Cavaliers' Run At NCAA Championships Ends Friday
2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships Brackets | 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships Central
March 16, 2018
CLEVELAND – Redshirt freshman Louie Hayes (Orland Park, Ill.) and sophomore Jack Mueller (Dallas, Texas) saw their bid for All-America honors come up one round short, as both Virginia wrestlers dropped their Round of 12 matches at the NCAA Championships on Friday night.
Hayes was looking for All-America honors in his first NCAA Championships appearance. Mueller was looking to repeat after becoming the first Virginia wrestler to earn All-America honors as a freshman when he captured the honor last season on his run to the semifinals and a sixth-place finish.
Hayes, the No. 12 seed at 125 pounds, dropped an 8-0 major decision to No. 10 seed Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern in his Friday night match. Mueller, the No. 10 seed at 133 pounds, dropped a 16-7 major decision to fourth-seeded Kaid Brock of Oklahoma State.
“I’m just so proud of the way our guys competed at this tournament,” said Virginia head coach Steve Garland. “I’m certainly not happy about the final results, but I can honestly say I believe our program made big jumps regardless of the final outcome.
“I tell my guys all the time to be faithful. Be faithful with the gifts and talents you’ve been given. Be faithful with your opportunities and the relationships with your teammates. I think we were. We just made some mistakes that cost us, but I trust whole heartedly our guys who are coming back will be much better for it. We are going to have a great team moving forward. I believe that.”
Hayes went 2-2 at the NCAA Championships and advanced to the quarterfinals with a pair of wins on Thursday, including an upset of fifth-seeded Sean Fausz of NC State. He then dropped a major decision to No. 4 seeded Nick Suriano of Rutgers in the morning session Friday before the loss to Rivera in the evening session ended his run. Hayes finished the season with a 31-8 record.
Mueller went 3-2 at the NCAA Championships, splitting his matches on Thursday night before picking up a pair of wins by decision on Friday morning to advance to the blood round. He then dropped his second match with the major decision at the hands of Brock, ending his stay at the championship. Mueller finished the year with a 24-7 record.
Also advancing to Friday for the Cavaliers were redshirt senior Andrew Atkinson (Lynchburg, Va.) and redshirt sophomore Sam Krivus (Greensburg, Pa.).
Atkinson saw his run at the NCAA Championships come to an end in a 4-3 decision at the hands of No. 15 seed Anthony Valencia of Arizona State. Atkinson appeared to get a takedown with 20 seconds left in the match, but the officials ruled no takedown due to proximity to the edge of the mat. Virginia challenged the ruling of no takedown, but it was upheld. Valencia then held on for the final seconds to secure the one-point decision. Atkinson finished with a 19-9 record on the year and became Virginia’s 10th wrestler to qualify for four NCAA Championships.
Krivus also saw his run come to an end on Friday morning, but not before picking up a second win at the event. In his first match of the day, Krivus posted a 15-0 tech fall over Virginia Tech’s Ryan Blees. He then dropped his second match of the morning session in an 8-0 major decision at the hands of Jerrett Degen of Iowa State, eliminating him from the championships. Krivus finished the year with a 20-15 record on the year and made was making his second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships.
Two other Virginia wrestlers, redshirt sophomore Tyler Love (Clifton, Va.) and redshirt junior Will Schany (Blair, Neb.) saw their first NCAA Tournament appearances come to an end on Thursday night. Schany finished the year with an 18-14 record, while Love ended the year at 9-19.
Virginia Wrestlers At The 2018 NCAA Championships
125
No. 12 seed Louie Hayes
1st Round: Hayes major dec. Paul Bianchi (NDSU), 14-1
2nd Round: Hayes dec. No. 5 seed Sean Fausz (NC State), 10-4
Quarterfinals: No. 4 seed Nick Suriano (Rutgers) major dec. Hayes, 8-0
Conso. Rd. 4: No. 10 seed Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) major dec. Hayes, 8-0
133
No. 10 seed Jack Mueller
1st Round: Mueller tech fall Sean Nickell (CSU-Bakersfield), 17-1
2nd Round: No. 7 seed Austin DeSanto (Drexel) major dec. Mueller, 16-8
Conso. Rd 2: Mueller dec. Charles Tucker (Cornell), 8-4
Conso. Rd. 3: Mueller dec. Matt Schmitt (WVU), 5-2
Conso. Rd. 4: No. 4 seed Kaid Brock (Okla. State) major dec. Mueller, 16-7
149
Sam Krivus
1st Round: No. 6 seed Justin Oliver (Central Michigan) dec. Krivus, 3-1
Conso. Rd. 1: Krivus dec. Taylor Ortz (Clarion), 3-2
Conso. Rd. 2: Krivus tech fall Ryan Blees (Va. Tech), 15-0 (5:56)
Conso. Rd. 3: Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) major dec. Krivus, 8-0
165
Andrew Atkinson
1st Round: No. 16 seed Jonathon Chavez (Cornell) major dec. Atkinson, 14-3
Conso. Rd. 1: Atkinson pinned Zac Carson (E. Michigan), 6:53
Conso. Rd. 2: No. 15 seed Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) dec. Atkinson, 4-3
174
Will Schany – eliminated Thursday night
1st Round: No. 7 seed Taylor Lujan (N. Iowa) dec. Schany, 5-3
Conso. Rd. 1: Ben Harvey (Army) dec. Schany, 7-5
HWT
Tyler Love – eliminated Thursday night
1st Round: No. 12 seed Youssif Hemida (Maryland) major dec. Love, 9-1
Conso. Rd. 1: Antonio Pelusi (Franklin & Marshall) dec. Love, 3-1