Four Champions Lead Virginia At Mountaineer Invitational

BOONE, N.C. – Four wrestlers claimed championships in the main draw and a total of 14 wrestlers placed for Virginia in the Mountaineer Invitational at App State on Saturday (Nov. 11). The Cavaliers also had two champions in the open division of the event and the 14 placewinners covered both the main draw and open division.

Marlon Yarbrough (133), Jack Gioffre (141), Justin McCoy (174) and Colden Dorman claimed titles in the main draw of the Mountaineer Invitational. Evan Buchanan (133) and Griffin Gammell (184) won titles in the open division.

In addition to the titles, the Cavaliers had three wrestlers take runner-up finishes: Kyle Montaperto (125), Michael Gioffre (149) and Dylan Cedeno (157). Three wrestlers took third-place finishes: Gable Porter (133), Michael Murphy (165) and Ethan Weatherspoon (197). Erik Roggie (149)and Gavin Cagle took fourth-place for the Hoos.

NOTES ON THE DAY

• Cavaliers posted 26 bonus-point victories on the day – including eight pins in the tournament.
• Justin McCoy each grabbed titles in his first action of the season while Marlon Yarbrough grabbed his first title as a Hoo.
• Yarbrough posted a win over No. 19 Ethan Oakley in the championship round of his weight class.
• In all, 16 Virginia wrestlers appeared in the semifinals of the tournament on Saturday.
• It’s the second weekend in a row that at least eight wrestlers have placed for the Cavaliers.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND
“We challenged the guys this week and gave them a lot of hard truths; they responded well. This was a much better week. We had a lot of good wins today with four champions. This is partly some of the vision we had for this group when we started this journey in August, but we should have closed out some other matches better as well. They know that. We will jump on it again Monday. We have a lot of work to do and a long season ahead of us. We need to keep making adjustments and getting better”

VIRGINIA WRESTLERS IN THE INVITATIONAL FIELD
125:
Kyle Montaperto – Second Place
QF: Montaperto tech fall Matt Rowland (Gardner-Webb), 19-4 (5:17)
SF: Montaperto dec. Drew West (Gardner-Webb), 11-9
FINAL: No. 26 Tucker Owens (Air Force) major dec. Montaperto, 16-7

133:
Gable Porter – Third Place
QF: Porter major dec. Takeo Davis (Gardner-Webb), 15-5
SF: No. 19 Ethan Oakley (App. State) dec. Porter, 10-9
Conso. SF: Porter tech fall Gavin Caprella (Air Force), 20-5 (7:00)
THIRD-PLACE MATCH: Porter pinned Tyson Lane (Gardner-Webb), 4:52

Marlon Yarbrough – Champion
QF: Bye
SF: Yarbrough pinned Tyson Lane (Gardner-Webb), 2:50
FINAL: Yarbrough dec. No. 19 Ethan Oakley (App. State), 18-12 

141:
No. 21 Jack Gioffre – Champion
QF: Gioffre pinned Tyler Lamon (Gardner-Webb), 2:44
SF: Gioffre major dec. Kaden Keiser (App. State), 11-1
FINAL: Gioffre major dec. Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb), 14-4 

149:
No. 31 Michael Gioffre – Second Place
QF: Gioffre tech fall Alex Viduya (Air Force), 24-4 (6:06)
SF: Gioffre dec. Jeremiah Price (App. State), 2-1
FINAL: No. 25 Cody Bond (App. State) dec. Gioffre, 5-4

Erik Roggie – Fourth Place
QF: Roggie major dec. Bryce Shelton (Air Force), 14-6
SF: No. 25 Cody Bond (App. State) dec. Roggie, 7-6
Conso. SF: Roggie pinned No. 33 Zach Price (Gardner-Webb), 6:10
THIRD-PLACE MATCH: Jeremiah Price (App. State) dec. Roggie, 9-4 

157:
Gavin Cagle – Fourth Place
QF: Cagle dec. Brooks Gable (Air Force), 7-2
SF: No. 20 Tommy Askey (App. State) major dec. Cagle, 13-1
Conso. SF: Cagle major dec. Tyler Brignola (Gardner-Webb), 15-4
THIRD-PLACE MATCH: Anthony Conetta (App. State) dec. Cagle, 7-5

Dylan Cedeno – Second Place
R16: Cedeno major dec. Anthony Conetta (App. State), 12-4
QF: Cedeno dec. Gavin Gross (Air Force), 10-3
SF: Cedeno pinned Mason Stefanelli (UVA), 1:29
FINAL: No. 20 Tommy Askey dec. Cedeno, 4-2

Mason Stefanelli
QF: Stefanelli tech fall Parker Corwin (Gardner-Webb), 20-5 (3:50)
SF: Dylan Cedeno (UVA) pinned Stefanelli, 1:29
Conso. SF: Anthony Conetta (App. State) pinned Stefanelli, 4:59 

165:
Nick Hamilton
QF: Hamilton pinned Brandon Jacoby (Presbyterian), 4:19
SF: Will Miller (App. State) dec. Hamilton, 10-6
Conso. SF: Hamilton medical forfeit to OJ Bost (App. State) 

174:
No. 9 Justin McCoy – Champion
QF: Bye
SF: McCoy tech fall Logan Eller (App. State), 16-1 (7:00)
FINAL: McCoy dec. Luke Uliano (App. State), 10-3 

197:
Colden Dorfman – Champion
QF: Dorfman pinned George Hopkins (Presbyterian), 2:16
SF: Dorfman major dec. Hunter Adams (App. State), 9-0
FINAL: Dorfman dec. Calvin Sund (Air Force), 9-5

Ethan Weatherspoon – Third Place
QF: Josh McCutcheon (Gardner-Webb) major dec. Weatherspoon, 22-12
Conso. SF: Weatherspoon dec. Hunter Adams (App. State), 3-2
THIRD-PLACE MATCH: Weatherspoon dec. Josh McCutcheon (Gardner-Webb), 15-10

VIRGINIA WRESTLERS IN THE OPEN FIELD
133:
Evan Buchanan* – Champion
QF: Buchanan dec. Charlie Sly (Gardner-Webb), 9-5
SF: Buchanan major dec. John Hager (Davidson), 12-0
FINAL: Buchanan dec. Kaden Kuenzi (Lander University), 7-2 

149:
Luca Errico*
QF: Errico pinned Khamani Harrison (Gardner-Webb), 0:44
SF: Brock Carey (Davidson) pinned Errico, 2:19
Conso. SF: Joey Giordano (Gardner-Webb) major dec. Errico, 18-4 

165:
Michael Murphy – Third Place
R16: Murphy tech fall Josh Roe (Presbyterian), 17-2 (5:17)
QF: Murphy major dec. Alex Hopper (App. State), 14-5
SF: Nick Grizales (App. State) dec. Murphy, 6-4
Conso. SF: Murphy tech fall Josh Roe (Presbyterian), 18-3 (3:43)
THIRD-PLACE MATCH: Murphy dec. Jaden Dobeck (App. State), 4-1 

184:
Griffin Gammell – Champion
QF: Gammell tech fall Julian Rodriguez (Greensboro College), 19-4 (2:14)
SF: Gammell major dec. Jake Bond (Lander University), 16-3
FINAL: Gammell dec. Nate Bukovich (Lander University), 8-3

* Competing unattached