No. 21 Wrestling Rings in New Year at Southern Scuffle

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 21st-ranked Virginia wrestling team will ring in the new year Sunday and Monday (Jan. 1-2) at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. The venerable tournament will be contested at Chattanooga’s McKenzie Arena for the first time after a long run in Greensboro, N.C.

The competition begins on eight mats at 10 a.m. Sunday, while action on Monday starts at 9 a.m.

Links to live bracket updates and video of the finals will be available at VirginiaSports.com.

The field is loaded. Eight of the 22 competing teams are ranked among the NWCA/USA Today Division I Top 25. including No. 3 Minnesota, No. 4 Cornell, No. 5 Penn State, No. 10 Missouri, No. 11 Oregon State, No. 15 Virginia Tech, No. 21 Virginia and No. 25 Hofstra.

Appalachian State, Army, Campbell, Chattanooga, The Citadel, Cleveland State, Duke, Gardner-Webb, Indiana, Navy, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ohio and Old Dominion also will wrestle in the tournament.

Individually, over a quarter of all the ranked wrestlers in the nation will compete at the Scuffle. There are 52 ranked in the current Intermat Top-20, including 25 in the top-10 of their respective weight classes. Half of the nation’s No. 1 ranked wrestlers will on hand, including Minnesota’s Zach Sanders (125), Penn State’s Frank Molinaro (149) and David Taylor (165) and Cornell’s Kyle Dake (157) and Cam Simaz (197).

Virginia currently boasts four nationally ranked wrestlers according to InterMat. Matt Snyder (R-Jr., Lewistown, Pa.) stands ninth at 125 pounds, Matt Nelson (R-Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) is ranked 20th at 133 pounds, Nick Nelson (R-Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) is ranked 19th at 141 pounds and Jon Fausey (R-So., Dalmatia, Pa.) is 11th at 184 pounds.

The Cavaliers placed ninth at the Scuffle last season, highlighted by a runner-up finish at 174 pounds by Chris Henrich. Fausey took sixth at 184 pounds, while Gus Sako nabbed eighth at 141.

Virginia last competed on Dec. 18, scoring a dominating 39-3 dual-meet victory at Drexel. The Cavaliers won at nine of the 10 weight classes, with six of the wins resulting in bonus points.

The Cavaliers return to dual action on Jan. 13 with a 7 p.m. ACC match at North Carolina State.

2012 Southern Scuffle Schedule (all times approximate)
Sunday, January 1
10 a.m. – Pigtails and 32 Man Championship (8 Mats, 180 matches, approx. 340 Wrestlers)
1 p.m. – Pigtail & 1st Round Consolation (8 Mats, 120 Matches approx.)
3 p.m. – Round of 16 Championship (8 Mats, 80 Matches)
4:45 p.m. – 2nd Round Consolation (8 Mats, 80 Matches)
6:30 p.m. – Championship Quarterfinals (4 Mats, 40 Matches) and 3rd Round Consolation (4 mats, 40 Matches )

Monday, January 2
9 a.m. – 4th Round Consolation (4 Mats, 40 Matches)
11 a.m. – Semifinals (2 Mats, 20 Matches) and Consolation Quarterfinals (2 Mats, 20 Matches)
1 p.m. – Consolation Semifinals (4 mats, 20 Matches)
2:30 p.m. – Medal Matches (3rd-8th Place) (3 mats, 30 Matches)
6 p.m. – Finals (1 Mat)