Mueller Heads Into NCAAs on High Note
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By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE – Ten years after Keegan Mueller won his first ACC wrestling title, almost to the day, his kid brother reached the same milestone in the same venue: Virginia Tech’s Cassell Coliseum.
“That’s pretty neat, isn’t it?” Virginia head coach Steve Garland said.
Keegan, then a fifth-year senior at North Carolina, defeated Virginia’s Mike Sewell 4-1 in the 165-pound final on March 7, 2009. Jack Mueller, a UVA junior, won by major decision in the 125-pound final on March 9, 2019, defeating defending champion Sean Fausz, a fifth-year senior at NC State, 10-2.
Mueller and Fausz have a history. In 2017, Fausz beat Mueller 12-9 in the ACC semifinals. In November, they were teammates on the U.S. squad that competed at the U23 world freestyle championships in Bucharest, Romania. Mueller placed fifth at 57 kilograms (125.7 pounds), and Fausz won the silver medal at 61 kg (134.4 pounds).
All of which made Mueller’s recent victory over Fausz eye-catching.
“I wasn’t shocked that he beat him, but he pretty much manhandled him,” Keegan said.
Jack grew up watching his brother wrestle, so it’s no surprise he followed Keegan into the sport. Like Keegan did during his competitive career, Jack excels on top on the mat.
“He basically took what I was good at and perfected it,” said Keegan, 33. “I was a solid wrestler, but compared to him, he’s head and shoulders better than me. If we were the same size, Jack would kill me.”
Keegan watched the ACC tournament online from Dallas, where he and Jack grew up, but he’ll be in Pittsburgh this week for the NCAA championships, which start Thursday and run through Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.
Jack Mueller, who’s 17-0 this season, with five pins, five technical falls and five major decisions, is seeded fifth at 125 pounds. Four other Cavaliers will compete at the NCAA tournament: redshirt junior Sam Krivus, seeded No. 26 at 141 pounds; redshirt freshman Cam Coy, seeded No. 25 at 165 pounds; redshirt senior Will Schany, seeded No. 29 at 184 pounds; and redshirt sophomore Jay Aiello, seeded No. 7 at 197 pounds.
For Mueller, this will be his third trip to the NCAAs. As a true freshman in 2017, he earned All-America honors at 125 pounds. He placed sixth and might well have finished higher, but an injury forced him out of the tournament after he lost his semifinal match.
In 2018, at the end of an injury-marred season, Mueller finished 3-2 at the NCAA championships after losing in the round of 12 at 133 pounds.
He’s in a much better place this year, and not only physically, as he heads to Pittsburgh, where he’ll attempt to become the first UVA wrestler to win an NCAA title.
“Mentally, spiritually, everything’s just better,” said Mueller, an economics major at UVA. “I’ve gotten to know myself. I used to be all about wrestling, and my results made me who I was, but it’s not like that anymore. It’s just something I love now.
“I’ve been doing extra. I’ve been doing extra conditioning, extra technique, extra everything. So I know I’ve put in the work, and there’s really no pressure, because I know who I am as a person, and wrestling doesn’t define me at all.”
Garland, an assistant coach on the U.S. team at the U23 world championships in Romania, has noticed a difference in Mueller this season. Mueller came into 2018-19 planning to redshirt, but chose to compete after the Cavaliers lost starting 133-pounder Brian Courtney to a season-ending injury. (Louie Hayes, who was struggling to make weight at 125 pounds, moved up to take Courtney’s place at 133.)
“I think Jack’s growing up,” Garland said. “It’s still a process and there’s still work to do for everybody, but he’s definitely trying to focus on keeping it fun and the fact that he loves this … I think more than anything, right now he’s just going out there and wrestling. Basically, he’s sticking to the game plan and wrestling his style and not trying to do too much and not trying to get overly worked up if he doesn’t get this or doesn’t get that. I think he’s staying nice and composed.”
At the ACC tournament in Blacksburg, Garland said, “I think you saw a guy that came out competing to win. He was out there to score points, to get to his positions with total belief in himself. Obviously, when you combine that with God-given gifts, you’ve got a heck of a warrior out there.”
In 2017, Mueller placed third in the ACC at 125 pounds. In 2018, he was ACC runner-up at 133 pounds. In last year’s final, he led Virginia Tech’s Dennis Gustafson late in the third period, only to give up a takedown and back points and lose 10-7.
“I think a lot of the pressure first and second year was the fact that my brother won it, so I felt like I needed to,” Mueller said.
He was determined to break through this year and join his brother as an ACC champion, but that didn’t affect Mueller’s performance at Cassell Coliseum. The experience he gained in Romania, where he went 2-2, helped him in Blacksburg, where he became the first Cavalier since 133-pounder George DiCamillo in 2016 to win an ACC title.
“We talked about how most guys get swallowed up by the moment or they freeze in the moment, whereas the moment is going to raise him up,” Garland said. “He’s going to raise his level of wrestling, because nothing can be bigger than walking out of the tunnel for the world championships.
“When you’re representing the United States of America, and they say, ‘Jack Michael Mueller, USA,’ and we come walking out together out of that tunnel, to wrestle the baddest on the planet, nothing’s going to trump that. So this is just fun.”
Mueller was the only UVA wrestler to win an ACC championship this year. (Aiello was runner-up at 197 pounds.) As a team, the Wahoos had a rough day, finishing in last place.
“People were just way too nervous and uptight,” Mueller said. “No one was themselves. No one was attacking. No one was getting out from bottom when they needed to. There were opportunities to win, and we didn’t take ’em. And whether that was nerves or whatever, I think a lot of it was mental. And I think a lot of it had to do with being young, for sure.”
Of the 10 Cavaliers who wrestled at the ACC tournament, only Schany is a senior.
Back in Charlottesville, Garland emphasized three points when he addressed his team.
“Number one, don’t let the moment overwhelm you. Use the moment for fuel,” Garland said. “Number two, compete to win. Don’t compete not to lose. And number three, don’t beat yourself.”
Most of Mueller’s teammates fell victim to at least one of those mistakes at the ACC championships.
“A lot of them hadn’t been there before,” Garland said, “and I really believe that experience is a big thing in our sport … The moment overwhelmed them and they were paralyzed out there.”
Mueller, by contrast, embraced the moment. “I’m having a lot more fun than I’ve ever had,” he said. “It’s totally changed. I wasn’t nervous at all. I was super excited, smiling before my match [against Fausz].”
His sister-in-law, Sterling Smith, played soccer at North Carolina, which won three NCAA titles during her career. Keegan Mueller says his wife is still learning about wrestling, but in Jack she recognizes qualities she often saw in UNC teammates. Many of those former Tar Heels now play for the U.S. national team.
“She can see that confidence, and that’s a nice place to be,” Keegan said. “It’s something that’s unique, and that’s where she thinks Jack is at.”
Mueller said: “This is what I love to do. This is what I’ve dreamed of since I’ve been a little kid wrestling with my older brother or wrestling with stuffed animals, acting like I was on this big stage. This is the most excited I’ve been for a tournament in a long time, and there’s no pressure at all.”