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Virginia Grabs 21-18 Victory At North Dakota State

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FARGO, N.D. – Virginia (3-0) surged to an early lead and then grabbed the final bout of the night to take a 21-18 victory over North Dakota State (0-3) at the Scheels Center on Saturday night (Dec. 2).

HOW IT HAPPENED
After North Dakota State claimed a victory at 125 pounds to start the dual the Cavaliers rattled off a series of victories across four straight weight classes  to move out to a big lead on the Bison.

Marlon Yarbrough came out with an aggressive attack and grabbed a first-period pin at 133 pounds to push the Cavaliers into the lead. The Hoos would then see Jack and Michael Gioffre grind out tight wins at 141 pounds and 149 pounds, respectively, before Dylan Cedeno would take a 7-0 decision at 157 pounds to give Virginia the 15-3 lead at the halfway point.

North Dakota State fought back, sandwiching pins around a gutsy 4-3 decision from Virginia’s Justin McCoy at 174 pounds. The Bison then tied things up at 18 with a win at 197 pounds. Ryan Catka locked up the dual victory in the final bout of the night, racking up over two minutes of riding time on the way to an 8-2 decision.

NOTES ON THE DAY

  • Virginia improved to 4-2 all-time against NDSU and are 2-0 in duals hosted by North Dakota State University.
  • Jack Gioffre moved to 9-1 on the season with his win over nationally ranked Gavin Drexler and has won seven straight matches.
  • Marlon Yarbrough improved to 6-1 on the season with his victory and has four pins on the season after his pin of Fernando Barreto on Saturday night.
  • Justin McCoy remained undefeated and moved to 5-0 on the season with his win over Gaven Sax.
  • Ryan Catka moved to 3-0 on the year – all in dual action – to also remain undefeated on the season.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND
“What a gritty win! I just don’t know any other way to say it. I’m just really proud of Ryan Catka and so many other guys who stepped up and won close, gritty, hard-fought matches tonight. It was great stuff.”

VIRGINIA 21, NDSU 18
125: Carlos Negrete Jr (NDSU) dec. Kyle Montaperto, 8-2 – NDSU 3, UVA 0
133: No. 30 Marlon Yarbrough pinned Fernando Barreto (NDSU), 1:46 – UVA 6, NDSU 3
141: No. 22 Jack Gioffre dec. No. 30 Gavin Drexler (NDSU), 7-5 – UVA 9, NDSU 3
149: No. 27 Michael Gioffre dec. Maxwell Petersen (NDSU), 5-2 (sv-1) – UVA 12, NDSU 3
157: Dylan Cedeno dec. Landen Johnson (NDSU), 7-0 – UVA 15, NDSU 3
165: Brendan Howes (NDSU) pinned Nick Hamilton, 2:06 – UVA 15, NDSU 9
174: No. 8 Justin McCoy dec. Gaven Sax (NDSU), 4-3 – UVA 18, NDSU 9
184: Adam Cherne (NDSU) pinned Hudson Stewart, 1:07 – UVA 18, NDSU 15
197: Spencer Mooberry (NDSU) dec. Colden Dorfman, 12-9 – UVA 18, NDSU 18
285: Ryan Catka dec. Devon Dawson (NDSU), 8-2 – UVA 21, NDSU 18

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia returns to action to close out the year at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern. The two-day event begins on Friday, Dec. 29.

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