Cavaliers' Rally Falls Short at Maryland, 19-16
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Virginia wrestling team rallied from a 15-7 deficit to take a 16-15 lead, but Maryland won the final bout to score a 19-16 victory over the Cavaliers on Friday evening in an intense ACC dual at the Comcast Pavilion in College Park, Md.
The teams split the 10 matches, but Maryland’s bonus points at 133 pounds and heavyweight proved to be the difference. Matt Snyder (R-So., Lewistown, Pa.), Derek Valenti (Jr., Newton, N.J.), No. 4 Chris Henrich (Sr., Lansdale, Pa.), No. 18 Jon Fausey (R-Fr., Dalmatia, Pa.) and Stephen Doty (So., St. Louis, Mo.) all claimed wins for Virginia (15-7, 2-2 ACC). Maryland improved to 12-4 overall and 2-1 in the ACC.
Snyder got Virginia off to a strong start with a 10-2 major decision over Pat Strizki at 125 pounds. After a scoreless first period, Snyder took the top position in the second and proceeded to ride Strizki the entire period, while using his cradle to twice score three-point near falls. Strizki chose the neutral position in the third and scored a takedown 40 seconds into the period, but Snyder defended well from there, added a late takedown and racked up 2:09 in riding time to nab the 10-2 major decision and improve to 19-7 this year.
At 133 pounds UM’s Lou Ruland wasted little time in pinning the Cavaliers’ Joe Spisak (Fr., Boiling Springs, Pa.). Ruland attacked quickly and Spisak wiggled from his first charge but not the second as Ruland got Spisak to his back and scored the fall 29 seconds into the period.
Dave Ebbott (R-Jr., Blue Bell, Pa.) got the nod at 141 pounds and gave 16th-ranked Jon Kohler a good battle before going down, 9-3. Leading 2-0 to start the second, Kohler quickly scored two on a near fall to start the period. Ebbott controlled the action for the first minute and a half of the third before Kohler escaped and later scored a takedown to put the match out of reach.
At 149 pounds Valenti and Ben Dorsay locked up in a defensive battle before Valenti came out on top, 3-1, in overtime. The lone points tallied in regulation time came on escape points for each wrestler. Dorsay nearly scored midway through the sudden victory period but his takedown attempt came out of bounds. Valenti got his shot in late in overtime and capitalized, scoring with a second left to claim his sixth straight victory, 3-1.
No. 14 Kyle John picked up a 9-3 decision over Shawn Harris (R-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio) at 157 pounds. Harris scored an early takedown, but John escaped 21 seconds later and dominated from there. Harris gave up a pair of penalty points for stall warnings in the third period as John stretched his lead to 8-2. John allowed Harris to escape in order to go for a takedown to scored the points needed for a major, but Harris just staved off John’s attempt at a late takedown as the buzzer sounded. John picked up the riding time point to win 9-3 and stretch the Terps’ lead to 15-7.
At 165 pounds third-ranked Josh Asper scored a 6-1 win over UVa’s Jedd Moore (R-So., Mount Vernon, Ohio). Asper picked up a first-period takedown and shot out to a 5-2 lead, but Moore held him off during the third to avoid the major decision.
The match of the night came at 174 pounds where No. 4 Henrich and No. 18 Mike Letts locked up in a great battle; Letts is ranked as high as eighth nationally. After a scoreless first period, Henrich chose the down position, but Letts did a tremendous job of keeping Henrich down as he racked up 1:41 in riding time before Henrich escaped and nearly got the reversal. Letts took the down position in the third and escaped to knot the score, but still held the time needed for the riding time point. Both wrestlers had opportunities to score over the next minute and a half, but neither could finish a takedown until Henrich gained control with 14 seconds remaining. After a restart with 10 seconds left, Henrich held Letts down for the last few seconds to earn the hard-fought 3-2 win and pull UVa within 15-10. With his closest win of the year, Henrich improved to 26-1 this season and won his 12th straight bout.
Fausey gave up a takedown to Corey Peltier midway through the second period at 184 pounds, but he scored on a reversal and then just missed the pin before settling for three points on the near fall. That scoring was all he needed – Pelletier rode him for the entire third period but could not score. With the 5-2 win Fausey won his sixth straight match and improved to 23-6.
At 197 pounds Doty escaped Dallas Brown 33 seconds into second period for the first scoring, then added a takedown with 40 seconds left. In the third Doty attempted a cradle but Brown came loose and scored two points with a reversal. Doty scored a reversal of his own with 35 seconds left to seal the 5-2 win. Doty upped his record to 21-9 this year.
In the final bout of the evening, Spencer Myers and Jack Danilkowicz (R-Sr., Green Oaks, Ill.) were locked in a tight match at heavyweight before Myers broke it open in the third. After a scoreless first period, Myers escaped five seconds into the second, then held off a Danilkowicz takedown attempt and turned it into a takedown of his own with 19 seconds left in the second. Myers added another takedown and two-point near fall in the third and also earned the riding time point for the 8-0 major decision to lift UM back into the lead for good, 19-16.
Virginia comes home Saturday for its final home duals of the season, taking on Duke at noon and Appalachian State at 1:30 p.m. Senior Day ceremonies will be held prior to the first bout. UVa’s home matches, contested at Memorial Gymnasium, are free admission.
Maryland 19, Virginia 16
125: Matt Snyder (UVa) major dec. Pat Strizki (MD), 10-2; UVa 4, MD 0
133: Lou Ruland (MD) pinned Joe Spisak (UVa), :31; UVa 4, MD 6
141: No. 16 Jon Kohler (MD) dec. Dave Ebbott (UVa), 9-3; UVa 4, MD 9
149: Derek Valenti (UVa) dec. Ben Dorsay (MD), 3-1 (SV); UVa 7, MD 9
157: No. 14 Kyle John (MD) dec. Shawn Harris (UVa), 9-3; UVa 7, MD 12
165: No. 3 Josh Asper (MD) dec. Jedd Moore (UVa), 6-2; UVa 7, MD 15
174: No. 4 Chris Henrich (UVa) dec. No. 18 Mike Letts (MD), 3-2; UVa 10, MD 15
184: No. 17 Jon Fausey (UVa) dec. Corey Peltier (MD), 5-2; UVa 13, MD 15
197: Stephen Doty (UVa) dec. Dallas Brown (MD), 5-2; UVa 16, MD 15
285: Spencer Myers (MD) major dec. Jack Danilkowicz (UVa), 8-0; UVa 16, MD 19