Moore and Sulzer Clinch All-America Honors at NCAA Championships
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March 22, 2013
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DES MOINES, Iowa – Jedd Moore (R-Sr., Mount Vernon, Ohio) and Nick Sulzer (R-So., Cleveland, Ohio) clinched All-America honors Friday evening at the 2013 NCAA Championships at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. The duo helped vault the Cavaliers into 20th place in the team standings with 23.5 points heading into the final day of competition.
Moore and Sulzer became the 14th and 15th All-Americans in Virginia wrestling history. It marks the fifth time in program history that multiple wrestlers have earned All-America honors in the same year.
The All-America round will start at 11 a.m. ET Saturday and will be televised by ESPNU.
“I’m so proud of our guys. This is an unbelievably well-deserved honor for Jedd and Nick,” Virginia head coach Steve Garland said. “They have worked so hard for it. Words can’t express how happy and excited I am for them. We are looking forward to watching them wrestle in the All-American round tomorrow morning.”
The No. 12 seed at 157 pounds, Moore earned All-America honors with a clutch day, including a pair of late wins. After falling to Northern Iowa’s David Bonin, 3-0, in the quarterfinals, Moore bounced back with a pair of wins over seeded foes. He first knocked off No. 5 seed Jesse Dong of Virginia Tech, 7-3, in sudden-victory time before pinning No. 4 seed James Green of Nebraska in the third period.
Moore advances to wrestle sixth-seeded Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State on Saturday morning.
After going 0-5 previously against Dong, Moore grinded through a tight match before winning in sudden-victory time, 7-3. The two were tied 3-3 after three periods, and in the overtime, Moore quickly went in for a double-leg to throw Dong to his back for the takedown as well as a pair of back points. He followed it up by breaking a 3-3 match by pinning Green with 45 seconds remaining in the third period; it was Moore’s second win over Green this season and just Green’s seventh loss of the year.
Seeded eighth at 165 pounds, Sulzer fell to top-seeded Kyle Dake of Cornell, 13-0, in the 165-pound quarterfinals, but rebounded to top sixth-seeded Patrick Graham of Oklahoma, 3-2, in the round of 12 to earn All-America status. He dropped a 4-2 decision to Iowa State’s Michael Moreno in his first All-America round bout and now will wrestle Cody Yohn of Minnesota in the seventh-place bout.
Sulzer scored the match’s lone offensive points against Graham in the second period to take a 2-1 lead. Graham later escaped, but Sulzer scored an escape point to start the third period and then defended well to hold off a hard-charging Graham in the waning seconds in the final period.
No. 8 seed Matt Snyder (R-Sr., Lewistown, Pa.) saw his career come to an end in a 16-5 major decision to Virginia Tech’s Jarrod Garnett in the round of 12 at 125 pounds. Snyder finishes ninth in career wins at Virginia with 98. Earlier in the day, Snyder dropped a 4-0 decision to top-seeded Alan Waters of Missouri to fall into the consolation bracket.
No. 11 seed George DiCamillo (Fr., Highland Heights, Ohio) also reached the round of 12 before falling, 10-2, to seventh-seeded Jonathon Morrison of Oklahoma State. DiCamillo won twice earlier in the day to move one win away from All-America status. He first topped Rutgers’ Vincent Dellafave, 4-1, and then avenged a regular-season loss to Maryland’s Geoffrey Alexander by dominating Alexander in a 7-2 victory. After going 3-2 at NCAAs, DiCamillo finishes his rookie season with a Virginia freshman-record 33 victories.
2011 All-American Derek Valenti (R-Sr., Newton, N.J.), Jon Fausey (R-Jr., Dalmatia, Pa.),Stephen Doty (R-Jr., St. Louis, Mo.), Mike Salopek (R-Sr., North Huntingdon, Pa.) all were eliminated during the first session Friday.
Valenti wrapped up his career with 95 wins, which ranks 10th in UVa history. He dropped a 10-5 decision to Utah Valley’s Josh Wilson in the 149 wrestlebacks.
Fausey fell for the third time this year to Missouri’s Todd Porter in the 174 wrestlebacks. He lost an 8-7 bout and finished his year with a 30-10 record.
Doty took eighth-seeded Josh Ihnen of Nebraska down to the wire before giving up a takedown in the final seconds to fall, 7-5. Doty went 2-2 at the championships and finished 19-12 this year.
Salopek wrapped up his Virginia career Friday. He was pinned by Ohio University’s Phil Wellington in the 197 wrestlebacks. The match was tied until Wellington put Salopek on his back late in the third period and pinned him with 33 seconds remaining. Salopek finishes the season with a 14-7 record.
Team Scores – top 20 (following Session IV)
1. Penn State, 114.5
2. Oklahoma State, 94
3. Minnesota, 86
4. Iowa, 68
5. Cornell, 51
6. Missouri, 47.5
7. Ohio State, 46
8. Iowa State, 41
8. Oregon State, 41
10. Virginia Tech, 40
11. Illinois, 39.5
12. Edinboro, 34
13. Oklahoma, 33.5
14. Northwestern, 32.5
15. Nebraska, 31.5
16. Boise State, 29
17. Central Michigan, 27
17. Pittsburgh, 27
19. Northern Iowa, 26.5
20. Virginia, 23.5