Five Cavaliers Place At Franklin & Marshall Open
LANCASTER, Pa. – Five members of the Virginia wrestling team turned in a podium finish on Saturday (Jan. 4) at the Franklin & Marshall Open as juniors Michael Battista (Ashburn, Va.), Sam Book (Fairfax, Va.) and Drew Peck (Chambersburg, Pa.), redshirt sophomore Brian Courtney (Sayre, Pa.) and redshirt freshman Quinn Miller (Lilburn, Ga.) all placed.
Miller took a first-place finish at heavyweight, cruising through the bracket with three wins by fall and two decisions on the way to the title. He pinned his first three opponents in a combined time of 6:27. He then claimed a 3-2 decision in his semifinal matchup over Jacob Bullock of Old Dominion and a 6-1 decision over Jonathan Birchmeier of Navy in the finals.
Book and Courtney both took runner-up finishes at 133 pounds and 141 pounds, respectively.
Book turned in three bonus-point victories in his first four matches before Ohio State’s Jordan Decatur would take the finals matchup in a major decision. Courtney won four straight matches by decision on the way to his final appearance before he was beaten by Princeton’s Michael Keller in a major decision.
Peck took his third-place finish at 184 pounds with a 3-1 record on the day. He opened the day with back-to-back wins before dropping a decision in the semifinals. He then took third place by virtue of a medical forfeit in the third-place match.
Also in the 184-pound bracket, Battista battled back through the wrestlebacks after dropping his opening match to Ohio State’s Rocky Jordan. He then won three consecutive matches with a major decision and two decisions before he was edged out by Brandon Kui of Brown in a 5-4 decision. Battista took a sixth-place finish in his weight class.
In all, 16 Virginia wrestlers competed on the day. Two wrestlers, freshman Nick Coy (Jeannette, Pa.) and redshirt junior Sam Martino (Colonial Heights, Va.), went 5-1 on the day but were unable to have a shot at placing by virtue of hitting an NCAA-mandated limit of six matches in a day. Coy won five consecutive matches in the wrestlebacks after dropping his opener at 141 pounds, while Martino won three straight at 157 pounds after dropping his third match of the day to move to the consolation bracket.
Virginia will return to action next weekend when the Cavaliers compete in the Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va. The two-day event begins on Friday, Jan. 10.
133
Sam Book – 2nd Place Finish
R32: Book over Anthony Petrillo (Sacred Heart by injury default
R16: Book tech fall Shane Metzler (Rutgers), 16-0
QF: Book dec. Darren Miller (Bucknell), 6-5
SF: Book major dec. Orion Anderson (Maryland), 17-8
FINAL: Jordan Decatur (Ohio State) major dec. Book, 14-5
141
Brian Courtney – 2nd Place Finish
R64: Bye
R32: Courtney dec. Tyler Dilley (Lock Haven), 17-10
R16: Courtney dec. Andrew Gapas (Rutgers), 7-5 (sv-1)
QF: Courtney dec. Theodore Powers (Brown), 4-2
SF: Courtney dec. Wil Gil (F&M), 11-9
FINAL: Michael Keller (Princeton) major dec. Courtney, 14-2
Nick Coy (Unattached)
R64: Dawson Bates (App. State) dec. Coy, 5-0
Conso. R2: Coy pinned Raf Lievano (Sacred Heart), 0:58
Conso. R3: Coy tech fall Kyle Sams (Campbell), 22-7
Conso. R4: Coy dec. Jordan Ward (UNC), 7-5
Conso. R5: Coy dec. Pat D’Arcy (Princeton), 7-4
Conso. R6: Coy dec. Mike Blando (Long Island), 6-5
*Could not complete bracket after hitting NCAA mandated six-match daily limit
149
Ray Costa (Unattached)
R64: Bye
R32: Christia Dailey (F&M), dec. Costa, 5-1
Conso. R3: Costa dec. R. Jablonski (No Club), 7-0
Conso. R4: Costa dec. Joseph Caprella (ODU), 5-2
Conso. R5: Alec Bobchin (Broncs) dec. Costa, 9-6
Gray Hart (Unattached)
R64: Bye
R32: Hart dec. Gino Esposito (UNC), 7-0
R16: Hart dec. Carter Tuttle (Pitt), 4-0
QF: Danny Fongaro (NYCRTC) dec. Hart, 8-3
Conso. R6: Jon Errico (Penn), dec. Hart, 5-3
157
Sam Martino (Unattached)
R64: Martino pinned Antonio Vaquiz (Sacred Heart), 1:13
R32: Martino dec. Jeremy Ridge (Penn), 6-2
R16: Michael North (Maryland) dec. Martino, 9-7
Conso. R4: Martino major dec. A. Robinson (George Mason), 12-1
Conso. R5: Martino pinned Seth Henderson (Navy), 2:30
Conso. R6: Martino over Matthew Lattanze (Brown) by injury default
*Could not complete bracket after hitting NCAA mandated six-match daily limit
Justin Phillips (Unattached)
R64: Phillips dec. Anthony Robinson (George Mason), 6-1
R32: Jonathan Ross (Lock Haven) major dec. Phillips, 8-0
Conso. R3: Phillips over Adrian St. Germain (Hofstra) by medical forfeit
Conso. R4: Phillips tech fall Michael Wilson (Rider), 15-0
Conso. R6: Phillips over S. Glasgow by medical forfeit
Conso. R7: Lucas Cordio (Maryland) dec. Phillips, 7-1
Anthony Steinmeyer (Unattached)
R64: Bye
R32: Scott Jarosz (Sacred Heart) pinned Steinmeyer, 4:22
Conso. R3: A. Robinson (George Mason) dec. Steinmeyer, 7-4
165
Krystian Kinsey (Unattached)
R32: Brian Case (Navy) dec. Kinsey, 6-2
Conso. R1: Kinsey dec. Scott Defex (Unattached), 4-2 (sv-1)
Conso. R2: Rodney Winston (Patriot Elite) dec. Kinsey, 3-2
David Velti (Unattached)
R32: Cameron Andrews (Campbell) dec. Veltri, 5-3
Conso. R2: Veltri over Jake Marsh (Princeton) by medical forfeit
Conso. R3: Donald Cates (Wolf Pack) dec. Veltri, 9-4
174
Channing Connors (Unattached)
R64: Bye
R32: Connors over Janny Lopez (Sacred Heart) by injury default
R16: Nathan Dugan (Princeton) dec. Connors, 9-5
Conso. R4: F. Guida (Bucknell) pinned Connors, 2:13
184
Michael Battista – 6th Place Finish
R32: Rocky Jordan (Ohio State) tech fall Battista, 15-0
Conso. R2: Battista major dec. Anthony Franden (Long Island), 15-7
Conso. R3: Battista dec. David Health (Brown), 11-4
Conso. R4: Battista dec. Michael Doggett (Harvard), 10-4
Conso. R5: Brandon Kui (Brown) dec. Battista, 5-4
Drew Peck – 3rd Place Finish
R32: Bye
R16: Peck major decision Anthony Franden (Long Island), 9-1
QF: Peck dec. Hampton Boyd (Navy), 9-7
SF: Dean Drugac (ODU) dec. Peck, 5-1
3rd Place Match: Peck over Dan McClure (Long Island) by medical forfeit
197
Ethan Weatherspoon (Unattached)
R32: Nino Bastianelli (Brown) major dec. Weatherspoon, 15-4
Conso. R2: Weatherspoon dec. Mark Malico (Long Island), 5-2
Conso. R3: Weatherspoon dec. Rob Hetherman (Sacred Heart), 12-7
Conso. R4: Weatherspoon dec. Mason McCready (Bucknell), 5-3
Conso. R5: Luke Niemeyer (Bucknell) by medical forfeit from Weatherspoon
HWT
Mateusz Kudra (Unattached)
R32: Joey Slackman (Penn) dec. Kudra, 5-3
Conso. R1: William Baldwin (ODU) over Kudra by medical forfeit
Quinn Miller – 1st Place Finish
R32: Miller pinned Gavin Range (Ursinus College), 1:31
R16: Miller pinned Maguire Horl (Long Island), 1:12
QF: Miller pinned Kyle Lightner (Rutgers), 3:42
SF: Miller dec. Jacob Bullock (ODU), 3-2
FINAL: Miller dec. Jonathan Birchmeier (Navy), 6-1