Four Cavaliers To Open NCAA Championships Thursday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Four members of the Virginia wrestling team begin the quest for an individual national title on Thursday (March 20) as competition begins in the NCAA Wrestling Championships at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Every round of the NCAA Wrestling Championships will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks with the morning sessions all on ESPNU and the evening sessions on ESPN. The main broadcast stream and individual mats will also be streamed on the ESPN app and ESPN.com. Links to the primary broadcast stream are available at VirginiaSports.com. Updates will also be on the team’s official account (@UVAWrestling) on X.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday
First Round – 12 p.m. ET – ESPNU
Second Round – 7 p.m. ET – ESPN
Friday
Quarterfinals – 12 p.m. ET – ESPNU
Semifinals – 8 p.m. ET – ESPN2
Saturday
Medal Rounds – 11 a.m. ET – ESPNU
Finals – 7 p.m. ET – ESPN
QUICK SHOTS
• Virginia sends wrestlers the NCAA Championships for the 45th time with the 2025 edition of the event
• Two Cavaliers are making their second appearance in the field – Dylan Cedeno and Nick Hamilton
• Dylan Cedeno made his first appearance in the NCAA Championships as a freshman in 2022 after a third-place finish at 141 pounds at the ACC Championships that season
• Cedeno won the ACC Championship at 141 pounds this season to lock up his second career bid
• Cedeno’s ACC title was the 95th individual ACC Championship claimed by a Virginia wrestler
• Nick Hamilton appears for the second straight season after taking a runner-up finish at 165 pounds at the ACC Championships this year. He won the title last season to earn his first NCAA bid.
• Keyveon Roller (125) and Jack Gioffre (149) both earned their first bid to the NCAA Championships
• Roller earned his bid with a third-place finish at 125 pounds at the ACC Championships, while Gioffre locked up his bid with a fourth-place finish to claim one of the ACC’s automatic bids
• Jack Gioffre could have a rematch on his hands in the second round as he and NC State’s Koy Buesgens would face off for the fourth time if both win their opening bouts
• The Hoos have four wrestlers in the last NCAA Coaches Rankings before the 2025 NCAA Championships – Roller (28 at 125), Cedeno (12 at 141), Jack Gioffre (28 at 149) and Hamilton (19 at 165)
• Two Virginia wrestlers were in the last NCAA RPI with Roller and Cedeno coming in at 29 and 10, respectively. Gioffre and Hamilton did not wrestle enough matches to qualify for an RPI ranking at 14 countable bouts each wrestled
VIRGINIA IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
• UVA had wrestlers receive bids to the NCAA Championships for the 41st consecutive season in 2025
• The Cavaliers’ best finish under head coach Steve Garland is 15th in the 2010 and 2017 championships
• The best finish all-time for Virginia came in the program’s first appearance – 10th place in 1957
• Virginia has had four finalists at the NCAA Championships – Henry Jordan (1957 – HWT), Steve Garland (2000 – 125), George DiCamillo (2017 – 141) and Jack Mueller ( 2019 – 125)
• In addition to his finals appearance in 2019, Mueller also advanced to the semifinals in the 2017 NCAA Championships and took a sixth-place finish after having to medically withdraw from competition
• All-time, Virginia has had 17 wrestlers garner All-America honors. Three of them earned the honor multiple times with Chris Henrich, Nick Sulzer and Jack Mueller being three-time All-Americans
HOOS VS. THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS FIELD
• Keyveon Roller enters the NCAA Championships having faced six wrestlers in the bracket and has posted a 4-4 record against those foes – including three matches against Pitt’s Nick Babin
• Dylan Cedeno faced five wrestlers in the NCAA field and posted a 7-1 record against those foes
• Jack Gioffre faced four wrestlers in the field during his limited action this season, going 2-5 in those matches that included three vs. Koy Buesgens (NCSU) and two vs. Caleb Henson (VT)
• Nick Hamilton faced five wrestlers in the field with a 4-2 record against those opponents this season