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Virginia Wrestling Rolls Past Duke, Appalachian State
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia wrestling team posted a pair of home wins Saturday at Memorial Gymnasium, blanking Duke, 40-0, before defeating Appalachian State, 31-8. With the shutout of Duke, Virginia recorded its first ACC shutout since a 44-0 victory at Duke on Jan. 16, 1984.
Virginia (17-7, 3-2 ACC) claimed wins in 17 of the 20 bouts on Saturday in rolling to comfortable victories in each match. UVa now stands one win shy of the school record for dual wins in a season, set in 2008. The Cavaliers get two cracks at the record next weekend with duals at George Mason and Old Dominion.
Seven Cavaliers won two matches each, highlighted by Stephen Doty (So., St. Louis, Mo.), who scored an overtime win at 184 pounds against Duke and then moved up a weight class to claim a victory at 197 versus Appalachian State.
Fourth-ranked Chris Henrich (Sr., Lansdale, Pa.) recorded a pair of wins at 174 pounds as he improved to 28-1 this season. The all-time wins leader at Virginia, Henrich now owns a 129-17 record in the Virginia singlet.
Prior to the matches Virginia honored its three departing seniors – Henrich, Jack Danilkowicz (Green Oaks, Ill.) and Dave Ebbott (Blue Bell, Pa.).
In the opener against Duke (1-4-1, 0-4), Virginia captured three matches because of Duke forfeits. The highlight match of the day came at 184 pounds, where Doty rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the third period against Diego Bencomo and scored a takedown just before the final buzzer to force overtime. There, he took Bencomo down early in the extra session to pick up the 7-5 win.
The Cavaliers got off to a 12-0 start because of Duke forfeits at 125 and 133 pounds. Ebbott followed with a 5-3 win over Mike Bell at 141 before Derek Valenti (Jr., Newton, N.J.) cruised to a 6-0 win over A.J. Guardado at 149.
UVa continued to roll off the wins, as Shawn Harris (R-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio), Jedd Moore (R-So., Mount Vernon, Ohio), Henrich, Doty, No. 17 Mike Salopek (R-So., North Huntingdon, Pa.) and Danilkowicz all picked up victories.
The Cavaliers won seven of 10 individual matches against Appalachian State (7-10-1). UVa opened strong, getting back-to-back falls to begin the match with Matt Snyder (R-So., Lewistown, Pa.) pinning Tony Gravely at 125 before Joe Spisak (Fr., Boiling Springs, Pa.) pinned Chris Johnson in 2:19. Snyder improved to 21-7 this year while Spisak upped his record to 21-11.
ASU broke into the scoring column at 141 pounds on a 4-1 decision by Mike Kessler over Gus Sako (Fr., Cleveland, Ohio). Valenti then recorded a 2-0 decision over Savva Kostis for his eighth straight victory at 149 pounds. Harris added a 6-2 win against John Blakely at 157 to stretch the UVa lead to 18-3.
No. 20 Kyle Blevins outlasted Moore at 165 pounds, earning the riding time point to claim a 3-2 win. During the match Appalachian State was penalized a team point for a bench misconduct. With two points the Mountaineers cut the UVa lead to 18-5.
Henrich followed with a pin of Carter Downs in 1:52 before 20th-ranked Austin Trotman earned a 13-6 decision over No. 18 Jon Fausey (R-Fr., Dalmatia, Pa.) at 184 pounds. After moving up to 197, Doty nabbed his second win of the day with a 10-4 victory over Jon Hartley. Danilkowicz topped off the Virginia win by rolling to a 9-1 major decision over Brock Durfee in the heavyweight bout for his 20th win of the season.
Virginia travels to George Mason for a 7 p.m. Thursday match before concluding the regular season at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Old Dominion. UVa will play host to the 2011 ACC Wrestling Championship on March 5.
Virginia 40, Duke 0
125: Matt Snyder (UVa) won by forfeit; UVa 6, Duke 0
133: Joe Spisak (UVa) won by forfeit; UVa 12, Duke 0
141: Dave Ebbott (UVa) dec. Mike Bell (Duke), 5-3; UVa 15, Duke 0
149: Derek Valenti (UVa) dec.A.J. Guardado (Duke), 6-0; UVa 18, Duke 0
157: Shawn Harris (UVa) dec. Ryan Harding (Duke), 8-2; UVa 21, Duke 0
165: Jedd Moore (UVa) major dec. Willy Mello (Duke), 19-6; UVa 25, Duke 0
174: No. 4 Chris Henrich (UVa) dec. Bret Klopp (Duke), 14-7; UVa 28, Duke 0
184: Stephen Doty (UVa) dec. Diego Bencomo (Duke), 7-5 (SV); UVa 31, Duke 0
197: No. 17 Mike Salopek (UVa) won by forfeit; UVa 37, Duke 0
285: Jack Danilkowicz (UVa) dec. Andrew Fulk (Duke), 8-4; UVa 40, Duke 0
Virginia 31, Appalachian State 8
125: Matt Snyder (UVa) pinned Tony Gravely (ASU), 5:25; UVa 6, ASU 0
133: Joe Spisak (UVa) pinned Chris Johnson (ASU), 2:19; UVa 12, ASU 0
141: Mike Kessler (ASU) dec. Gus Sako (UVa), 4-1; UVa 12, ASU 3
149: Derek Valenti (UVa) dec. Savva Kostis (ASU), 2-0; UVa 15, ASU 3
157: Shawn Harris (UVa) dec. John Blakely (ASU), 6-2; UVa 18, ASU 3
165: No. 20 Kyle Blevins dec. Jedd Moore (UVa), 3-2; UVa 18, ASU 5
(ASU deducted one team point for bench misconduct)
174: No. 4 Chris Henrich (UVa) pinned Carter Downs (ASU), 1:52; UVa 24, ASU 5
184: No. 20 Austin Trotman (ASU) dec. No. 18 Jon Fausey (UVa), 13-6; UVa 24, ASU 8
197: Stephen Doty (UVa) dec. Jon Hartley (ASU), 10-4; UVa 27, ASU 8
285: Jack Danilkowicz (UVa) major dec. Brock Durfee (ASU), 9-1; UVa 31, ASU 8