Virginia Takes 40-5 Victory At VMI Friday Night
LEXINGTON, Va. –The Virginia wrestling team (10-6) hit the 40-point mark in a dual for the third time this season on Friday night, taking a 40-5 victory over VMI (2-9) at Cormack Hall. It closed a stretch of nine consecutive duals on the road for the Cavaliers.
Virginia will return to action on Sunday (Jan. 20), hosting Ohio in a 1 p.m. dual at Memorial Gym. Admission to all Virginia home duals is free to the public.
“The guys looked sharp tonight,” said Virginia head coach Steve Garland. “We executed our game plan and we are looking to carry this momentum into the Ohio dual on Sunday.”
The Cavaliers won 9-of-10 weight classes, including seven bonus-point victories. Among those wins, Virginia got two pins as junior Jack Mueller (Dallas, Texas) and sophomore Michael Murphy (Lookout Mountain, Tenn.) notched six points for the Cavaliers at 125 pounds and 149 pounds, respectively.
It marked the fifth pin of the season for Mueller, who is the fifth-ranked wrestler nationally at 125 pounds. Mueller is now 9-0 on the season and has delivered a bonus-point victory in every dual. He has five pins, three tech falls and a major decision this year. It was the second pin of the year for Murphy.
Virginia got a pair of tech falls from 133-pound sophomore Louie Hayes (Orland Park, Ill.) and 165-pound sophomore Cam Coy (Jeannette, Pa.). It was the 12th bonus-point win of the season for Hayes who has now picked up 16 wins on the season.
Three Cavaliers delivered major decisions as sophomore Jake Keating (Naperville, Ill.) won at 157 pounds, senior Chance McClure (Commerce, Ga.) won at 184 pounds and sophomore Jay Aiello (Chantilly, Va.), who is the eighth-ranked wrestler nationally in his weight class, won at 197 pounds.
Juniors Sam Krivus (Greensburg, Pa.) and Tyler Love (Clifton, Va.) both won by decision at 141 pounds and heavyweight, respectively.
Virginia 40, VMI 5
125: No. 5 Jack Mueller pinned Cliff Conway (VMI), 1:21 – UVA 6, VMI 0
133: Louie Hayes tech fall Hunter Starner (VMI), 15-0 (5:11) – UVA 11, VMI 0
141: Sam Krivus dec. Dom Gallo (VMI), 6-4 – UVA 14, VMI 0
149: Michael Murphy pinned Zach Schmitt (VMI), 3:54 – UVA 20, VMI 0
157: Jake Keating major dec. Darren Ostrander (VMI), 18-7 – UVA 24, VMI 0
165: Cam Coy tech fall Luke Niksic (VMI), 16-1 (2:04) – UVA 29, VMI 0
174: Neal Richards (VMI) tech fall Drew Peck, 19-4 (5:44) – UVA 29, VMI 5
184: Chance McClure major dec. Ben Wagner (VMI), 11-3 – UVA 33, VMI 5
197: No. 8 Jay Aiello major dec. Chris Beck (VMI), 11-3 – UVA 37, VMI 5
HWT: Tyler Love dec. Trey Momon (VMI), 7-3 – UVA 40, VMI 5