Moore Crowned Champion as No. 20 Cavaliers Take Sixth at Southern Scuffle

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Jan. 2, 2013

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Highlighted by an individual championship at 157 pounds from Jedd Moore (R-Sr., Mount Vernon, Ohio), the No. 20 Virginia wrestling team took sixth place at the Southern Scuffle, held at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Cavaliers finished with 109.5 points; top-ranked Penn State finished atop the 24-team field with 178.5 points, followed by No. 2 Oklahoma State (158), No. 6 Missouri (147.5), No. 3 Minnesota (139.5) and No. 8 Cornell (136).

Ranked No. 16 nationally at 157 pounds, Moore is the second Cavalier to win a Southern Scuffle individual title in the event’s 10-year history. Scott Moore captured the 141-pound championship in 2003 in the tournament’s inaugural season. Jedd Moore went 5-0 as he reached the top of the podium.

Six Virginia wrestlers placed in the two-day tournament. Eighth-ranked Matt Snyder (R-Sr., Lewistown, Pa.) was the runner-up at 125 pounds and earned the tournament’s Gregorian Award after recording the most falls in the least amount of time (three falls in 6:25). No. 16 Jon Fausey (R-Jr., Dalmatia, Pa.) and No. 7 Nick Sulzer (R-So., Cleveland, Ohio) took fourth place at 174 and 165 pounds, respectively, while No. 15 George DiCamillo (Fr., Highland Heights, Ohio) and Zach Watson (Fr., Chattanooga, Tenn.) placed fifth and sixth, respectively at 133.

“We come to this tournament for the competition – it is, in my opinion, the best tournament in the country,” Virginia head coach Steve Garland said. “To finish this tournament like we did, I am happy. I continue to be blown away by Jedd Moore. He’s just a stud. And Matt Snyder wrestled as well as I have ever seen him. Nick Sulzer wrestled an NCAA champ and an NCAA finalist today as well, just part of the great competition we saw here.”

Moore (21-4) won a pair of tight matches Wednesday to claim the 157 championship. In the semifinals he topped Missouri’s Kyle Bradley, 2-0. After falling behind 1-0 in the second period of the championship match to Penn State’s James Vollrath, Moore earned an escape point in the third period before forcing a sudden-victory period, where he scored a takedown near the edge of the mat with 41 seconds remaining to clinch the title and a 3-1 win.

Snyder (8-3) fell 8-4 to second-ranked Nico Megaludis of Penn State in the 125 championship. He advanced to the finals after pinning Air Force’s Josh Martinez in just 1:40 in the semifinals; it was Snyder’s third straight pin in the tournament. He now has 30 career falls – third most in program history.

Fausey (20-4) reached the consolation finals before dropping a 10-3 decision to No. 3 Matt Brown of Penn State in the third-place bout. He went 3-1 Wednesday and 6-2 in the tournament; he opened the day Wednesday by downing The Citadel’s Turtogtokh Luvsandorj, 5-3, in the third tiebreaker period. He then racked up a pair of wins over ranked foes, beating No. 18 Cody Walters of Ohio, 4-1, and winning by medical forfeit over No. 14 Blake Stauffer of Arizona State.

Sulzer (13-5) wrestled three nationally ranked opponents Wednesday. He was pinned in the semifinals by three-time national champion Kyle Dake, the No. 1-ranked wrestler at 165 pounds this week. Sulzer bounced back to top No. 12 Zach Toal, 6-2, before succumbing to No. 3 Tyler Caldwell of Oklahoma State, 5-2, in the third-place match.

A pair of Cavalier freshmen, DiCamillo (19-5) and Watson (16-5), capped off strong tournaments by finishing fifth and sixth, respectively at 133 pounds. DiCamillo earned fifth after winning by forfeit in the fifth-place bout. He took fifth-ranked Chris Dardanes to sudden-victory time before falling, 3-1, in the semifinals, then was knocked to the fifth-place match with a 13-5 loss to Penn State’s James Gulibon.

After a third-round loss Tuesday, Watson battled back through the consolation bracket, winning a pair of matches Tuesday and again Wednesday before losing an 8-2 decision to No. 7 Nathan McCormick of Missouri. Competing unattached, Watson finished 6-2 in the tournament as he returned to his hometown.

Three Cavaliers finished competition Wednesday but did not place. Stephen Doty (R-Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) and Zach Nye (R-Fr., Enola, Pa.) each were eliminated Wednesday after dropping their first bouts of the day in the 184-pound wrestlebacks. Joseph Martinez (So., Platteville, Colo.) was knocked out in his first match at 133 pounds Wednesday against Army’s Jordan Thome.

Virginia returns to action Jan. 11-12 when it competes in the Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum. Brackets for the dual tournament will be announced early next week.

Southern Scuffle Team Scores
1. No. 1 Penn State, 178.5
2. No. 2 Oklahoma State, 158.0
3. No. 6 Missouri, 147.5
4. No. 3 Minnesota, 139.5
5. No. 8 Cornell, 136.0
6. No. 20 Virginia, 109.5
7. Ohio, 64.5
8. Air Force, 62.5
9. Arizona State, 58.0
10. Army, 48.0

Virginia Placewinners
125 – Matt Snyder, runner-up
133 – George DiCamillo, 5th
133 – Zach Watson (unattached), 6th
157 – Jedd Moore, champion
165 – Nick Sulzer, 4th
174 – Jon Fausey, 4th