Five Cavaliers Win Championships at Wolfpack Open
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia wrestlers earned five of the 10 individual titles Sunday at NC State’s Wolfpack Open, contested at the Raleigh Convention Center. UVa put eight competitiors in the finals, as Matt Snyder (125), Nick Nelson (141), Jedd Moore (157), Nick Sulzer (165) and Jon Fausey (184) all won championships at their individual weight classes and three more took runner-up honors.
Snyder (R-Jr., Lewistown, Pa.) earned the championship at 125 with three straight dominating victories (two pins, one tech fall) before winning 7-5 over NC State’s Coltin Fought in the final.
Nick Nelson (R-Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) earned the title at 141 with a pair of major decisions before winning back-to-back matches by 3-2 counts. He defeated Duke’s Tanner Hough in the championship.
Moore (R-Jr., Mount Vernon, Ohio) won four straight matches to claim the 157 championship. He defeated Virginia Tech’s Cameron Hurd in the final.
Sulzer (R-Fr., Cleveland, Ohio) dominated, with four of his five wins coming in routs, including a 19-6 major decision over North Carolina’s Steve Ramos in the championship match.
Fausey (R-So., Dalmatia, Pa.) defeated Virginia Tech’s John Dickson, 4-2, in the championship round. Fausey racked up four wins, with a pair of major decisions.
UVa took two of the four places at 133 and heavyweight. At 133, Joseph Martinez (Fr., Platteville, Colo.) notched second place, while Matt Nelson (R-Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) earned third. Coming out of the consolation bracket, Nelson won five matches on the day.
Derek Papagianopoulos (R-Fr., Burlington, Mass.) took runner-up honors at heavyweight. He suffered an injury in the championship match against Virginia Tech’s Chris Penny and was forced to take an injury default. Papagianopoulos defeated teammate Ethan Hayes (Fr., New Lebanon, Ohio) in the semifinals; Hayes went on to nab third place.
Competing unattached, UVa’s Derek Valenti (Sr., Newton, N.J.) took second at 149 pounds, dropping a close 3-2 decision to Virginia Tech’s Nick Brascetta in the title bout.
Vinny Waldhauser (Fr., El Dorado Hills, Calif.) nabbed fourth at 174 pounds, while Ryan Malo (Sr., Georgetown, Mass.) earned fourth at 197.
Unattached wrestlers’ results do not count toward official season results, but do count toward NCAA qualification. Matches against non-Division I wrestlers do not count toward NCAA qualification, but do count toward official season results.