No. 19 Cavaliers Compete in Virginia Duals Beginning Friday

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Jan. 10, 2013

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 19th-ranked Virginia wrestling team (6-2) will compete in the 2013 Virginia Duals Tournament Friday and Saturday at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va. The Cavaliers are the No. 4 seed in the 16-team field and will open at 9 a.m. Friday against Bucknell.

Virginia’s second-round opponent will be either fifth-seeded Boise State or Buffalo. That match will be contested at 1 p.m. Friday.

Live Coverage
Results will be available throughout the tournament via TrackWrestling; a link to the updated results will be available on VirginiaSports.com.

The Field
The tournament features five teams ranked in the latest USA Today/NWCA/AWN Division I Coaches Poll: Central Michigan (9), Virginia Tech (10), Edinboro (16), Virginia (18) and Old Dominion (25). Boise State is receiving votes in the poll.

Virginia Duals Schedule
Friday, Jan. 11
First Round – 9 and 11 a.m.
Quarterfinals/Consolation First Round – 1 and 3 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 12
Consolation Quarterfinals – 10 a.m.
Semifinals – 2 p.m.
Consolation Semifinals – 4 p.m.
Fifth/Seventh Place Matches – 6 p.m.
Championship/Third-Place Matches – 8:30 p.m.

Cavalier Tidbits
• Coming off his Southern Scuffle title, Jedd Moore (157) has won 11-consecutive matches.
• Virginia already boasts a pair of 20-win wrestlers in Moore (21) and Jon Fausey (20); competing unattached this season, Gus Sako owns 22 victories.
• Virginia will compete only in dual matches the rest of the regular season; after this weekend, UVa has nine dual meets remaining before the ACC Championships on March 9.
• Matt Snyder and Derek Valenti each are approaching the top 10 in career wins at Virginia. With 85 career wins, Snyder is tied with Derek Capanna (1985-89) for 15th in career victories at UVa and needs six wins to reach the top 10. Valenti is one win behind with 84.
• Snyder also owns 30 career falls, which is third in program history; he needs five to pass Scott Moore (2003-04) on the ledger.

UVa at the Virginia Duals
After a one-year hiatus, Virginia returns to the Virginia Duals field this season. The Cavaliers are making their 18th appearance in the field – fourth most in the tournament’s 32-year history.

UVa placed sixth in 2011 in its last appearance at the duals, marking the program’s best finish ever at the tournament.

Last Time Out: UVa Takes Sixth at Southern Scuffle
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 Jan. 2 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Cavaliers finished with 109.5 points in the tough field.

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.

Cavaliers in the Rankings
Eight Cavaliers are ranked in at least one of the national polls this week:

125: Matt Snyder: 7 (InterMat), 6 (AWN)
133: George DiCamillo: 13 (InterMat), 11 (AWN)
141: Matt Nelson: 19 (AWN)
149: Derek Valenti: 16 (InterMat), 14 (AWN)
157: Jedd Moore: 13 (InterMat), 8 (AWN)
165: Nick Sulzer: 7 (InterMat), 7 (AWN)
174: Jon Fausey: 15 (InterMat), 16 (AWN)
197: Mike Salopek: 20 (AWN)

Noting Bucknell
Bucknell owns a 2-5 dual record this year and has faced three ranked opponents in its last four duals. The Bison have lost their last four duals, with all four coming against stiff competition – No. 5 Iowa, No. 2 Oklahoma State, Michigan State and No. 9 Central Michigan.

Corey Lear, ranked ninth nationally at 165 by InterMat, leads Bucknell with a 16-3 record on the year, including wins in 11 straight bouts.

Virginia owns a 6-2 edge in its all-time series with Bucknell; the programs last wrestled in 2009 with UVa earning a 20-13 victory over the Bison in the ACC Challenge.

Cavaliers All-Time Against the Field (last meeting in parentheses)
Arizona State: 1-1 (2011, W 29-18)
Army: 2-2 (1997, W 28-11)
Binghamton: 2-1 (2001, W 26-13)
Boise State: 0-0
Bucknell: 6-2 (2009, W 20-13)
Buffalo: 0-1 (2011, L 24-12)
Central Michigan: 0-2 (2009, L 25-12)
The Citadel: 2-5 (2010, W 32-6)
Edinboro: 2-3-1 (2011, W 21-15)
Kent State: 1-5 (2010, W 18-13)
North Dakota State: 1-1 (2006, W 22-12)
Old Dominion: 24-14 (2012, W 31-3)
Rider: 1-3 (2010, W 38-0)
VMI: 26-24 (2011, W 41-3)
Virginia Tech: 32-40-1 (2012, L 25-6)

Up Next
Virginia returns to ACC action next weekend, traveling to North Carolina on Jan. 18 before coming home to take on Duke on Jan. 20 at Memorial Gymnasium.

Probable Virginia Lineup at Virginia Duals
125: No. 7 Matt Snyder (8-3) or Nick Herrmann (8-4)
133: No. 13 George DiCamillo (19-5)
141: Jimmy Nehls (8-4) or Justin Van Hoose (5-8)
149: No. 16 Derek Valenti (8-3)
157: No. 13 Jedd Moore (21-4) or Blaise Butler (12-4)
165: No. 7 Nick Sulzer (14-5)
174: No. 15 Jon Fausey (20-4) or Dusty Floyd (5-8)
184: Stephen Doty (6-6) or Zach Nye (6-5)
197: Cameron King (0-5)
285: Patrick Gillen (2-3) or Derek Papagianopoulos (1-4)