No. 21 Virginia Wrestling Sixth After Day One of Southern Scuffle
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 21st-ranked Virginia wrestling team holds sixth place out of 22 teams after the first day of competition at the Southern Scuffle, held Sunday at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tenn. UVa racked up 59.5 points Sunday and trails No. 5 Penn State (118), No. 3 Minnesota (110.5), No. 10 Missouri (83.5), No. 4 Cornell (79) and No. 11 Oregon State (66). The tournament continues at 9 a.m. Monday, with the finals set for 6 p.m.
Links to live bracket updates and video of the finals will be available at VirginiaSports.com.
Matt Snyder (R-Jr., Lewistown, Pa.) and Nick Nelson (R-Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) went undefeated in the first day of action and advanced to the semifinals in their respective weight classes. Nine Cavaliers also remain alive in the consolation brackets after day one. UVa has wrestlers alive at all 10 weight classes.
Ranked No. 9 nationally at 125 pounds, Snyder went to sudden victory time against No. 12 Steve Bonanno of Hofstra in the quarterfinals before scoring a takedown for the 9-7 decision. He went 3-0 on the day, notching a pin in just 51 seconds over Appalachian State’s Antonio Gravely before winning 3-0 over Missouri’s Dale Boyd. Snyder will face top-ranked Zach Sanders of Minnesota in the semifinals.
Ranked No. 19 at 141 pounds, Nelson topped No. 15 Mike Nevinger of Cornell, 4-1, in the quarterfinals to earn a spot in the 141-pound semifinal round. Nelson picked up four wins Sunday. He earned a 15-2 major decision in his first match versus Josh Palivoda of Cleveland State. Nelson then won a pair of bouts by decision – 7-0 over The Citadel’s Jordan Dix and 7-3 over Army’s Casey Smith. Nelson will wrestle No. 5 Mike Mangrum of Oregon State in the semis.
Nine Cavaliers will start Monday in the fourth round of the consolation bracket, including five who reached the quarterfinals Sunday before falling into the consolation bracket.
Joseph Martinez (Fr., Platteville, Colo.) picked up two wins at 133 pounds before falling to No. 5 David Thorn of Minnesota in the quarters. Martinez will face Brock Livorio of Virginia Tech on Monday.
Jedd Moore (R-Jr., Mount Vernon, Ohio) moved into the quarters at 157 pounds with a pair of wins before falling 10-1 in the quarterfinals to top-ranked Kyle Dake of Cornell. Moore is slated to take on Harrison Hightower of Ohio Monday.
After a pair of dominating wins to start the day, Nick Sulzer (R-Fr., Cleveland, Ohio) dropped a tight 3-1 decision to No. 10 Cory Yohn of Minnesota in the quarterfinals at 165 pounds. Sulzer will wrestle Kyle Kiss of North Carolina next.
Ranked 11th nationally, Jon Fausey (R-So., Dalmatia, Pa.) reached the quarters at 184 pounds with two easy victories before dropping a 7-3 decision to No. 10 Austin Trotman of Appalachian State. Fausey will wrestle Ben Clymer of Hofstra next.
Competing unattached at 149 pounds, Gus Sako (So., Cleveland, Ohio) reached the quarterfinals before dropping a 9-5 decision to No. 11 Dylan Ness of Minnesota. Sako scored a thrilling 13-11 win in the second sudden victory period against Indiana’s Taylor Walsh to advance to the quarters. He will face Savva Kostis of Appalachian State on Monday.
Vinny Waldhauser (Fr., El Dorado Hills, Calif.) downed Appalachian State’s Andrew Downs 11-2 at 174 pounds before falling 8-4 to No. 14 Nick Purdue of Ohio. He bounced back in the consolations for a win and will face No. 17 Turtogtokh Luvsandorj of The Citadel next.
Ryan Malo (Sr., Georgetown, Mass.) was pinned by No. 19 Brent Haynes of Missouri in his first match of the day at 197 pounds but rebounded for a pair of wins in the consolations. He will wrestle John Weakley of Campbell next.
Competing unattached at 197 pounds, Zach Nye (Fr., Enola, Pa.) knocked off Cornell’s Jace Bennett, 7-3, before dropping a 4-1 match to Paul Rands of Navy. He came back to post two consolation wins to advance to face No. 4 Matt Powless of Indiana on Monday.
Ethan Hayes (Fr., New Lebanon, Ohio) remained alive in the consolation bracket at heavyweight. After losing his opening match to Chattanooga’s Kevin Malone, Hayes won three straight matches in the consolations. He will wrestle Andy Hartshom of Ohio next.
Team Standings Through Day One (Top 10)
1. Penn State, 118.0
2. Minnesota, 110.5
3. Missouri, 83.5
4. Cornell, 79.0
5. Oregon State, 66.0
6. Virginia, 59.5
7. Appalachian State, 49.0
8. Chattanooga, 46.5
9. North Carolina, 43.5
10. Ohio, 42.5
2012 Southern Scuffle Schedule (all times approximate)
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)