No. 18 Wrestling Takes Fifth at Southern Scuffle

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Propelled by eight placewinners, the No. 18 Virginia wrestling team finished in fifth place Wednesday in the Southern Scuffle, hosted by UNC Greensboro at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center in Greensboro, N.C. The Cavaliers recorded 96.5 points, just one point outside of fourth place, held by No. 20 Edinboro. No. 8 Cornell won the event with 164 points and was followed by No. 5 Minnesota (151.5) and No. 13 Indiana (131.5).

Fourth-ranked Chris Henrich (Jr., Lansdale, Pa.) notched UVa’s top finish with a runner-up standing at 174 pounds. Henrich (15-2) picked up a 4-0 win over No. 10 Ryan Patrovich of Hofstra in the semifinals before dropping a 6-1 decision to top-ranked Mack Lewnes of Cornell in the championship match.

At 184 pounds, Mike Salopek (R-Fr., North Huntingdon, Pa.) notched a third-place podium finish. Salopek blanked Virginia Tech’s Tommy Spellman, 2-0, in the consolation championship. Jon Fausey (Fr., Dalmatia, Pa.), competing unattached, scored an eighth-place finish at 184.

Nick Nelson (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.), competing unattached for UVa, scored an impressive third-place finish at 141 pounds. He finished with seven wins in the tournament, including a 3-2 decision over Ohio’s Germane Lindsay to claim the third-place match.

Derek Valenti (So., Newton, N.J.) took seventh at 141 after eking out a 1-0 decision over Penn’s Zach Kemmerer in the seventh-place match.

No. 16 Danny Gonsor (So., Cleveland, Ohio), after suffering an upset loss Tuesday, rebounded to take fifth place at 157 pounds. He finished with a pin of Ohio’s Clay Tucker in the fifth-place bout. Gonsor’s lone loss Wednesday was a narrow 7-5 defeat to No. 4 Matt Moley of Bloomsburg, a defending All-American.

Ross Gitomer (Sr., Flemington, N.J.) placed sixth at 125 pounds. His tournament was highlighted by a 3-2 upset of No. 5 Eric Morrill of Edinboro on Tuesday. He fell into the consolation bracket after dropping a 7-0 decision to top-ranked Troy Nickerson of Cornell, the reigning national champion. Morrill bounced Gitomer in the fifth-place match with a 3-1 win which needed two sudden victory periods.

Matt Snyder (R-Fr., Lewistown, Pa.) nabbed seventh place at 125. He finished strong with a 16-9 victory over UNCG’s Eric Chandler in the seventh-place bout.

Virginia starts the 2010 portion of its schedule Jan. 8-9 at the Virginia Duals in Hampton. Brackets for the event will be announced early next week.

Final Team Standings
1. No. 8 Cornell, 164
2. No. 5 Minnesota, 151.5
3. No. 13 Indiana, 131.5
4. No. 20 Edinboro, 97.5
5. No. 18 Virginia, 96.5
6. Ohio, 85.5
7. No. 19 Kent State, 75.5
8. Bloomsburg, 74
9. North Carolina, 68.5
10. Navy, 65.5