No. 17 Cavaliers Visit No. 12 Virginia Tech for Sunday Dual
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Nov. 24, 2012
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 17th-ranked Virginia wrestling team begins ACC competition at noon Sunday when it takes the mat against 12th-ranked Virginia Tech at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg. Links to live statistics and pay-per-view video are available at VirginiaSports.com. Live updates also will be available via the UVa Wrestling Twitter account (@UVAWrestling).
Virginia (6-1) continues an extremely challenging portion of its early schedule. The Cavaliers dropped their first dual of the year last Friday (Nov. 16), 26-12, to No. 4 Iowa in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The UVa-VT match includes 11 wrestlers ranked in the top 20 by InterMat (eight in the top 10), including top-20 showdowns at 125, 149 and 165 pounds. At 125 pounds fifth-ranked Matt Snyder (R-Sr., Lewistown, Pa.) of UVa renews acquaintances with eighth-ranked Jarrod Garnett, who redshirted last season. Garnett has won all three of the wrestlers’ previous meetings, with two in the 2010-11 season going to sudden victory time.
No. 9 Derek Valenti (R-Sr., Newton, N.J.) wrestles No. 12 Nick Brascetta at 149 pounds. The two have squared off once previously, with Brascetta scoring a 3-2 decision in the NC State Open championship bout last year.
No. 8 Nick Sulzer (R-So., Cleveland, Ohio) faces No. 5 Pete Yates at 165 pounds. Yates won both meetings by decision last year. Sulzer and Yates each competed at the NCAA Championships last season, with Yates earning All-America honors.
Reigning ACC Wrestler of the Week Jon Fausey (R-Jr., Dalmatia, Pa.) is slated to wrestle Austin Gabel of Virginia Tech at 174; Gabel took third-ranked Nick Heflin of Ohio State to a tiebreaker last weekend before falling, 2-1. Fausey pinned then-No. 8 Grant Gambrall of Iowa in the second overtime period last week.
UVa also boasts newly-ranked George DiCamillo (Fr., Highland Heights, Ohio) at 133 pounds. He moved into the InterMat rankings at No. 19 this week and owns a 9-1 record this year. DiCamillo is scheduled to wrestle Erik Spjut of Virginia Tech.
The Hokies are 2-1 this year, falling to No. 5 Ohio State last Friday before rebounding to beat No. 25 Wisconsin and Manchester on Sunday. All three matches were in Blacksburg. In addition to the aforementioned ranked wrestlers, Virginia Tech also boasts ranked wrestlers at 141 (No. 7 Zach Neibert), 157 (No. 7 Jesse Dong) and heavyweight (No. 19 David Marone).
Virginia Tech has won the last six duals against the Cavaliers, although each was determined by single digits, including an 18-13 Hokie win last season in Charlottesville. Virginia Tech owns a 39-32-1 edge in the all-time series with UVa. The Wahoos’ last dual win against the Hokies came in 2007 in Blacksburg (25-9).
UVa travels to Las Vegas next weekend (Nov. 30-Dec. 1) for one of the nation’s preeminent wrestling tournaments, the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Probable Starters
No. 17 Virginia (6-1)
125: No. 5 Matt Snyder (4-1)
133: No. 19 George DiCamillo (9-1)
141: Joe Spisak (4-1)
149: No. 9 Derek Valenti (6-0)
157: Jedd Moore (5-1)
165: No. 8 Nick Sulzer (4-1)
174: No. 8 Jon Fausey (5-0)
184: Stephen Doty (4-1)
197: Mike Salopek (4-1)
285: Derek Papagianopoulos (1-2)
No. 12 Virginia Tech (2-1)
125: No. 8 Jarrod Garnett (5-1)
133: Erik Spjut (5-2)
141: No. 7 Zach Neibert (5-2)
149: No. 12 Nick Brascetta (6-1)
157: No. 7 Jesse Dong (1-0)
165: No. 5 Pete Yates (7-0)
174: Austin Gabel (5-2)
184: Nick Vetterlein (5-3)
197: Derrick Borlie (5-2)
285: No. 19 David Marone (0-2)
**InterMat individual rankings