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No. 17 Virginia Splits with No. 4 Iowa, Cumberland
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Nov. 16, 2012
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 17 Virginia wrestling team went 1-1 Friday in a pair of duals, defeating Cumberland, 38-6, and falling to No. 4 Iowa, 26-12, at Maclellan Gym in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Virginia (6-1) won at three weight classes against Iowa, highlighted by a Jon Fausey (R-Jr., Dalmatia, Pa.) fall in double overtime at 174 pounds. Derek Valenti (R-Sr., Newton, N.J.) and Mike Salopek (R-Sr., North Huntingdon, Pa.) also won by decision at 149 and 197 pounds, respectively.
“That match was a dogfight from start to finish,” Virginia head coach Steve Garland said. “The score doesn’t indicate how close that dual was. More specifically we thought we should have had 165 and 184. We had takedowns we didn’t get in those two that would have won the matches for us. It’s a shame because our kids fought hard. I love this group!”
Ranked ninth nationally by InterMat, Fausey scored the big win of the day for Virginia with a pin of eighth-ranked Grant Gambrell in the second sudden death period (8:29 into match).
Ranked 10th nationally, Valenti topped Brody Grothus, 9-5, at 149 pounds, while Salopek outlasted the Hawkeyes’ Tomas Lira, 8-6, at 197.
The Hawkeyes took an early 3-0 lead when reigning national champion Matt McDonough pulled away in the final period to notch a 9-4 win over fifth-ranked Matt Snyder (R-Sr., Lewistown, Pa.) at 125 pounds. After falling behind early, Snyder pulled into a 4-4 tie with a cradle before McDonough took the lead back for good.
Iowa scored bonus points on major decisions at 133 and 141 to stretch its lead to 11-0. The Cavaliers got on the board with Valenti’s decision before top-ranked Derek St. John of Iowa bested Jedd Moore (R-Sr., Mount Vernon, Ohio), 6-0, at 157.
In another matchup of top-10 wrestlers, fourth-ranked Mike Evans of Iowa picked up a 7-4 decision over eighth-ranked Nick Sulzer (R-So., Cleveland, Ohio), pushing the Hawkeyes’ lead to 17-3. Fausey’s pin cut the lead to 17-9, but eighth-ranked Ethen Lofthouse scored a takedown with just under five seconds remaining to down Stephen Doty (R-Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) at 184.
Following the Salopek win at 197, UVa forfeited at heavyweight for the 26-12 final score.
Virginia started the day by capturing eight of the 10 weight classes in a 38-6 win over Cumberland, the No. 18-ranked team at the NAIA level. The Cavaliers racked up five bonus-point wins, highlighted by falls from Nick Herrmann (Fr., Amarillo, Texas), Valenti, Zach Nye (R-Fr., Enola, Pa.) and Salopek at 125, 149, 184 and 197, respectively. Moore also picked up a technical fall over Shane Brown at 157 pounds, winning 18-1 in just 3:49.
Following the Thanksgiving holiday, UVa returns to action Sunday, Nov. 25, when it opens ACC competition at No. 12 Virginia Tech.
No. 17 Virginia 38, Cumberland 6
125: Nick Herrmann (UVa) pinned Zach Shelton (Cumberland), 1:19 UVa 6-0
133: George DiCamillo (UVa) dec. Jake Williams (Cumberland), 11-4; UVa 9-0
141: Jimmy Nehls (UVa) dec. Jared McKinley (Cumberland), 4-3; UVa 12-0
149: No. 10 Derek Valenti (UVa) pinned Steven Sandefur (Cumberland), 1:16; UVa 18-0
157: Jedd Moore (UVa) tech fall Shane Brown (Cumberland), 18-1 (3:49); UVa 23-0
165: Kirk Johnson (Cumberland) dec. M.J. Roberson (UVa), 3-1; UVa 23-3
174: Zeke Hunt (Cumberland) dec. Dusty Floyd (UVa), 7-2; UVa 23-6
184: Zach Nye (UVa) pinned Cody Linton (Cumberland), 2:30; UVa 29-6
197: Mike Salopek (UVa) pinned Joe Gallegos (Cumberland), 1:48; UVa 35-6
285: Patrick Gillen (UVa) dec. Tyler Smith (Cumberland), 11-4; UVa 38-6
No. 4 Iowa 26, No. 17 Virginia 12
125: No.1 Matt McDonough (Iowa) dec. No. 5 Matt Snyder (UVa), 9-4; Iowa 3-0
133: No. 3 Tony Ramos (Iowa) major dec. George DiCamillo (UVa), 22-8; Iowa 7-0
141: No. 14 Mark Ballweg (Iowa) major dec. Joe Spisak (UVa), 14-3; Iowa 11-0
149: No. 10 Derek Valenti (UVa) dec. Brody Grothus (Iowa), 9-5; Iowa 11-3
157: No. 1 Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. Jedd Moore (UVa), 6-0; Iowa 14-3
165: No. 4 Mike Evans (Iowa) dec. No. 8 Nick Sulzer (UVa), 7-4; Iowa 17-3
174: No. 9 Jon Fausey (UVa) pinned No. 8 Grant Gambrell (Iowa), 8:29; Iowa 17-9
184: No. 8 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) dec. Stephen Doty (UVa), 3-1; Iowa 20-9
197: Mike Salopek (UVa) dec. Tomas Lira (Iowa), 8-6; Iowa 20-12
285: No. 6 Bobby Telford (Iowa) won by forfeit; Iowa 26-12
**Virginia/Iowa individual rankings according to InterMat