Mueller Wins Southern Scuffle Title To Lead Virginia
Jan. 2, 2018
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Sophomore Jack Mueller (Dallas, Texas) claimed the Southern Scuffle title at 133 pounds on Tuesday to lead Virginia in the first competition of the new year. He was one of three place-winners for the Cavaliers on the day.
In addition to Mueller’s championship at 133 pounds, redshirt freshman Louie Hayes (Orland Park, Ill.) took third at 125 pounds and redshirt sophomore Sam Krivus (Greensburg, Pa.) took fourth at 149 pounds. The trio were part of five wrestlers who advanced to day two of the event hosted by Chattanooga. Redshirt freshman Jay Aiello (Chantilly, Va.) and freshman Brian Courtney (Sayre, Pa.) also competed on Tuesday.
Virginia finished seventh in the overall team standings with 71 points. Penn State won the Southern Scuffle with 197 points, while Northern Iowa (127), Lehigh (102), Navy (87) and Duke (80) finished in the top five.
Fourth-ranked Mueller claimed the title at 133 pounds after picking up a victory over No. 6 Austin DeSanto after the wrestler from Drexel had to default due to an injury sustained during the match. It was the third meeting of the year between Mueller and DeSanto who wrestled twice at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Mueller picked up wins over DeSanto in both of those meetings, picking up 4-0 and 7-0 decisions in the previous two meetings.
The Cavalier sophomore then defeated Oklahoma State’s Gary Wayne Harding with a 9-0 major decision in the finals of the Southern Scuffle on Tuesday night.
Hayes finished third at 125 pounds, battling back through the wrestlebacks after dropping a major decision to No. 4 Darian Cruz of Lehigh in his opening bout on Tuesday. Cruz is the defending NCAA Champion at 125 pounds. Hayes then rebounded with technical fall wins over Anthony DeCesare of Air Force and Korbin Meink of Campbell to take the third-place finish.
Krivus finished fourth at 149 pounds after falling to the nation’s top-ranked wrestler from Penn State, Zain Retherford, in his first match of the day. Retherford is the two-time defending NCAA Champion at 149 pounds. Krivus then rebounded with a win over second-seeded Max Thomsen of Northern Iowa before dropping a 5-2 decision in the third-place match to Jared Prince of Navy.
Virginia will return to action on Friday, January 12, when the Cavaliers compete in the Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va.
Day Two Matches
125:
No. 16 Louie Hayes – 3rd Place Finish
No. 4 Darian Cruz (Lehigh) major dec. Hayes, 11-0
Hayes tech fall Anthony DeCesare (Air Force), 20-5 (7:00)
Hayes tech fall Korbin Meink (Campbell), 19-4 (7:00)
133:
No. 4 Jack Mueller – 1st Place Finish
Mueller over No. 6 Austin DeSanto (Drexel) by injury default
Mueller major dec. Gary Wayne Harding (Oklahoma State), 9-0
141:
Brian Courtney
Nic Gil (Navy) dec. Courtney, 8-4
149:
No. 19 Sam Krivus – 4th Place Finish
No. 1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) pinned Krivus, 1:53
Krivus dec. Max Thomsen (N. Iowa), 3-2
Jared Prince (Navy) dec. Krivus, 5-2
197:
Jay Aiello
Luke Farinaro (Duke) dec. Aiello, 11-4