Caponi Named ACC Wrestler of the Week

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Virginia’s Rocco Caponi (Sr., Uniontown, Ohio) has been named the ACC Wrestler of the Week after picking up a milestone victory as part of a three-win weekend.

This is Caponi’s fourth career conference wrestler of the week honor and his first this season. He won the award twice last season and once his freshman year. It marks the fourth ACC Wrestler of the Week award for UVa wrestlers this season. Chris Henrich (So., Lansdale, Pa.) earned the honor Nov. 18, Jedd Moore (Fr., Mount Vernon, Ohio) took it home Nov. 25 and Matt Bonson (Fr., Lewistown, Pa.) notched the award last week.

Caponi earned his 100th career win Saturday with his 5-4 decision over UNC Greensboro’s Mikal McKee, becoming just the sixth wrestler in Virginia history to eclipse the 100-win plateau. Caponi followed it up with a 15-0 technical fall over Rutgers’ McPaul Ogbanna on Saturday and a 2-0 decision against Appalachian State’s Dylan Temple on Sunday. Overall, Caponi has a 102-30 career record.

Caponi, who currently is ranked 17th nationally by InterMat, now has 102 career victories, which is tied for third on the all-time Virginia wins ledger. He is tied with Jim Harshaw (1996-99) and Matt Roth (1995-99) and needs 10 wins to match second-place Tim Foley (1999-2004).

Virginia begins ACC competition this week, traveling to North Carolina Friday for a 7 p.m. match. The Cavaliers wrap up the weekend with a 1 p.m. bout Saturday at Campbell.