No. 22 Cavaliers Return Home to Face Duke, UNC

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 22nd-ranked Virginia wrestling team comes home to Memorial Gymnasium this weekend for ACC dual matches against Duke and North Carolina. The Cavaliers will wrestle the Blue Devils at 7 p.m. Friday, then will play host to UNC at 1 p.m. Saturday. Live results for both matches will be available at VirginiaSports.com.

Admission is free of charge. Free parking is available in the Culbreth Road Garage.

Virginia (4-1, 1-1 ACC) comes off a dominating performance last Friday at North Carolina State, where UVa won eight of 10 weight classes in a 33-12 victory over the Wolfpack. The Cavaliers racked up seven major decisions as well as a win by fall in rolling to the victory.

Four Virginia wrestlers are ranked among InterMat’s individual top 20 this week: Matt Snyder (R-Jr., Lewistown, Pa.) is No. 11 at 125 pounds, Nick Nelson (R-Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) stands No. 10 at 141, Nick Sulzer (R-Fr., Mount Vernon, Ohio) is No. 15 at 165 and Jon Fausey (R-So., Dalmatia, Pa.) holds a No. 14 ranking at 184.

Nick Nelson (17-2) and Sulzer (17-4) lead the team in wins to this point. Gus Sako (So., Cleveland, Ohio), with an 11-5 record and a team-best six falls, has moved into the starting slot at 149 pounds after an impressive first half of the year, while Vinny Waldhauser (Fr., El Dorado Hills, Calif.) started at 174 pounds last week and picked up an impressive pin against NC State’s Quinton Godley, to whom Waldhauser had lost twice previously this year.

Virginia owns a 53-6-2 advantage in the all-time series with Duke. The Cavaliers swept the 10 individual bouts last year in scoring a 40-0 win over the Blue Devils at Mem Gym. UVa has won six-straight duals against Duke and has not lost to the Blue Devils since Feb. 18, 2004, a 19-15 setback at Mem Gym.

Duke (0-2, 0-1) last competed on Jan. 9, suffering a 30-5 loss at North Carolina in their ACC opener. Diego Bencomo is the Devils’ top returning wrestler. He was the 2011 ACC runner-up at 184 pounds, then went on to reach the NCAA Quarterfinals, where he fell one win shy of All-America status.

UNC holds a 42-28 series edge against Virginia, although the Cavaliers have taken the last two duals. UVa won 28-6 on Jan. 21, 2011, in Chapel Hill in the teams’ last meeting. The Tar Heels have not won in Charlottesville since Feb. 1, 2002 (31-9).

North Carolina owns a 2-9 dual record (1-0 ACC), although six of the Tar Heels’ defeats have come to teams currently ranked in the Top 25. UNC went 1-2 last weekend at the Virginia Duals; the Tar Heels picked up an 18-15 win over Rider to start the duals before suffering losses to then-No. 23 Edinboro (22-14) and The Citadel (22-15).

Corey Mock (157 pounds) is the reigning ACC Wrestler of the Week after going 3-0 at the Virginia Duals last week. Mock is ranked No. 19 nationally at 157, while freshman Evan Henderson stands No. 18 nationally at 141. Henderson owns a team-best 21-6 record this year.

UVa continues the homestand on Sunday, Jan. 29, entertaining No. 13 Maryland in a 1 p.m. dual.

Probable Starters:
No. 22 Virginia Cavaliers (4-1, 1-1 ACC)
125: No. 11 Matt Snyder (15-3)
133: Matt Nelson (12-3)
141: No. 10 Nick Nelson (17-2)
149: Gus Sako (11-5)
157: Jedd Moore (14-4)
165: No. 15 Nick Sulzer (15-3)
174: Vinny Waldhauser (16-10)
184: No. 14 Jon Fausey (14-3)
197: Ryan Malo (13-8)
285: Derek Papagianopoulos (5-1)

Duke Blue Devils (0-2, 0-1 ACC)
125: Peter Terrezza (13-10)
133: Brandon Gambucci (15-5) or Nick Adamo (0-0)
141: Tanner Hough (14-5)
149: AJ Guardado (12-6)
157: Immanuel Kerr-Brown (17-9)
165: Ryan Harding (15-11)
174: Randy Roden (10-11)
184: Diego Bencomo (1-1)
197: Brian Self (4-8)
285: Andrew Fulk (3-5)

North Carolina Tar Heels (2-9, 1-0 ACC)
125: Brian Bokoski (15-12)
133: Brock LiVorio (6-12)
141: No. 18 Evan Henderson (21-6)
149: Jon Burns (9-11) or Nick Heilmann (2-5)
157: No. 19 Corey Mock (20-8)
165: Kyle Kiss (13-7
174: Alex Utley (10-11)
184: Thomas Ferguson (13-9)
197: Zac Bennett (4-4)
285: Frank Abbondanza (2-12)

individual rankings according to InterMat