futrell (ILL) wins by forfeit; UVa 0, ILL 6
133 No. 4 Jimmy Kennedy (ILL) major dec. Matt Bonson (UVa), 11-3; UVa 0, ILL 10
141 Ryan Prater (ILL) dec. Derek Valenti (UVa), 7-0; UVa 0 ILL 13
149 No. 14 Troy Tirapelle (ILL) pins Peter Ferrara (UVa), 4:42; UVa 0, ILL 19
157 Grant Paswall (ILL) tech fall Jedd Moore (UVa), 16-1 (7:00); UVa 0, ILL 24
165 No. 13 Roger Smith-Bergsrud (ILL) dec. Beau Fisher (UVa), 4-2; UVa 0, ILL 27
174 No. 15 Chris Henrich (UVa) major dec. Ben Friedl (ILL), 15-4; UVa 4, ILL 27
184 Jordan Blanton (ILL) pins Joe DeGaravilla (UVa), 3:35; UVa 4, ILL 33
197 Brent Jones (UVa) dec. No. 8 Patrick Bond (ILL), 9-3; UVa 7, ILL 33
285 No. 6 John Wise (ILL) pins Ebe Nelson (UVa), 1:11; UVa 7, ILL 39

No. 21 Virginia 23, Michigan State 15
125 Eric Olanowski (MSU) wins by forfeit; UVa 0, MSU 6
133 No. 3 Franklin Gomez (MSU) dec. Matt Bonson (UVa), 9-3; UVa 0, MSU 9
141 Nick Nelson (UVa) major dec. Joel Trombly (MSU), 12-4; UVa 4, MSU 9
149 Kellon Balum (UVa) dec. David Cheza (MSU), 8-7; UVa 7, MSU 9
157 Jedd Moore (UVa) dec. Anthony Jones (MSU), 4-3; UVa 10, MSU 9
165 No. 14 Rex Kendle (MSU) dec. Mike Sewell (UVa), 4-1; UVa 10, MSU 12
174 No. 15 Chris Henrich (UVa) major dec. John Murphy (MSU), 13-2; UVa 14, MSU 12
184 No. 9 Rocco Caponi (UVa) dec. Ian Hinton (MSU), 3-1; UVa 17, MSU 12
197 Brent Jones (UVa) pins Tyler Dickenson (MSU), :26; UVa 23, MSU 12
285 Alan O’Donnell (MSU) dec. Jack Danilkowicz (UVa), 5-1; UVa 23, MSU 15