Virginia Wrestling Recruiting Class Ranked Sixth Nationally

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia wrestling program’s incoming recruiting class for 2009-10 has been ranked as high as No. 6 nationally in the national publications. Head coach Steve Garland’s class is ranked No. 6 by D1CollegeWrestling and No. 7 by InterMat and W.I.N. Magazine. The class is comprised of eight true freshmen as well as one transfer student-athlete.

In the last four years under Garland, each of Virginia’s recruiting classes has ranked among the top 25 nationally. The No. 6 ranking this year is topped only by a No. 5 ranking in 2007.

The eight incoming true freshmen are: Jon Becker (Rahway, N.J./Bergen Catholic), Zach Clemente (Clifton Park, N.Y./LaSalle Institute), Matt Cubillos (Schenectady, N.Y./Guilderland), Stephen Doty (St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood), Jon Fausey (Dalmatia, Pa./Line Mountain), Gabe Gomez (Broomfield, Colo./Broomfield), Nicky Gordon (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Seminary College Prep) and Andrew Williams (Yorktown, Va./Tabb).

Bloomsburg transfer Matt Snyder (Lewistown, Pa./Lewistown) is the ninth member of the class and enters the UVa program after going 25-12 while competing in open competitions during his redshirt year. He has four years of eligibility remaining.

The 2009-10 class includes three wrestlers who are listed in the top 100 of InterMat’s individual rankings – Fausey (No. 16), Clemente (No. 34) and Gordon (No. 83).

Fausey is ranked No. 3 nationally at 189 pounds after winning the Pennsylvania state title this past season. He also split a pair of All-Star matches with No. 1-ranked Chris Perry of Oklahoma. Clemente is a two-time New York state champion, a Senior National runner-up and a two-time Junior Freestyle All-American. Gordon is a three-time national prep finalist who won two Pennsylvania state titles.

In addition to the incoming recruiting class, Virginia also will welcome back an experienced team which boasts returning starters at nine of 10 weight classes, including All-American Chris Henrich (174 pounds) and ACC champions Brent Jones (197 pounds) and Ross Gitomer (125 pounds).

Incoming Virginia Recruiting Class
Jon Becker (184/197; Rahway, N.J./Bergen Catholic)
Zach Clemente (141/149; Clifton Park, N.Y./LaSalle Institute)
Matt Cubillos (133; Schenectady, N.Y./Guilderland)
Stephen Doty (174; St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood)
Jon Fausey (184; Dalmatia, Pa./Line Mountain)
Gabe Gomez (125; Broomfield, Colo./Broomfield)
Nicky Gordon (141; Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Seminary College Prep)
Matt Snyder (125; Lewistown, Pa./Bloomsburg Univ./Lewistown)
Andrew Williams (133/141; Yorktown, Va./Tabb)

D1CollegeWrestling.net 2009-10 Recruiting Rankings (Top 10)
1. Minnesota
2. Oklahoma State
3. Oklahoma
4. Nebraska
5. Iowa
6. Virginia
7. Old Dominion
8. Penn State
9. Virginia Tech
10. Cornell

InterMat 2009-10 Recruiting Rankings (Top 10)
1. Oklahoma State
2. Minnesota
3. Oklahoma
4. Nebraska
5. Iowa
6. Penn State
7. Virginia
8. Virginia Tech
9. Michigan
10. Ohio State