No. 13 Virginia Begins 2014-15 Season Sunday

Story Links

Oct. 31, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 13 Virginia wrestling team opens the 2014-15 season this weekend. Senior Nick Sulzer (Cleveland, Ohio) wrestles in the NWCA All-Star Classic on Saturday night at The Palestra in Philadelphia, and the team begins dual competition Sunday with a quad meet at Memorial Gymnasium. The Cavaliers will face Anderson (S.C.) at 10 a.m., VMI at noon and George Mason at 2 p.m.

Admission/Parking
Admission is free. Fans can park free of charge in the Culbreth Road Garage.

NWCA All-Star Classic
The prestigious event features many of the nation’s top Division I wrestlers who will participate in a dual meet format, with one match per weight class. The main event is slated to start at 7:30 p.m.

Ranked No. 2 nationally at 165 pounds, Sulzer will wrestle top-ranked Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State. Dieringer won the NCAA championship at 157 pounds last season, while Sulzer took fourth place at 165 last year at NCAAs.

Sulzer is the fourth Virginia wrestler to compete in the event and the first since Chris Henrich in 2009.

The event will be streamed live on Flowrestling.org and requires a FloPro subscription ($20/month). Television coverage will be provided by FOX College Sports on a tape-delayed basic at a later date.

Who’s Back?
Virginia returns eight starters, including seven NCAA qualifiers and highlighted by Sulzer, a two-time All-American. Among the returning NCAA qualifiers is George DiCamillo (R-So., Highland Heights, Ohio), the 2013 ACC Freshman of the Year and a 2013 NCAA qualifier, who redshirted the 2013-14 season.

Nick Herrmann (Jr., Amarillo, Texas), Joe Spisak (R-Sr., Boiling Springs, Pa.), Gus Sako (R-Sr., Cleveland, Ohio), Blaise Butler (R-Jr., Belvidere, Ill.) and Zach Nye (R-Jr., Enola, Pa.) return at 125, 141, 149, 174 and 197, respectively. Butler was the 2014 ACC champion and an NCAA qualifier at 157, and is moving up two weight classes this year.

Virginia went 18-3 in its 2013-14 dual season before taking third place last year at the ACC Championships and 23rd at the NCAA Championships.

In the Rankings
Six Cavaliers are listed in the preseason InterMat rankings:
George DiCamillo (10th at 133)
Joe Spisak (14th at 141)
Gus Sako (10th at 149)
Nick Sulzer (second at 165)
Blaise Butler (12th at 174)
Zach Nye (14th at 184)

Up Next
UVa travels to Blacksburg for the Hokie Open next Sunday (Nov. 9). UVa then returns home for duals on Nov. 15 and 24. The Cavaliers take on No. 22 North Dakota State and Gardner-Webb on Nov. 15 before entertaining No. 2 Ohio State on Nov. 24 at John Paul Jones Arena.

SUNDAY SCHEDULE
10 a.m. – Virginia vs. Anderson; George Mason vs. VMI
Noon – Virginia vs. VMI; George Mason vs. Anderson
2 p.m. – Virginia vs. George Mason; Anderson vs. VMI

SUNDAY PROBABLES (Rankings according to InterMat)
Virginia
125: Will Mason or Alex Uhre
133: No. 10 George DiCamillo or Joseph Martinez
141: No. 14 Joe Spisak or Zach Watson
149: TJ Miller or Chris Yankowich
157: Andrew Atkinson or Dustin Roemer
165: No. 2 Nick Sulzer or M.J. Roberson
174: No. 12 Blaise Butler or Greg Bacci
184: Billy Coggins or James Suvak
197: No. 14 Zach Nye or Patrick Gillen
285: Collin Campbell, Derek Papagianopoulos or Ethan Hayes

Anderson
125: Dylan Crossland
133: Zak Hale
141: Conor Caffrey
149: Dan Telhada
157: Sean Turner
165: Zane Newton
174: Trevontay Rhodes
184: Stephen Washington
197: Fletcher Smith
285: Wyatt McCrackin

George Mason
125: Ibrahim Bunduka
133: Vince Rodriguez and Anthony Calvano
141: Sahid Kargbo and Zach Isenhour
149: Ryan Hunsberger, Konbeh Karoma or Luke Ludke
157: Greg Flournoy
165: Patrick Davis
174: Ryan Forrest and Alex Thomas
184: Derek Dwyer and Andrew Thomas
197: Matt Meadows
285: Jake Kettler

VMI
125: Dalton Henderson
133: Hunter Starner
141: Emmitt Kelly
149: Jed Harris
157: BJ Crozier
165: Shabaka Johns
174: Mark Darr or Derek Thurman
184: Jake Koch
197: Jake Tomlinson or Taylor Thomas
285: Juan Adams