Six Cavaliers Place At ACC Championships Saturday
March 4, 2017
RALEIGH, N.C. – The Virginia wrestling team had six wrestlers place at the ACC Championships on Saturday (March 4), highlighted by a second-place finish from redshirt senior George DiCamillo (Highland Heights, Ohio), while four wrestlers secured automatic NCAA bids. Virginia finished fourth overall in the final ACC Championship standings.
Redshirt junior Andrew Atkinson (Lynchburg, Va.), senior Ray Bethea (Trenton, N.J.), redshirt freshman Sam Krivus (Greensburg, Pa.), freshman Jack Mueller (Dallas, Texas), and redshirt sophomore Will Schany (Blair, Neb.) took third place, joining DiCamillo in ascending the podium.
By virtue of their finishes the Cavaliers secured four automatic berths in the NCAA Championships. Atkinson, DiCamillo, Krivus and Mueller all turned in finishes within the ACC’s allocated slots and will wrestle in the event at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis starting on March 16. The ACC only received automatic qualifying bids for the top two finishers at 165 pounds and 184 pounds.
Virginia now waits to see if any other wrestlers will receive at-large bids to the NCAA Championships.
The Cavaliers had a successful opening round of action with five wrestlers picking up victory. Combined with the byes from the three seeded wrestlers, Virginia advanced 8-of-10 to the semifinals of the ACC Championships.
The opening-round performances coupled with the wrestlebacks helped Virginia secure the fourth-place finish with 52.5 points. Pittsburgh slipped past the Cavaliers to finish third with 54 points with an ACC Champion at 165 pounds. Virginia Tech won the title with 93 points, while NC State finished second with 64 points.
“The day started out well with the opening rounds, but was a rollercoaster ride as the semifinal round didn’t go as well,” said Virginia head coach Steve Garland. “We regrouped and came together, and we really put together an impressive run over two rounds to put us back in third overall heading into the finals. That took a team effort. It took character and heart; this team has a lot of both. This is a great group. We need to keep getting better and I believe we will.”
DiCamillo received a bye in the opening round of action as the No. 2 seed in at 141 pounds. He then picked up a major decision over North Carolina’s Joey Ward to advance to the finals.
At 125 pounds, Mueller also received a bye as the No. 2 seeded wrestler. The freshman fell to ACC runner-up Sean Fausz of NC State before fighting back through the wrestlebacks to secure a third-place finish. Mueller defeated Thayer Atkins of Duke before posting a tech fall of Pitt’s L.J. Bentley in the consolation finals to seal his automatic NCAA bid.
At 149 pounds, Krivus advanced to the semifinals with a major decision over Pitt’s Robert Lee before falling to eventual ACC champion Solomon Chishko in the semifinals. Krivus then fought back through the consolation rounds, posting a major decision over Duke’s Xaviel Ramos and defeating second-seeded Sam Speno of NC State to lock up his automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and the third-place finish.
Atkinson secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a third-place finish at 157 pounds. The redshirt junior posted a major decision over Duke’s Jake Faust before Sal Mastriani took a slim 3-1 decision over Atkinson in the semifinals. In wrestlebacks, Atkinson then posted a tech fall of AJ Rechenmacher and winning by injury default over Faust in the consolation finals.
At 165 pounds, Bethea became the fourth wrestler for the Cavaliers to lock up a third-place finish. He opened the tournament with a decision over Virginia Tech’s David Bergida before falling to top-seeded Te’Shan Campbell of Pitt by major decision in the semifinals. Bethea then worked his way through the wrestlebacks with a pin of Joey Abbate from Duke and a decision over Devin Kane from North Carolina.
Schany closed out the wrestlers to take the podium for the Cavaliers, grabbing third-place at 184 pounds. The redshirt sophomore opened the day with a decision over Pitt’s Zach Bruce before falling to top-seeded Michael Macchiavello of NC State in the semifinals. Schany then grabbed decisions over Elijah Kerr-Brown of North Carolina and Alec Schenk of Duke to take third-place.
ACC Championships Final Standings
1. Virginia Tech 93
2. NC State 64
3. Pittsburgh 54
4. Virginia 52.5
5. North Carolina 44
6. Duke 24.5
125 – Jack Mueller:
Bye
Sean Fausz dec. Mueller, 12-5
Mueller dec. Thayer Atkins (Duke), 6-0
Mueller tech fall L.J. Bentley (Pitt), 17-0
Mueller takes third-place
*NCAA automatic qualifier
133 – Will Mason:
Bye
Jamal Morris (NCSU) dec. Mason, 3-1
Mason dec. Cole Baumgartner (Duke), 4-3
Dennis Gustafson (VT) dec. Mason, 16-7
141 – George DiCamillo:
Bye
George DiCamillo major dec., Joey Ward (UNC), 12-2
Kevin Jack (NCSU) dec. DiCamillo, 10-4
DiCamillo takes second-place
*NCAA automatic qualifier
149 – Sam Krivus:
Sam Krivus major dec., Robert Lee (Pitt), 11-1
Solomon Chishko dec., Krivus, 3-1
Krivus major dec. Xaviel Ramos (Duke), 18-7
Krivus dec. Sam Speno (NCSU), 6-3
Krivus takes third-place
*NCAA automatic qualifier
157 – Andrew Atkinson:
Atkinson major dec. Jake Faust (Duke), 11-2
Sal Mastriani (VT) dec. Atkinson, 11-5
Atkinson tech fall AJ Rechenmacher (UNC), 18-0
Atkinson over Jake Faust (Duke), inj. default
Atkinson takes third-place
*NCAA automatic qualifier
165 – Ray Bethea:
Bethea dec. David Bergida (VT), 3-2
Te’Shan Campbell (Pitt) major dec. Bethea, 12-4
Bethea fall Joey Abbate (Duke), 6:10
Bethea dec. Devin Kane (UNC), 7-6
Bethea takes third-place
174 – Tyler Askey:
Nick Reenan (NCSU) dec. Tyler Askey, 11-5
Connor Bass (Duke) dec. Askey, 9-4
184 – Will Schany:
Will Schany dec., Zach Bruce (Pitt), 7-4
Michael Macchiavello fall Will Schany, 6:45
Schany dec. Kerr-Brown (UNC), 6-3
Schany dec. Alec Schenk (Duke), 5-3
Schany takes third-place
197 – Chance McClure:
Chance McClure dec. John Rizzo (Pitt), 5-3
Jared Haught (VT) tech fall Chance McClure, 22-6
McClure dec. Luke Fairnaro (Duke), 5-2
McDonald (NCSU) dec. McClure, 4-0
285 – Tyler Love:
Ryan Solomon (Pitt) tech fall Tyler Love, 17-1
Cory Daniel (UNC) dec. Love, 1-0
Mike Kosoy (NCSU) dec. Love, 6-3