No. 12 Virginia Hosts UNC Friday, Travels to NC State Sunday

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Feb. 6, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 12th-ranked Virginia wrestling team competes in its final two ACC duals of the 2013-14 season this weekend, as it welcomes North Carolina to Memorial Gymnasium at 7 p.m. Friday, then travels to NC State for a 2 p.m. Sunday match at Reynolds Coliseum. Prior to the UNC dual, Virginia will honor seniors Stephen Doty (St. Louis, Mo.), Jon Fausey (Dalmatia, Pa.) and Tanner Hirstine (Greenwood Village, Colo.) in Senior Night ceremonies.

There is no admission charge for the Friday match, and parking is free of charge in the Culbreth Road Garage.

Live results will be available for both matches at VirginiaSports.com. A live webcast is available for the Sunday dual; a link to the pay-per-view broadcast will be located at VirginiaSports.com.

Virginia (15-3, 3-1 ACC) picked up a pair of home dual wins last weekend, downing Maryland, 16-15, on Friday and Bucknell, 29-12, on Sunday. Blaise Butler (R-So., Belvidere, Ill.), Nick Sulzer (R-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio) and Doty each swept through their two matches at 157, 165 and 174, respectively, for Virginia.

UVa and Maryland split their 10 bouts, but a bonus point on a major decision by Nick Sulzer (R-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio) at 165 pounds gave the Cavaliers the dual win. UVa then won seven of 10 bouts, with four resulting in bonus points, against Bucknell.

The Cavaliers already have racked up the fourth-most dual wins in a season in program history. With another victory, UVa will match the 2009-10 team, which won 16 dual matches. The program record is 19, set in 2010-11.

Six Cavaliers are ranked this week, as each of UVa’s wrestlers from 141 through 184 pounds earned a ranking from at least one of the national publications. Riding a 10-match win streak, Sulzer (27-1) is ranked No. 2 at 165 pounds. Since a 2-1 loss to Oklahoma State’s Tyler Caldwell at the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 2, Sulzer has won six matches by major decision, one by tech fall, two by decision and one on a medical forfeit.

Gus Sako (R-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio) is No. 12 at 149 in the Amateur Wrestling News rankings. Butler is ranked No. 15 at 157, while Doty and Joe Spisak (R-Jr., Boiling Springs, Pa.) are No. 16 at 174 and 141, respectively. Jon Fausey (R-Sr., Dalmatia, Pa.) earned a No. 19 ranking at 184 from InterMat.

North Carolina is 5-9 on the dual season, including an 0-3 ACC record. 2013 All-American Evan Henderson highlights the Tar Heels’ lineup; he is ranked fourth nationally at 141 pounds. Nathan Kraisser, the 2013 ACC Freshman of the Year and an NCAA qualifier, starts the UNC lineup at 125. North Carolina has a 42-30 edge in the series with Virginia, but the Cavaliers have won the last four duals.

NC State is vastly improved this season, with a 12-4 record in dual action, including a 1-2 mark in the conference. All-American Nick Gwiazdowski is ranked seventh nationally at heavyweight, highlighting three ranked Wolfpack wrestlers. Pete Randa stands No. 17 at 174 and Thomas Gantt is 19th at 157. The all-time series between UVa and NC State is tied, 33-33-1, with the Cavaliers taking each of the last six duals.

Virginia concludes its 2013-14 regular-season schedule on Sunday, Feb. 16, with a 2 p.m. dual at George Mason. UVa then shifts into postseason mode: the ACC Championships are March 8 in Blacksburg, while the NCAA Championships are March 20-22 in Oklahoma City.

Weekend Probables
Virginia (15-3, 3-1 ACC)
125: Nick Herrmann (13-7)
133: Joseph Martinez (11-12)
141: No. 16/19 Joe Spisak (16-10)
149: No. 12/14 Gus Sako (15-2)
157: No. 15/15 Blaise Butler (15-6)
165: No. 2/2 Nick Sulzer (27-1)
174: No. 16/11 Stephen Doty (22-7)
184: No. -/19 Jon Fausey (12-7) or James Suvak (10-8)
197: Zach Nye (15-8)
285: Ethan Hayes (13-13)

North Carolina (5-9, 0-3 ACC)
125: Nathan Kraisser (18-8)
133: Troy Heilmann (16-14)
141: No. 4/4 Evan Henderson (29-3)
149: Christian Barber (25-7)
157: Jake Crawford (11-16)
165: John Michael Staudenmeyer (9-9)
174: Scott Marmoll (13-17)
184: Alex Utley (18-10)
197: Frank Abbondanza (7-16)
285: Bob Coe (6-18)

NC State (12-4, 1-2 ACC)
125: Micah Perez (16-13) or Brendan Calas (7-5)
133: Chris Wilkes (14-9)
141: Sam Speno (19-6)
149: Brian Hamann (17-9) or Cohl Fulk (2-5)
157: No. 19/- Thomas Gantt (26-6)
165: Nijel Jones (10-5) or Max Rohskopf (0-1)
174: No. 17/19 Pete Renda (22-6)
184: Michael Macciavello (9-10)
197: KaRonne Jones (12-6)
285: No. 7/6 Nick Gwiazdowski (30-2)

Rankings: AWN/InterMat