Wrestling Travels to No. 18 Old Dominion Sunday
Story Links
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The Virginia wrestling team competes at No. 18 Old Dominion at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. It marks the seventh ranked opponent that Virginia has faced this season.
Virginia (9-9) split its matches last weekend, defeating George Mason, 28-6, on Friday before suffering a 21-12 loss to No. 13 Virginia Tech on Saturday. The Cavaliers wrestled well in both matches, winning eight of 10 bouts against the Patriots and then tying the Hokies through seven matches before dropping the final three bouts.
Four Cavaliers swept their matches last weekend. Mike Sewell (Sr., Bothell, Wash.) won both of his bouts at 165 pounds, including a 7-2 win over Matt Epperly of Virginia Tech. Chris Henrich (So., Lansdale, Pa.) notched two wins at 174 pounds, as did Matt Bonson (Fr., Lewistown, Pa.) at 133 and Brent Jones (Jr., Burke, Va.) at 197.
Jones (23-5) had a particularly big weekend. Friday, he scored the lone takedown of his match with No. 8 Cayle Byers of George Mason in a 3-1 win. Saturday, he scored on an escape and a penalty point in the third period to rally for a 2-1 win over Virginia Tech’s DJ Bruce.
Jones is ranked 19th nationally this week by InterMat. He has another big match this weekend as he will take on No. 15 Jesse Strawn of ODU. It will mark Jones’ seventh match this season against a ranked wrestler.
Henrich, who has won 10-consecutive matches to push his record to 30-1, is ranked ninth nationally this week by InterMat. He is slated to face Eric Decker on Sunday. The two met earlier this season at the Cleveland State Open, with Henrich squeaking out a 1-0 decision. Henrich also posted two wins over Decker last season.
The Monarchs (13-6), coming off a 19-14 loss at then-No. 9 Central Michigan last weekend, have four ranked wrestlers this week: No. 6 James Nicholson at 125, No. 7 Ryan Williams at 141, No. 11 Chris Brown at 157 and Strawn. Brown has won three straight CAA Wrestler of the Week honors.
Virginia holds a 21-13 edge in the all-time dual-meet series, although the Monarchs earned a 23-12 win last season when the teams met at the Virginia Duals.
The Cavaliers return to ACC competition next weekend at Memorial Gymnasium. UVa plays host to NC State at 5 p.m. Saturday, then welcomes Duke at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Cavaliers will conduct Senior Day festivities for its six seniors prior to the Duke match.