No. 11 Cavaliers Win Eight of 10 Bouts, Top NC State, 32-7

Story Links

Jan. 27, 2013

Twitter | Facebook | Photo Gallery

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 11th-ranked Virginia wrestling team captured eight of 10 bouts in a 32-7 ACC victory over North Carolina State Sunday afternoon in front of a packed house at Memorial Gymnasium. The Cavaliers (12-3, 3-1 ACC) won by bonus points at four weight classes, including wins by Joe Spisak (R-So., Boiling Springs, Pa.) and Mike Salopek (R-Sr., North Huntingdon, Pa.) in their return to the starting lineup.

“I’m really proud of the way our guys competed, more than anything,” Virginia head coach Steve Garland said. “I’m really excited for Joe Spisak. He’s been injured and was able to get back today. His pin set the roof off this place. The crowd was fantastic today. That’s about as packed as I’ve seen it in here. That was the momentum for the rest of the dual and we didn’t look back from there.”

Spisak quickly pinned Tyler Hunt at 141 pounds, while Salopek earned a technical fall over William Cook at 197 in his first bout in nearly a month. Stephen Doty (R-Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) also picked up a technical fall at 184, while seventh-ranked Nick Sulzer (R-So., Cleveland, Ohio) scored a major decision over Nijel Jones at 165.

Virginia won the first two bouts by convincing decisions, as ninth-ranked Matt Snyder (R-Sr., Lewistown, Pa.) downed Jay DeAngelo, 6-0, at 125 pounds and 13th-ranked George DiCamillo (Fr., Highland Heights, Ohio) cruised past Sam Speno, 6-1, at 133.

Snyder dominated from the top in building up 5:19 in riding time as he won his 90th career match. He became the 13th Cavalier all-time to reach the 90-win plateau. DiCamillo racked up 2:49 in riding time in his triumph.

Virginia doubled its lead to 12-0 in quick fashion at 141 pounds as Spisak promptly put Tyler Hunt on his back for a fall just 38 seconds into the first period. Spisak is now 6-0 since returning last week from an injury; he went 5-0 in winning the 141 title at the Shorty Hitchcock Classic last week.

No. 19 Derek Valenti (R-Sr., Newton, N.J.) held off a late charge from Thomas Gantt to win 7-6 at 149. Valenti built a 5-1 lead and well over two minutes of riding time through two periods, but Gantt reversed him early in the third to get the momentum. Valenti escaped, but his third stall warning led to a penalty point. After a restart following Valenti’s injury time, Gantt escaped to cut the lead to 6-5. Another Valenti stall warning just before the final horn gave Gantt another penalty point, but Valenti earned the riding time point to win, 7-6.

NC State (3-3, 0-2) earned its first win at 157 as Matt Nereim scored a takedown with six seconds remaining in the third period to top UVa’s Blaise Butler, 8-7. Butler had taken a 7-6 lead midway through the final stanza on a penalty point after Nereim was called for his second stall warning, but Nereim went in for a shot with 15 seconds left and finished off the takedown just a few seconds later.

Ranked seventh nationally this week by InterMat, Sulzer dominated at 165 in a 12-3 major decision over Nijel Jones, who is ranked No. 20 nationally this week by Amateur Wrestling News. He scored three takedowns in the first period and built his lead the rest of the way, adding a takedown with 57 seconds left in the third to seal the major decision.

NC State’s Patrick Davis cut UVa’s lead to 19-7 with a 15-4 major decision over Dusty Floyd (Fr., Alexandria, Va.) at 174. Davis quickly took Floyd down in the first period and went on to build 4:57 in riding time.

Doty scored back points on four occasions as he rolled to a 16-0 technical fall over Keegan Cerwinski at 184. After taking Cerwinski down 22 seconds into the match, Doty added a pair of three-point near falls in the first period. He twice picked up three back points in the second and then reversed Cerwinski 21 seconds into the third to finish off the tech fall.

In his first action since Jan. 1 at the Southern Scuffle, Salopek won a chippy bout against Cook, 17-2. Salopek twice scored penalty points in the first period when Cook was dinged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Salopek added a takedown with 53 seconds left, then rode Cook the remainder of the period. Salopek dominated the second period, escaping quickly and then taking Cook down before twice putting him on his back for three back points. He clinched the tech fall in the third with the riding time point.

Derek Papagianopoulos (R-So., Burlington, Mass.) won at heavyweight, 7-4, over Mike Kosoy. Papagianopoulos took Kosoy down midway through the second period. Kosoy picked up a pair of escape points to knot the score, but Papagianopoulos took him down once again with 19 seconds left in the second period. He then reversed Kosoy early in the third and rode him until the final seconds when Kosey reversed him. Papagianopoulos built up 2:21 in riding time to gain the bonus point.

Virginia concludes ACC dual action at 7 p.m. Friday at Maryland. The Cavaliers return home the following weekend for their final home duals of the season – Feb. 9 against Appalachian State and Feb. 10 versus Old Dominion.

No. 11 Virginia 32, NC State 7
125: No. 9 Matt Snyder (UVa) dec. Joe DeAngelo (NCSU) 6-0; UVa 3-0
133: No. 13 George DiCamillo (UVa) dec. Sam Speno (NCSU) 6-1; UVa 6-0
141: Joe Spisak (UVa) pinned Tyler Hunt (NCSU), :38; UVa 12-0
149: No. 19 Derek Valenti (UVa) dec. Thomas Gantt (NCSU) 7-6; UVa 15-0
157: Matt Nereim (NCSU) dec. Blaise Butler (UVa) 8-7; UVa 15-3
165: No. 7 Nick Sulzer (UVa) major dec. Nijel Jones (NCSU) 12-3; UVa 19-3
174: Patrick Davis (NCSU) major dec. Dusty Floyd (UVa) 15-4; UVa 19-7
184: Stephen Doty (UVa) tech fall Keegan Cerwinski (NCSU) 16-0 (5:21); UVa 24-7
197: Mike Salopek (UVa) tech fall William Cook (NCSU) 17-2 (7:00); UVa 29-7
285: Derek Papagianopoulos (UVa) dec. Mike Kosoy (NCSU) 7-4; UVa 32-7