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Cavaliers Earn Sixth-Place Finish at Virginia Duals
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HAMPTON, Va. – The Virginia wrestling team went 2-1 Saturday in earning a sixth-place finish at the Virginia Duals, hosted at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va. Virginia picked up its best finish in 18 trips to the Virginia Duals.
Virginia (11-4) opened the day with a 29-18 win over No. 25 Arizona State, then followed it up with a 21-15 victory over Edinboro. The Cavaliers dropped their final match of the day 24-11 to Wyoming. With the sixth-place finish, Virginia topped its previous best finish at the event – seventh last season.
A day after breaking the Virginia career wins record, fourth-ranked Chris Henrich (Sr., Lansdale, Pa.) picked up three more victories Saturday at 174 pounds to push his career total to 120. He is now 19-1 this season.
The Cavaliers opened the day with an impressive performance against Arizona State. The match was rarely close in any aspect – eight of the nine bouts resulted in bonus points (ASU also forfeited at 165 pounds). After the Sun Devils jumped out to a 5-0 team lead on No. 2 Anthony Robles’ technical fall over No. 20 Matt Snyder (R-So., Lewistown, Pa.), UVa racked up three straight tech falls of its own, as Joe Spisak (Fr., Boiling Springs, Pa.), Gus Sako (Fr., Cleveland, Ohio) and Derek Valenti (Jr., Newton, N.J.) combined to outscore their opponents 47-1 at 133, 141 and 149, respectively.
Fourth-ranked Bubba Jenkins pinned UVa’s Shawn Harris (R-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio) at 157, but UVa won the next three bouts to take a commanding 29-11 lead. Conner Miller (Fr., Washington, Va.) won by forfeit at 165, and Henrich followed with a 10-2 major decision over ASU’s Eric Starks. Jon Fausey (R-Fr., Dalmatia, Pa.) then recorded a major of his own, 11-1 over Jake Meredith. ASU (4-4) closed out the bout with consecutive wins at 197 and heavyweight.
UVa nabbed its second win of the day with a 21-15 triumph over Edinboro (3-7-1), marking the Cavaliers’ second win over the Fighting Scots this season (25-13 on Nov. 13). Unlike the opener Saturday, this match was very competitive throughout, with eight of the 10 matches coming down to decisions.
Snyder got Virginia off to a strong start at 125 pounds, pinning Bijan Banks 59 seconds into the second period. The Scots cut the lead in half when Eric Morrill eked out a 2-1 win over Spisak at 133, but Sako pulled out a 6-3 victory over Kasey Davis at 141 to push the UVa lead to 9-3.
The Scots knotted the team score at 9 with consecutive decisions at 149 and 157 when No. 14 Torsten Gilliespie and Johnny Greisheimer picked up wins over Valenti and Harris, respectively.
Miller broke the tie with a solid 4-0 win over Ethan Saylor at 165. Henrich then picked up a crucial fall, dominating Chris Hrunka before getting the key turn and pinning him with 57 seconds remaining in the first period to give UVa an 18-9 lead.
The 184-pound match was a dogfight between third-ranked Chris Honeycutt and 18th-ranked Fausey, but Honeycutt scored the key takedown to escape with a 3-2 decision. Shawn Fendone followed with a 5-3 win over UVa’s Stephen Doty, who was wrestling up two weight classes while filling in for an injured Mike Salopek.
With the match hanging in the balance, Jack Danilkowicz (R-Sr., Green Oaks, Ill.) took control of his heavyweight match with Ernest James, scoring an early takedown and never trailing as he pulled out a 7-2 win to clinch the team win, 21-15.
Facing a strong Wyoming (5-1) squad with four ranked wrestlers in the nightcap, Virginia lost the first six bouts and fell in a 21-0 hole from which it couldn’t recover. UVa’s first five losses each came by six points or fewer before sixth-ranked Jimmy Belleville pinned Miller at 165 pounds.
Henrich then dominated Dallas Hintz at 174 in picking up a tech fall, 18-3. Fausey again was paired with a nationally ranked foe at 184, No. 2 Joe LeBlanc, and again it was a barnburner, with LeBlanc pulling out a 9-6 win.
UVa won the final two matches, with Doty stepping up for a 3-2 win over Lee Helbig at 197, and Danilkowicz notching a 5-2 decision against Joe O’Farrell at heavyweight. Doty won two matches this weekend despite being well undersized.
Virginia jumps into ACC competition next Saturday (Jan. 15), returning home to wrestle NC State at 1 p.m. The Cavaliers then will face No. 22 Penn and VMI in a double dual on Sunday; VMI and Penn will wrestle at 1 p.m., followed by UVa-Penn at 2:30 p.m. and UVa-VMI at 4 p.m.
Virginia 29, No. 25 Arizona State 18
125: No. 2 Anthony Robles (ASU) tech fall No. 20 Matt Snyder (UVa), 16-1; UVa 0, ASU 5
133: Joe Spisak (UVa) tech fall Josh Sandoval (ASU), 17-1; UVa 5, ASU 5
141: Gus Sako (UVa) tech fall Kalin Goodsite (ASU), 15-0; UVa 10, ASU 5
149: Derek Valenti (UVa) tech fall Tai Fukumoto (ASU), 15-0; UVa 15, ASU 5
157: No. 4 Bubba Jenkins (ASU) pinned Shawn Harris (UVa), 6:01; UVa 15, ASU 11
165: Conner Miller (UVa) won by forfeit; UVa 21, ASU 11
174: No. 4 Chris Henrich (UVa) major dec. Eric Starks (ASU), 10-2; UVa 25, ASU 11
184: No. 18 Jon Fausey (UVa) major dec. Jake Meredith (ASU), 11-1; UVa 29, ASU 11
197: Luke Macchiaroli (ASU) dec. Stephen Doty (UVa), 7-5; UVa 29, ASU 14
285: Levi Cooper (ASU) major dec. Jack Danilkowicz (UVa), 11-2; UVa 29, ASU 18
Virginia 21, Edinboro 15
125: No. 20 Matt Snyder (UVa) pinned Bijan Banks (EU), 3:59; UVa 6, EU 0
133; Eric Morrill (EU) dec. Joe Spisak (UVa), 12-10; UVa 6, EU 3
141: Gus Sako (UVa) dec. Kasey Davis (EU), 6-3; UVa 9, EU 3
149: No. 14 Torsten Gilliespie (EU) dec. Derek Valenti (UVa), 7-2; UVa 9, EU 6
157: Johnny Greisheimer (EU) dec. Shawn Harris (UVa), 8-3; UVa 9, EU 9
165: Conner Miller (UVa) dec. Ethan Saylor (EU), 4-0; UVa 12, EU 9
174: No. 4 Chris Henrich (UVa) pinned Chris Hrunka (EU), 2:03; UVa 18, EU 9
184: No. 3 Chris Honeycutt (EU) dec. No. 18 Jon Fausey (UVa), 3-2; UVa 18, EU 12
197: Shawn Fendone (EU) dec. Stephen Doty (UVa), 5-3; UVa 18, EU 15
285: Jack Danilkowicz (UVa) dec. Ernest James (EU), 7-2; UVa 21, EU 15
Wyoming 24, Virginia 11
125: Michael Martinez (UW) dec. No. 20 Matt Snyder (UVa), 8-4, UW 3, UVa 0
133: No. 19 Tyler Cox (UW) dec. Joe Spisak (UVa), 5-2; UW 6, UVa 0
141: Chase Smith (UW) dec. Gus Sako (UVa), 4-3; UW 9, UVa 0
149: No. 20 Cole Dallaserra (UW) dec. Derek Valenti (UVa), 8-2; UW 12, UVa 0
157: Jimmy Belleville (UW) dec. Nicky Gordon (UVa), 8-6; UW 15, UVa 0
165: No. 6 Shane Onufer (UW) pinned Conner Miller (UVa), 1:46; UW 21, UVa 0
174: No. 4 Chris Henrich (UVa) tech fall Dallas Hintz (UW), 18-3; UW 21, UVa 5
184: No. 2 Joe LeBlanc (UW) dec. No. 18 Jon Fausey (UVa), 9-6; UW 24, UVa 5
197: Stephen Doty (UVa) dec. Lee Helbig (UW), 3-2; UW 24, UVa 8
285: Jack Danilkowicz (UVa) dec. Joe O`Farrell (UW), 5-2; UW 24, UVa 11