Virginia Opens ACC Slate At No. 18 Pitt Friday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia wrestling team (3-2, 0-0 ACC) opens the ACC portion of the schedule this weekend when the Cavaliers travel to take on No. 18 Pitt (5-3, 0-0 ACC) at 7 p.m. on Friday (Jan. 21).
HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
The dual meet will be stream on ACCNX from Pitt’s Fitzgerald Field House and is available on the ESPN app and WatchESPN.com to customers who subscribe to a television provider that carries ACC Network. A link to the stream is available at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVAWrestling).
QUICK SHOTS
• Virginia enters the week with seven wrestlers ranked in the latest InterMat individual rankings.
• Jay Aiello leads the way as the highest-ranked Cavalier at No. 11 at 197 pounds.
• Aiello and Justin McCoy (165) are both undefeated on the season to help the Virginia lineup.
• Michael Battista (184) is on a 10-match win streak entering the dual with Pittsburgh and is now ranked.
• Aiello returned to action in a tri-dual at Northwestern in December after missing the early part of the season following his bronze-medal outing at 97kg at the U23 World Games in Serbia in November.
• A pair of grad transfers have had a big impact for the Hoos this season with Penn State transfer Jarod Verkleeren at 149 pounds and Penn transfer Jon Errico at 157 pounds.
• Verkleeren has raced out to a 15-4 record this season, while Errico has gone 12-3 to this point.
PROBABLE VIRGINIA LINEUP
125: Patrick McCormick (9-7)
133: No. 14 Brian Courtney (7-2)
141: Dylan Cedeno (2-2) OR Evan Buchanan (6-4)
149: No. 28 Jarod Verkleeren (14-5)
157: No. 28 Jake Keating (8-2)
165: No. 15 Justin McCoy (10-0)
174: Vic Marcelli (3-2) OR Justin Phillips (10-3)
184: No. 23 Michael Battista (11-1)
197: No. 11 Jay Aiello (7-0)
285: No. 26 Quinn Miller (9-4)
PROBABLE PITT LINEUP
125: No. 21 Gage Curry (10-6) OR Colton Camacho (11-5)
133: No. 7 Micky Phillipi (9-3)
141: No. 20 Cole Matthews (9-2)
149: Luke Kemerer (7-7) OR Dan Mancini (11-8)
157: No. 21 Elijah Cleary (8-4)
165: No. 13 Jake Wentzel (9-4)
174: Hunter Kernan (7-7) or James Lledo (12-6)
184: No. 31 Gregg Harvey (6-3)
197: No. 9 Nino Bnaccorsi (8-2)
285: Jake Slinger (9-9)
THE SERIES WITH PITT
• Pittsburgh leads the all-time series with the Cavaliers 7-2
• Virginia won last season’s meeting 17-16 in Charlottesville clinching the dual with a win in the final bout
• In the last meeting each team won five weight classes, but UVA got a pair of major decisions to secure victory
• Both UVA wins in the series have come in Charlottesville by an identical 17-16 score
NEXT UP FOR THE HOOS
Virginia will continue ACC competition next weekend when the Cavaliers host No. 22 North Carolina in a 7 p.m. contest at Memorial Gym on January 28. Admission to all Virginia home wrestling meets is free to the public.