Virginia Opens 2021 With Strong Performances At App State Tournament
BOONE, N.C. – The Virginia wrestling team opened the 2021 season on Saturday (Jan. 2) with 23 wrestlers in competition at the Appalachian State Individual Quad at Varsity Gym in Boone, N.C.
Wrestlers from Virginia and The Citadel joined competitors from host Appalachian State in the round-robin format competition. No champions were crowned for the event. It was the first competition of the season for both the Mountaineers and the Cavaliers, while The Citadel had a pair of dual meets in the fall.
Virginia had 11 wrestlers go undefeated on the day and the Cavaliers combined for 29 bonus-point victories in 70 total matches wrestled.
NOTES FROM THE MAT
• The Cavaliers had 11 wrestlers go undefeated on the afternoon, including 10 wrestlers that went at least 3-0.
• Both No. 14 Louie Hayes (Orland Park, Ill.) and Jake Keating (Naperville, Ill.) went 4-0 on the day.
• Of the 29 bonus-point wins for UVA: 13 were by fall and nine were by technical fall. Seven were major decisions.
• Four Cavaliers had two pins: Jay Aiello (Chantilly, Va.), Brian Courtney (Sayre, Pa.), Hayes and Justin McCoy (New Paris, Pa.)
• Hayes turned in bonus-point wins in all four matches, recording two pins, a technical fall and a major decision. One of his victories came against 2020 SoCon Freshman of the Year and preseason All-SoCon selection Sean Carter.
• Aiello, Courtney and McCoy all had two first-period pins as part of the undefeated outings.
• Freshmen Dylan Cedeno (Fair Lawn, N.J.) and Hudson Stewart (Goode, Va.) went 3-0 in their UVA debuts. Cedeno had a pin and a major decision, while Stewart added a technical fall.
• Miller’s wins included a 4-0 decision over preseason All-SoCon selection Michael McAleavy.
• Keating’s victories included a win over 2020 NCAA qualifier Dazjon Casto of The Citadel.
• For the day, 29-of-48 wins by UVA wrestlers were by bonus points.
FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND
“I am really happy leaving Boone today,” said Virginia head coach Steve Garland. “We had a ton of guys wrestling today and got the matches we needed. There is nothing like competition to show you where you are as a team. Our leaders showed up today. Captains Louie Hayes, Brian Courtney and Jay Aiello were dominant all day. Justin McCoy was looking for bonus points all day as well. Quinn Miller and Michael Battista had some quality wins and we had some young guys, like Hudson Stewart and Dylan Cedeno for example, who looked great. The biggest thing is we now have some concrete action items and attack areas we need to work on this week, so we’ll get back to work on Monday.”
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Rankings Listed are by InterMat)
125
Sam Book
R1: Book major dec. Carson Smith (App State), 17-4
R2: Jordie White (Citadel) dec. Book, 5-3
R3: Bye
R4: Codi Russell (App State) dec. Book, 11-3
Benyamin Kamali
R1: Jordie White (Citadel) pinned Kamali, 5:47
R2: Carson Smith (App State) over Kamali by medical Forfeit
R3: Medical Forfeit by Kamali
R4: Medical Forfeit by Kamali
Trey Lane
R1: Codi Russell (App State) tech fall Lane, 18-1 (7:00)
R2: Caleb Smith (App State) dec. Lane, 11-6
R3: Bye
R4: Lane dec. Carson Smith (App State), 11-4
Patrick McCormick
R1: Caleb Smith (App State) dec. McCormick, 4-1
R2: Codi Russell (App State) major dec. McCormick, 17-4
R3: McCormick dec. Carson Smith (App State), 4-2
R4: McCormick dec. Jordie White (Citadel), 4-0
133
Evan Buchanan
R1: Tyler Kellison (App State) pinned Buchanan, 6:22
R2: Sean Carter (App State) dec. Buchanan, 6-4
R3: Buchanan dec. Ethan Oakley (App State), 6-4
R4: Buchanan dec. Kobe Early (App State), 5-1
No. 14 Louie Hayes
R1: Hayes pinned Jake Rotunda (Citadel), 6:12
R2: Hayes pinned Kobe Early (App State), 3:28
R3: Hayes tech fall Tyler Kellison (App State), 20-2 (4:38)
R4: Hayes major dec. Sean Carter (App State), 12-4
141
Dylan Cedeno
R1: Cedeno major dec. Heath Gonyer (App State), 21-13
R2: Cedeno dec. Dawson Bates (App State), 7-2
R3: Cedeno pinned Joshua Spurlin (App State), 1:38
R4: Bye
Brian Courtney
R1: Courtney tech fall Dawson Bates (App State), 17-0 (4:58)
R2: Courtney pinned Heath Gonyer (App State), 2:04
R3: Bye
R4: Courtney pinned Anthony Brito (App State), 1:31
Scott Kiyono
R1: Anthony Brito (App State) dec. Kiyono, 6-3
R2: Kiyono dec. Isaac Byers (App State), 2-0
R3: Kiyono pinned Tyler Seeley (Citadel), 2:04
R4: Bye
149
Ray Costa
R1: Costa pinned Sebastian Collazo (Citadel), 1:37
R2: Bye
R3: Costa tech fall Andrew Barnett (Citadel), 16-0 (2:56)
R4: Bye
Patrick Evans
R1: Selwyn Porter (Citadel) pinned Evans, 4:48
R2: Francis Morrissey (App State) dec. Evans, 7-2
R3: Evans tech fall Sebastian Collazo (Citadel), 16-0, 2:42
R4: Tristan Pugh (App State) pinned Evans, 2:06
157
No. 16 Justin McCoy
R1: McCoy pinned Grant Speer (Citadel), 0:52
R2: McCoy pinned Tommy Askey (App State), 0:40
R3: McCoy major dec. Cody Bond (App State), 15-7
R4: Bye
Justin Phillips
R1: Phillips dec. Tommy Askey (App State), 10-6
R2: Bye
R3: Phillips tech fall Grant Speer (Citadel), 18-0 (2:38)
R4: Phillips dec. Cody Bond (App State), 9-6
Nic Sansone
R1: Cody Bond (App State) tech fall Sansone, 18-3 (7:00)
R2: Bye
R3: Tommy Askey (App State) dec. Sansone, 9-4
R4: Bye
165
Loudon Hurt
R1: William Formato (App State) tech fall Hurt, 16-0 (2:30)
R2: Brett Mordecai (App State) pinned Hurt, 0:56
R3: Kameron Miller (App State) dec. Hurt, 7-3
R4: Bye
Jake Keating
R1: Keating dec. Dazjon Casto (Citadel), 6-5
R2: Keating dec. William Formato (App State), 7-5
R3: Keating major dec. Brett Mordecai (App State), 15-4
R4: Keating tech fall Kameron Miller (App State), 15-0 (4:27)
174
Vic Marcelli
R1: Marcelli dec. Cole Burke (Citadel), 6-2
R2: Marcelli major dec. Jackson Boles (App State), 9-0
R3: No. 17 Thomas Flitz (App State) dec. Marcelli, 7-3
R4: Bye
Robby Patrick
R1: No. 17 Thomas Flitz (App State) dec. Patrick, 6-2
R2: Bye
R3: Patrick tech fall Cole Burke (Citadel), 16-0 (1:13)
R4: Bye
184
Michael Battista
R1: Battista dec. Kyle Kretzer (Citadel) 3-1
R2: Battista dec. Julian Gorring (App State), 8-2
R3: Battista dec. Barrett Blakely (App State), 10-4
R4: Bye
Hudson Stewart
R1: Stewart dec. Barrett Blakely (App State), 6-4
R2: Stewart tech fall Cooper Youngblood (Citadel), 19-3 (5:21)
R3: Stewart dec. Julian Gorring (App State), 6-5
R4: Bye
197
No. 3 Jay Aiello
R1: Aiello pinned Ben Stemmet (Citadel), 1:28
R2: Aiello major dec. Mason Fiscella (App State), 13-3
R3: Aiello pinned Ramon Rodriquez (App State), 2:15
R4: Bye
HWT
Jessie Knight
R1: Michael Burchell (App State) dec. Knight, 10-5
R2: Knight dec. Tim Warren (App State), 2-0
R3: Bye
R4: Knight pinned Jacob Barlow (App State), 3:44
No. 20 Quinn Miller
R1: Miller tech fall Jacob Barlow (App State), 20-1 (2:13)
R2: Miller pinned Michael Burchell (App State), 3:28
R3: Miller dec. Michael McAleavey (Citadel), 4-0
R4: Bye