Virginia Advances Seven to Finals at Southern Scuffle

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GREENSBORO, N.C. – The 18th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers sit in fifth place after the first day of the Southern Scuffle, hosted by UNC-Greensboro. The Cavaliers compiled 41 points, just .5 points behind No. 20 Edinboro and one point behind No. 13 Indiana. Fifth-ranked Minnesota leads all schools with 50 points.

At 125, Ross Gitomer and Matthew Snyder both advanced to the quarterfinals, where they will face a pair of top-five opponents tomorrow. Snyder, who pinned Bakersfield’s Frank Lomas in the third round, will take on top-ranked Troy Nickerson from Cornell. Gitomer, who notched a major decision over Eric Chandler from UNCG, faces No. 5 Eric Morrill from Edinboro.

At 141, Derek Valenti advanced to the quarterfinals, recording a fall in both of his first two bouts before a decision to get to the quarters. His opponent will be 12th-ranked Elijah Nacita from Bakersfield.

Kellon Balum notched a pin in the first round before recording a major decision in the second round, advancing to the round of 16 where he fell to Richard Gayseki of Liberty.

Pat Riley advanced to a bout against No. 3 Matt Moley from Bloomsburg in the quarterfinals of the 159 class after a major decision in the first round and a tie-breaker victory in the round of 16. No. 16 Dan Gonsor was upset in the round of 16 and notched a 16-0 technical fall to advance to the consolation quarters tomorrow.

Michael Chaires won his first round before falling 2-0 in a close match to No. 10 Chris Brown of Old Dominion. He then won a pair of bouts in the consolations, advancing to the pre-quarterfinals where he will take on Tom Timothy of Penn.

At 174, Chris Henrich recorded a pin and a decision to advance to the quarterfinals where he faces Jacob Ison from Ohio. Stephen Doty won his first match in a fall before losing to top-ranked Mack Lewnes of Cornell.

Mike Salopek advanced to the quarterfinals at 184 where he will take on No. 16 Steve Bosak of Cornell. Jon Fausey is still alive in the consolation quarterfinals; where he will face Hunter Collins from Michigan, who Salopek defeated 8-1 in the round of 32.

10th-ranked Brent Jones was upset in the first round but has battled back to advance to the consolation pre-quarterfinals with a fall in the round of 32.

Jack Danikowicz won his first round in a decision before falling in a major to No. 6 Nathan Everhart of Indiana. He will face Peter Sturgeon from the host Spartans in the consolation pre-quarterfinals tomorrow.