No. 19 Cavaliers Travel to Rutgers, Princeton This Weekend
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 19 Virginia wrestling team hits the road this weekend for matches at Rutgers and Princeton. The Cavaliers will wrestle Rutgers at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Louis Brown Athletic Center, then UVa heads to Princeton for a 1 p.m. match on Saturday at Dillon Gym.
The Rutgers match will be streamed online for free through Knightvision Broadband at ScarletKnights.com.
Virginia (13-4) is coming off a split of its ACC matches last weekend in Charlottesville. UVa opened Friday with a 23-12 victory over North Carolina before absorbing a 19-16 loss to then-No. 14 Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Brent Jones (R-Sr., Burke, Va.) is the reigning ACC Wrestler of the Week after going 2-0 last weekend. He posted a 4-3 decision over then-No. 12 Dennis Drury of UNC on Friday night then scored a major decision Saturday against Virginia Tech. Jones needs one win this weekend to reach 100 career wins. With two victories, Jones will move into a sixth-place tie with Jason Mutarelli (1994-95, 1996-98) in career wins at Virginia.
Matt Snyder (R-Fr., Lewistown, Pa.) also earned a pair of wins last weekend at 133 pounds, while Chris Henrich (Jr., Lansdale, Pa.) notched two wins at 174 to push his record to 23-2 this season.
Four Cavaliers are tabbed in the InterMat rankings this week. Henrich has moved up to No. 3 nationally at 174 pounds – the highest ranking for a UVa wrestler since Scott Moore was No. 1 at 141 pounds in 2004. Danny Gonsor (R-So., Cleveland, Ohio) is No. 14 this week at 157 pounds, while Jones is No. 19 at 197. Mike Salopek (R-Fr., North Huntingdon, Pa.) is back in the InterMat rankings at No. 20 at 184 this week.
Rutgers (14-4-1) is riding a 10-match winning streak. The Scarlet Knights pushed their winning streak into double figures Monday with a 20-15 win at East Stroudsburg. The UVa-RU all-time series is tied at 2-2. The Scarlet Knights handed UVa a 28-15 defeat last season in Charlottesville.
D.J. Russo is the Knights’ highest-ranked wrestler, earning a No. 10 national ranking this week, according to InterMat. He is the only Rutgers wrestler in the InterMat individual rankings this week, although five other Knights have earned mention in other publications’ rankings this week.
Princeton (3-6) will wrestle Duquesne Friday night before the Cavaliers visit Saturday afternoon. The Tigers have not competed in dual action since Jan. 8 when they lost 24-13 to Rider. Freshman 125-pounder Garrett Frey, leads Princeton with 17 wins.
UVa and Princeton have met just once previously, a 25-7 Tigers’ win in 1966 in Charlottesville.
The Cavaliers are back in Charlottesville next Saturday (Feb. 6) for a pair of home matches against No. 25 Old Dominion and George Mason. Both matches will be contested at Memorial Gymnasium; there is no charge for admission.