Five Cavaliers Place At National Collegiate Open Sunday
Feb. 25, 2018
DOVER, Del. – Brian Courtney (Sayre, Pa.) won the championship at 141 pounds on Sunday, leading a group of five freshmen to post podium finishes for Virginia at the National Collegiate Open.
Quinn Miller (Lilburn, Ga.), Michael Battista (Ashburn, Va.), Jake Keating (Naperville, Ill.) and Sam Book (Fairfax, Va.) each placed in the event to give the Cavaliers five podium finishes for the afternoon.
“I’m really happy with the way the guys wrestled today,” said Virginia head coach Steve Garland. “I saw improvement from the beginning of the year in almost every guy. It was great to see it today. I’m happy we made this trip and thankful we have the resources to do things like this. We have a lot of great young guys that are ready to step in next year and make an immediate impact. That is certainly exciting.”
Courtney paced the squad, posting a 4-0 mark on the day that included three pins before picking up his 2-0 decision over Jake Mutchnik of American in the finals. Courtney now has nine wins by pin on the season.
Miller took second at heavyweight, going 4-1 on the day, with a major decision and a pin on the way to his finals appearance. In finals, Miller dropped a major decision to Malik McDonald of NC State.
Battista took fourth at 184 pounds, advancing to the third-place match with a 5-1 record on the afternoon. Due to NCAA rules that are in place this season limiting wrestlers to a maximum of six matches in a day, Battista was unable to compete in the third-place match and automatically took fourth place.
Book found himself in the same position at 133 pounds, going 2-2 on the day but being unable to wrestle out the fifth-place match because his opponent hit his match limit on the day. Book took the fifth-place finish for the Cavaliers.
Keating closed out the day at 149 pounds, finishing fourth overall with a 3-2 record on the afternoon. The freshman advanced to the semifinals before dropping his semifinal match to Rutgers’ Nicholas Santos and the third-place match in overtime to NC State’s A.J. Letting.
Also competing in the open tournament were Cam Coy (Jeannette, Pa.) at 165 pounds, Jack Miller (Westfield, N.J.) and Jack Walsh (Atlanta, Ga.) at 184 pounds, and Brian Kennerly (Drexel Hill, Pa.) and Robert Scherer (Lower Burrell, Pa.) at heavyweight.
Virginia will return to action on Saturday, March 3, when the Cavaliers compete at the ACC Championships hosted by North Carolina. Wrestling for the ACC Championships begins at 11 a.m.
133
Sam Book – 5th Place Finish
Book dec. Kyle DiNapoli (Rutgers), 5-4
Book dec. Tyler Wetzel (Usmaps), 6-2
Kellen Devlin (NC State) dec. Book, 10-4
Zach Firestone (Rutgers) dec. Book, 7-3
141
Brian Courtney – 1st Place Finish
Courtney pinned Matthew Swanson (Binghamton), 5:33
Courtney pinned Jordan Ringler (Davenport), 2:00
Courtney pinned Chandler Minnard (Ashland), 6:18
Courtney dec. Jack Mutchnik (American), 2-0
149
Jake Keating – 4th Place Finish
Keating pinned Paddy Quinlan (Franklin & Marshall), 1:10
Keating dec. Vincent Foggia (Drexel), 13-11 (sv-1)
Keating dec. Gino Fluri (Rider), 4-2
Nicholas Santos (Rutgers) major dec. Keating, 15-4
A.J. Leitting (NC State) dec. Keating, 14-8 (sv-1)
165
Cam Coy
Coy major dec. Dillon Taylor (Navy), 9-1
Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider) dec. Coy, 13-7
Hadley Harrison (Unattached) dec. Coy, 6-4
184
Michael Battista – 4th Place Finish
Battista dec. Austin Clayton (Arizona State), 10-4
Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) major dec. Battista, 12-2
Battista dec. Jalen Laughlin (Penn), 5-3
Battista dec. Rod Davis (NC State), 9-4
Battista dec. Ryan DeLoach (Campbell), 5-2
Battista dec. Chris Morrow (Cleveland State), 9-5
Jack Miller
Miller dec. Matt McKenzie (Rider), 6-2
Chris Morrow (Cleveland State) pinned Miller, 4:40
Austin Clayton (Arizona State) tech fall Miller, 16-0 (3:30)
Jack Walsh
Walsh dec. Paul O’Neill (Rider), 2-1
Walsh pinned Jacob Adams (Cleveland State), 2:13
Willie Scott (Rutgers) major dec. Walsh, 16-2
Ryan DeLoach (Campbell) dec. Walsh, 6-0
HWT
Brian Kennerly
Kennerly dec. Marquis Cobbs (Campbell), 10-7
Kennerly dec. Alex Esposito (Rutgers), 5-1
Kayne Hutchison (Air Force Prep) pinned Kennerly, 0:58
Matt Correnti (Rutgers) dec. Kennerly, 7-4
Quinn Miller – 2nd Place Finish
Miller dec. Mike Marculec (Princeton), 7-5
Miller major dec. Dylan D’Amore (Rutgers), 14-0
Miller pinned Ben Sullivan (Usmaps), 3:36
Miller dec. Brendan Furman (Unrostered), 7-5
Malik McDonald (NC State) major dec. Miller, 8-0
Robert Scherer
Ralph Normandia (Rutgers) dec. Scherer, 12-7
Evan Canady (Unrostered) major dec. Scherer, 17-7