No. 21 Virginia Scores 33-12 Win at NC State

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 21st-ranked Virginia wrestling team won eight of the 10 weight classes in posting a 33-12 victory over North Carolina State Friday evening at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C. UVa earned bonus points in seven of its eight individual wins.

“The team got a good win tonight,” Virginia head coach Steve Garland said. “We won eight out of 10 bouts and got some big bonus point wins as well. NC State came to wrestle tonight and they are well coached, so I am happy with what we were able to do. We have some technical things to fix though and that is what we will be focusing on in the coming weeks.”

The Cavaliers racked up six major decisions as well as a win by fall in rolling to the big victory.

Matt Snyder (R-Jr., Lewistown, Pa.), ranked 11th nationally at 125 pounds by InterMat, scored a strong win as he recorded a 13-2 major decision over NC State’s Colton Fought. The Wolfpack freshman is ranked No. 20 nationally by Amateur Wrestling News. Snyder upped his record to 15-3 on the season.

Matt Nelson (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) followed with another major decision, as he dominated Ben Elliott in a 14-4 win. Nelson improved to 12-3 this season.

UVa’s two losses came at 141 and 149 pounds, both by fall. At 141, freshman Joseph Martinez (Platteville, Colo.) wrestled up a weight class to replace the injured Nick Nelson (R-Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and was pinned by 18th-ranked Darrius Little. At 149 pounds, Gus Sako (So., Cleveland, Ohio) jumped out to a 13-0 lead early in the second period over Matt Nereim and was two points away from the technical fall before Nereim reversed him and then stunningly put Sako on his back and finished off the fall. This gave the Wolfpack a 12-8 lead.

UVa took control from there and dominated the final six matches. The Cavaliers knotted the team score at 12 on a 12-3 major decision by Jedd Moore (R-Jr., Mount Vernon, Ohio) over Colton Palmer at 157 pounds and then moved ahead when No. 15 Nick Sulzer (R-Fr., Cleveland, Ohio) recorded a major decision of his own, 12-4 over Nijel Jones at 165. Sulzer (17-4) racked up his team-best sixth major of the year.

Vinny Waldhauser (Fr., El Dorado Hills, Calif.) followed with a pin of Quinton Godley 2:42 into the first period at 174 pounds, giving the Cavaliers a 22-12 lead. Godley entered the match with a 22-8 record.

Jon Fausey (R-So., Dalmatia, Pa.), ranked No. 18 nationally at 184 pounds, picked up a 13-5 major decision over Robert O’Neill, and Ryan Malo (Sr., Georgetown, Mass.) notched a major over KaRonne Jones at 197 to stretch the lead to 30-12.

Heavyweight Ethan Hayes (Fr., New Lebanon, Ohio) closed the evening on a high note for UVa with a 5-3 triumph over NC State’s Harrison Honeycutt.

Virginia starts a four-match homestand next weekend, entertaining North Carolina at 7 p.m. Friday (Jan. 20) and Duke at 1 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 21).

No. 21 Virginia 33, NC State 12
125 – No. 11 Matt Snyder (UVa) major dec. Coltin Fought (NCSU), 13-2; UVa 4-0
133 – Matt Nelson (UVa) major dec. Ben Elliott (NCSU), 14-4; UVa 8-0
141 – No. 18 Darrius Little (NCSU) pinned Joseph Martinez (UVa), 1:35; UVa 8-6
149 – Matt Nereim (NCSU) pinned Gus Sako (UVa), 5:16; NCSU 12-8
157 – Jedd Moore (UVa) major dec. Colton Palmer (NCSU), 12-3; Tied at 12
165 – No. 15 Nick Sulzer (UVa) major dec. Nijel Jones (NCSU), 12-4; UVa 16-12
174 – Vinny Waldhauser (UVa) pinned Quinton Godley (NCSU), 2:42; UVa 22-12
184 – No. 18 Jon Fausey (UVa) major dec. Robert O’Neill (NCSU), 13-5; UVa 26-12
197 – Ryan Malo (UVa) major dec. KaRonne Jones (NCSU), 13-4; UVa 30-12
285 – Ethan Hayes (UVa) dec. Harrison Honeycutt (NCSU), 5-3; UVa 33-12