No. 11 Virginia Competes in NWCA National Duals Sunday
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Feb. 16, 2013
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 11th-ranked Virginia wrestling team competes in the Cornell Regional of the 2013 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Sunday at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y. The second-seeded Cavaliers will wrestle 13th-ranked and third-seeded Nebraska at 1 p.m. in the first round.
No. 10 Cornell (12-3) is the regional’s top seed and will face Hofstra (6-13) at 1 p.m. in the first round. The winners of the first-round bouts will square off at 3 p.m. Sunday, while the losing teams also will meet at 3 p.m. in a consolation match.
Links to live video broadcasts will be available at VirginiaSports.com; a subscription fee is required to view the broadcast. Live results also will be available on VirginiaSports.com.
The winners of each of the four regionals will advance to the championship final Feb. 22-23 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. They will join Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio State in the eight-team championship field.
Virginia (15-3) is competing in the NWCA National Duals for the first time. UVa has faced Nebraska (10-5) twice previously, with the Cornhuskers taking both bouts, including a 32-10 decision in 2004. UVa is 0-5 all-time against Cornell and 1-2 versus Hofstra.
The Cavaliers have won six straight duals entering action on Sunday. UVa picked up a pair of wins last weekend, downing Appalachian State (42-0) and Old Dominion (27-6). The Cavaliers did not surrender an offensive point in the Saturday win over the Mountaineers.
The trip to Cornell marks a homecoming of sorts for UVa head coach Steve Garland and assistant coach Jordan Leen. Garland was an assistant coach under Big Red head coach Rob Koll for six seasons from 2001-06. Leen wrestled at Cornell from 2005-09 and won the 2008 national championship at 157 pounds
Virginia boasts nine wrestlers in the second of three NCAA Coaches Panel Rankings. The coaches rankings, as well as the RPI, are two key factors in the NCAA selection process. UVa’s latest rankings:
Name (weight): Coaches/RPI
Matt Snyder (125): 9/6
George DiCamillo (133): 12/6
Joe Spisak (141): 18/11
Derek Valenti (149): 20/17
Jedd Moore (157): 13/11
Nick Sulzer (165): 7/13
Jon Fausey (174): 16/6
Stephen Doty (184): 27/28
Mike Salopek (197): 27/NR
The Cornell Regional field is formidable. UVa’s first opponent, Nebraska, has seven wrestlers in the latest NCAA Coaches Panel rankings, topped by No. 2 marks for Robert Kokesh (174) and Josh Ihnen (184). James Green is ranked No. 8 in the coaches rankings at 157. He has a rematch with Moore at 157; Moore upset Green at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Cornell also has seven ranked in the NCAA Coaches Panel rankings and eight in the RPI top 33. Three-time national champion Kyle Dake is undefeated this season at 165 pounds and is the top-ranked wrestler in the latest InterMat rankings. Steve Bosak is ranked fourth nationally at 184, while Nahshon Garnett is sixth at 125.
Hofstra boasts five wrestlers in the coaches rankings, highlighted by Luke Vaith at 141 pounds. Vaith is 18-10 this year and is ranked No. 10 in the coaches rankings.
The National Duals marks UVa’s final dual competition of the year. The Cavaliers will compete at the ACC Championships in College Park, Md., on March 9.
Virginia Probables
125: No. 10/10 Matt Snyder (15-6)
133: No. 13/12 George DiCamillo (27-7)
141: No. 20/18 Joe Spisak (19-3)
149: No. 20/16 Derek Valenti (15-6)
157: No. 15/8 Jedd Moore (28-5)
165: No. 7/7 Nick Sulzer (22-6)
174: No. 16/15 Jon Fausey (27-6)
184: Stephen Doty (14-8)
197: Mike Salopek (11-3)
285: Derek Papagianopoulos (7-4)
Nebraska Probables
125: Eric Coufal (2-13)
133: Shawn Nagel (15-12)
141: Ridge Kiley (13-8) or Skylar Galloway (7-5)
149: No. 10/9 Jake Sueflohn (18-4)
157: No. 6/5 James Green (16-3) or Brandon Wilbourn (16-3)
165: Austin Wilson (24-10) or Tyler Koehn (4-3)
174: No. 4/4 Robert Kokesh (27-2)
184: No. 8/7 Josh Ihnen (20-3)
197: Caleb Kolb (14-15)
285: Spencer Johnson (4-5)
Cornell Probables
125: No. 6/5 Nahshon Garrett (31-3)
133: Bricker Dixon (15-12)
141: No. 13/10 Mike Nevinger (28-9)
149: No. 14/NR Chris Villalonga (17-8)
157: Jesse Shanaman (8-5)
165: No. 1/1 Kyle Dake (24-0)
174: Marshall Peppelman (14-11) or Duke Pickett (18-14)
184: No. 4/4 Steve Bosak (13-2)
197: Jace Bennett (22-12)
285: Stryker Lane (15-9) or Jacob Aiken-Phillips (14-6)
Hofstra Probables
125: No. 17/20 Steve Bonanno (14-8)
133: Jamie Franco (13-12) or Joey Gosinski (3-6)
141: No. 17/15 Luke Vaith (18-10)
149: Cody Ruggirello (3-13) or Matt Spataro (9-14)
157: Tyler Banks (6-3) or Jay Lysne (5-12)
165: Nick Terdick (5-19)
174: Jermaine John (17-10)
184: Taras Luzhnyy (2-15)
197: Tim Murphy (5-15) or Victor Pozsonyi (1-12)
285: Zeal McGrew (15-6) or Jimmy Trull (9-10)
**InterMat/Amateur Wrestling News rankings