Cavaliers To Close 2019 At Midlands Championships
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 23 Virginia wrestling team (3-1) is set to close 2019 this weekend with competition at the Midlands Championships at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The event is hosted by Northwestern and begins on Sunday (Dec. 29) and runs through Monday (Dec. 30).
The Midlands Championships feature 26 different teams, including wrestlers from 10 nationally-ranked squads. Joining the Cavaliers will be wrestlers from No. 1 Iowa, No. 4 Wisconsin, No. 12 Princeton, No. 13 Northwestern, No. 16 Northern Iowa, No. 17 North Carolina, No. 20 Purdue, No. 21 Army and No. 24 Central Michigan. More than 80 wrestlers competing in the overall field are ranked in the individual rankings.
This is Virginia’s first time competing at the Midlands Championships.
Fans can keep up with the action at the two-day event through a subscription based live stream provided by FloWrestling or through brackets and live results also provided by FloWrestling. Both are linked at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVAWrestling).
MIDLANDS CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
Sunday, December 29
10: 30 a.m. ET – Session 1
8 p.m. ET – Session 2
Monday, December 30
1 p.m. ET – Session 3
8 p.m. ET – Session 4
VIRGINIA’S LINEUP AT THE MIDLANDS CHAMPIONSHIP
The Cavaliers will have 12 members of the squad competing at the Midlands Championships this season with 11 competing in an attached capacity and one, Jake Keating (Naperville, Ill.) competing in an unattached capacity as he is in a redshirt season.
125: Patrick McCormick (5-2)
133: No. 18 Louie Hayes (8-3)
141: Brian Courtney (6-4)
149: No. 19 Denton Spencer (11-3), Michael Murphy (8-4)
157: Justin McCoy (7-2), Jake Keating (0-0)*
165: Cam Coy (2-1)
174: Victor Marcelli (4-2)
184: Michael Battista (9-7)
197: No. 16 Jay Aiello (11-3)
HWT: Quinn Miller (5-1)
* Wrestling in an unattached capacity
CAVALIERS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Virginia has four wrestlers in the national rankings according to the latest poll released by InterMat. Included in the rankings are senior Jack Mueller, who is ranked second at 125 pounds, 16th-ranked redshirt junior Louie Hayes at 133 pounds, 19th-ranked redshirt sophomore Denton Spencer (Waverly, Ga.) at 149 pounds and 16th-ranked redshirt junior Jay Aiello (Chantilly, Va.) at 197 pounds.
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE HOOS
The Cavaliers competed at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational at the start of the month for the last outing prior to final exams and the semester break. At the Cliff Keen, the Cavaliers turned in a 14th-place team finish with a pair of placewinners to lead the way. Mueller claimed the championship at 125 pounds, becoming the first champion at the Cliff Keen for the Cavaliers since the 2014 event, while Aiello turned in an eighth-place finish.
UP NEXT FOR VIRGINIA
The Cavaliers will return to action in the new year when Virginia heads to Hampton, Va., to participate in the Virginia Duals. The two-day event will be held Jan. 10-11 at the Hampton Coliseum.