Virginia’s Season Ends On Day Two Of NCAA Championships
PHILADELPHIA – The 2024-25 season came to an end for the Virginia wrestling team at the NCAA Championships on Friday (March 21) with the three remaining wrestlers in the field being eliminated at the Wells Fargo Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Nick Hamilton stormed through the morning session with wins over a pair of Big 10 wrestlers. He took a 4-2 decision over No. 10 seed Andrew Sparks of Minnesota and 4-1 decision in overtime against No. 18 seed Maxx Mayfield of Northwestern.
• The two wins put Hamilton in the blood round on Friday night against No. 4 seed Terrell Barraclough of Utah Valley where he saw his tournament come to an end in a 5-0 decision at the hands of Barraclough. He was one win shy of All-America honors.
• Jack Gioffre came out flying in his opening match against No. 14 seed Chance Lamer of Cal Poly, taking the 12-2 major decision to advance to the third round of the consolation bracket.
• Gioffre’s run came to an end in a gritty and bloody bout with No. 22 seed Gavin Drexler of North Dakota State in a 12-9 decision.
• Dylan Cedeno ended his run when he was pinned in the second period by No. 28 seed Danny Pucino of Illinois. Cedeno held a 10-4 lead in the match at the time of the pin.
FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND
“I’m a heartbroken, but proud, coach. Our Virginia faithful should be proud of these guys. They wrestled their hearts out. It was Keyveon Roller’s first time in the NCAA Championships and he will grow from this and be even better. Dylan Cedeno put together an epic season and was wrestling amazing out there until he got caught. Jack Gioffre is an ultimate warrior. He wrestled through so much pain; if people only actually understood what he was going through they would be amazed. I’m so proud of him. He wrestled really well. Nick Hamilton, the tank, won three matches out here and beat three guys seeded ahead of him. He’s so tough and we have so much to build on.”
125
No. 26 seed Keyveon Roller
Champ Rd1: No. 7 seed Troy Spratley (Okla. State) tech fall Roller, 15-0 (4:18)*
Conso. R1: No. 23 seed Tanner Jordan (SDSU) major dec. Roller, 11-2*
141
No. 11 seed Dylan Cedeno
Champ Rd1: Cedeno major dec. No. 22 seed Jordan Soriano (Drexel), 11-1*
R16: No. 6 seed Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) dec. Cedeno, 4-0*
Conso. R2: No. 28 seed Danny Pucino (Illinois) pinned Cedeno, 4:13
149
No. 29 seed Jack Gioffre
Champ Rd1: Gioffre dec. No. 4 seed Paniro Johnson (Iowa State), 5-2 (TB-1)*
R16: No. 13 seed Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State) dec. Gioffre, 8-5*
Conso. R2: Gioffre major dec. No. 14 seed Chance Lamer (Cal Poly), 12-2
Conso. R3:. No. 22 seed Gavin Drexler (NDSU) dec. Gioffre, 12-9
165
No. 25 seed Nick Hamilton
Champ Rd1: No. 6 seed Cameron Amine (Okla. State) dec. Hamilton, 2-0*
Conso. R1: Hamilton dec. No. 24 seed Cesar Alvan (Columbia), 10-3*
Conso. R2: Hamilton dec. No. 10 seed Andrew Sparks (Minnesota), 4-2
Conso. R3: Hamilton dec. No. 18 seed Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern), 4-1 (sv-1)
Conso. QF: No. 4 seed Terrell Barraclough (Utah Valley) dec. Hamilton, 5-0
*Indicates match wrestled on day one of competition (Thursday, March 20).