CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Freshman Michael Gioffre advanced to the semifinals at 149 pounds to lead the Cavaliers in action at the Southern Scuffle on Sunday (Jan. 1). Gioffre is one of three Virginia wrestlers to advance to the second day of action and will compete again on Monday.

Joining the freshman in action on Sunday will be his twin brother, Jack, who is competing at 141 pounds along with Dylan Cedeno who is also competing at 141 pounds. Cedeno advanced to the quarterfinals before dropping his matchup with fourth-ranked Allan Hart of Missouri.

Wrestling on Monday is set to begin at 11 a.m. at McKenzie Arena at Chattanooga. The action will be streamed on FloWrestling.

Michael Gioffre kicked off his day with a bang, defeating top-seeded Jade Abas of Stanford at 149 pounds with a 3-1 decision in overtime.  Abas is also ranked No. 16 in the nation. Gioffre went 3-0 on the day and will face No. 21 Victor Voinovich of Oklahoma State in the semifinals on Monday.

Cedeno also won three straight matches to start the day, including a pin of Gardner-Webb’s Zach Price in overtime to advance to the quarterfinals. He then dropped his quarterfinal match to the fourth-ranked Hart. He will face McKenzie Bell of Rider on Monday.

Jack Gioffre went 3-1 on the day with his only loss coming in the second round to No. 28 Carter Young of Oklahoma State. His trio of wins included a pin of Little Rock’s Jayden Gomez in the first period. He will face No. 11 Dylan Droegemueller of North Dakota State on Monday.

In all, the Cavaliers had 12 wrestlers compete to kick off the Southern Scuffle.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND
“The story of the day is Michael Gioffre. He beat the top seed and battled his way into the semis as a true freshman. He is a savage. He’s the last kid the leave the (practice) room just about every day. His twin brother, Jack, wrestled pretty darn well also and is in the placing round tomorrow along with Dylan Cedeno who got three wins today. We just lost a couple heartbreakers there in that last round. These tournaments are crazy with peaks and valleys. The grind continues tomorrow.”

133
Keyveon Roller
R32: No. 2 Dayton Fix (Oklahoma State) pinned. Roller, 1:43
Conso. R16-2: Ethan Oakley (App. State) dec. Roller, 7-2 

141
Kyren Butler
R32: Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) dec. Butler, 6-2
Conso. R32-2: Butler dec. Dayne Dalrymple (Chattanooga), 4-1
Conso. R16-1: Angelo Martinoni (CSUB) major dec. Butler, 16-4

Dylan Cedeno
R64: Cedeno dec. Luciano Arroyo (Stanford), 6-0
R32: Cedeno dec. Teague Travis (Oklahoma State), 10-7
R16: Cedeno pinned Zach Price (Gardner-Webb), 7:35 (sv-1)
QF: No. 4 Allan Hart (Missouri) tech fall Cedeno, 15-0 (5:34)
Conso. R8-2: Cedeno vs. McKenzie Bell (Rider) on Monday

Jack Gioffre
R32: Gioffre dec. Kal Miller (Maryland), 2-1
R16: No. 28 Carter Young (Oklahoma State) dec. Gioffre, 7-3
Conso. R16-2: Gioffre pinned Jayden Gomez (Little Rock), 2:26
Conso. R8-1: Gioffre dec. Dylan Chappell (Bucknell), 8-4
Conso. R8-2: Gioffre vs. No. 11 Dylan Droegemueller (North Dakota State) on Monday 

149
Michael Gioffre
R32: Gioffre dec. No. 16 Jaden Abas (Stanford), 3-1 (sv-1)
R16: Gioffre dec. Theo Cha (Minnesota), 8-3
QF: Gioffre dec. Mike Zarif (Binghamton), 2-1
SF: Gioffre vs. No. 21 Victor Voinovich (Oklahoma State) on Monday 

157
Gavin Cagle
R64: Fin Nadeau (Binghamton) dec. Cagle, 6-2
Conso. R32-2: No. 18 Michael North (Maryland) dec. Cagle, 6-2

Dominic Isola
R32: Jared Fanek (North Dakota State) major dec. Isola, 12-1
Conso. R32-2: Jason Kraisser (Iowa State) pinned Isola, 2:05

174
Griffin Gammell
R32: Will Miller (App. State) major dec. Gammell, 14-4
Conso. R16-1: Albert Urias (CSUB) dec. Gammell, 4-2

Hudson Stewart
R32: No. 4 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) major dec. Stewart, 17-7
Conso. R16-1: Stewart dec. Warren Hoyt (Little Rock), 7-2
Conso. R16-2: Stewart dec. Conor Becker (Duke), 6-3
Conso. R8-1: Will Miller (App. State) dec. Stewart. 7-5 (sv-1) 

184
Krystian Kinsey
R32: Kinsey dec. Luke Chakonis (Duke), 6-0
R16: No. 22 Sean Harman (Missouri) dec. Kinsey, 7-4
Conso. R16-2: Kinsey dec. Sam Skillings (Minnesota), 10-8
Conso. R8-1: Chase Mielnik (Maryland) dec. Kinsey, 4-3 

197
Colden Dorfman
R32: Dorfman dec. Cayden Bevis (Binghamton), 7-5
R16: No. 28 Owen Pentz (North Dakota State) tech fall Dorfman, 17-1 (5:59)
Conso. R16-2: Carson Floyd (App. State) major dec. Dorfman, 15-2 

285
Ethan Weatherspoon
R32: No. 20 Jaron Smith (Maryland) major dec. Weatherspoon, 14-0
Conso. R16-2: Tristan Ruhlman (Purdue) pinned Weatherspoon, 4:13