No. 23 Virginia Hosts No. 15 Pitt For Senior Night Friday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –The No. 23 Virginia wrestling team (12-9, 1-3 ACC) closes out the dual schedule on Friday (Feb. 22), hosting No. 15 Pittsburgh (12-3, 2-2 ACC) in a 7 p.m. dual at Memorial Gym. Admission to all home Virginia wrestling duals is free.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Friday night’s dual with Pittsburgh will be streamed on ACC Network Extra and live stats for the match will also be available through links at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also keep up with the action by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVAWrestling).
HOOS TO RECOGNIZE FOUR SENIORS
Virginia will recognize four wrestlers prior to the start of Friday night’s dual as a part of Senior Night celebration. The Cavaliers will honor Corbin Allen (Mechanicsville, Va.), Cameron Harrell (Arnold, Md.), Chance McClure (Commerce, Ga.) and Will Schany (Blair, Neb.).
THE SERIES WITH PITTSBURGH
The series between Virginia and Pittsburgh is a young one with only six meetings between the two teams. The squads first met in the 2010-11 season and since that time, the Panthers hold a 5-1 lead over the Cavaliers in the all-time series. Virginia’s win came in the 2014-15 season, a 17-16 victory by the Cavaliers in Charlottesville. Four of the six meetings have been decided by six points or fewer.
VIRGINIA’S PROBABLE STARTERS (Rankings by InterMat)
125:No. 5 Jack Mueller
133:Louie Hayes
141:Sam Krivus OR Scott Kiyono
149:Michael Murphy
157:Jake Keating
165:Cam Coy
174:Robby Patrick OR Drew Peck
184:Will Schany
197:No. 10 Jay Aiello
HWT:Tyler Love
PITTSBURGH’S PROBABLE STARTERS (Rankings by InterMat)
125:Brendon Fenton
133:No. 5 Micky Phillippi
141:LJ Bentley
149:Dallas Bulsak
157:No. 10 Taleb Rahmani
165:Tommy O’Brien
174:Gregg Harvey
184:No. 11 Nino Bonaccorsi
197:Kellan Stout
HWT:No. 17 Demetrius Thomas
AIELLO, MUELLER CONTINUE TO ROLL
Redshirt sophomore Jay Aiello (Chantilly, Va.) and junior Jack Mueller (Dallas, Texas) continue to roll along in competition this season. Aiello moved to 21-5 on the season this past weekend with his win in a dual at Virginia Tech, while Mueller improved to 14-0 on the season. Of Mueller’s victories, all but one have been bonus-point wins for the Cavaliers.
CAVALIERS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS AND RPI
The second edition of the NCAA Coaches Panel Rankings and initial RPI have been released and several Cavaliers make an appearance in the rankings. Seven Virginia wrestlers are ranked in the coaches panel rankings, while six wrestlers appear in the initial RPI rankings. Wrestlers must have wrestled 15 matches to qualify for the RPI.
HOOS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS (Coaches Panel Rankings/RPI)
Name CPR/RPI
125: Jack Mueller 5/NR
133: Louie Hayes 25/28
141: Sam Krivus 22/15
157: Jake Keating 24/28
165: Cam Coy 19/18
184: Will Schany 24/20
197: Jay Aiello 7/3
UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
The Cavaliers will prepare for the ACC Championships to be hosted by Virginia Tech on Saturday, March 9. Ticket information and further details on the event can be found at TheACC.com.