CHARLOTTESVILE, Va. – In its first home action of the season, the Virginia wrestling team (8-5, 0-2 ACC) came up short against No. 13 North Carolina (8-1, 1-0 ACC) as the Cavaliers fell to the Tar Heels by a score of 25-10 on Friday night (Jan. 16) at JPJ Arena.
NOTING THE HOOS
- Virginia won three bouts on the night with Wynton Denkins (149), Nick Hamilton (174) and Keyveon Roller (125) taking victories in the dual.
- Keyveon Roller saw action for the first time since the Southern Scuffle (Jan. 3) when he was forced to withdraw and medically forfeit. Roller is now 13-3 on the season and 7-2 in dual action.
- Wynton Denkins improved to 14-7 on the season and 8-3 in dual action.
- Nick Hamilton is now 6-4 on the season, but improved to 5-1 in dual action with is victory.
FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND
“Last week I had high praise for our guys as we were right there and competed like warriors, so I’m disappointed because tonight we didn’t. I had high expectations for the group coming into this match. We knew they were ranked No. 13 in the country, had a very balanced lineup and were ranked up and down the lineup. It seemed like nothing could go our way. Our guys came out flat and that’s on me; I didn’t have our guys prepared like I thought because I thought we had a great week of practice, but obviously not. Last week we got the first takedown in the first five bouts every time and this time it was the opposite.”
“Gable Porter had a beautiful turn right off the bat with a low double and it’s three seven days a week and twice on Sunday, but instead of that somehow he winds up not getting the three and ending up on his back for seven. That was the whole night. We had a beautiful shot and somehow wind up on our back. Technically, we can fix that. Wynton Denkins fought hard. Colton Washleski always fights, but wrestled a poor match tactically. The tactics and technique weren’t there tonight. We have to go back to the drawing board.”
“Keyveon Roller look amazing coming off concussion protocols. He couldn’t have looked better and looked so crisp. But, again, really big mistakes at the worst times are what cost us. We need to somehow get our knowledge of the sport into their heads, and that’s the trick for any coach.”
UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia continues to wrestle at home next weekend when the Cavaliers host No. 24 Stanford at 5 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 24) at the Aquatics and Fitness Center.
No. 13 NORTH CAROLINA 25, VIRGINIA 10
141: No. 20 Luke Simcox dec. Gable Porter, 8-3 – UNC 3, UVA 0
149: Wynton Denkins dec. Nate Askew, 4-1 (sv-1) – UVA 3, UNC 3
157: No. 31 Laird Root dec. No. 30 Colton Washleski, 15-14 – UNC 6, UVA 3
165: No. 13 Bryce Hepner dec. Michael Murphy, 6-0 – UNC 9, UVA 3
174: No. 28 Nick Hamilton dec. Collin Carrigan, 4-2 – UNC 9, UVA 6
184: No. 14 Jake Dailey tech fall Dylan Newsome, 21-5 (5:58) – UNC 14, UVA 6
197: Robert Platt tech fall Steven Burrell Jr., 20-4 (5:56) – UNC 19, UVA 6
285: No. 28 Nolan Neves dec. Brenan Morgan, 7-2 – UNC 22, UVA 6
125: No. 23 Keyveon Roller major dec. Cameron Stinson, 11-2 – UNC 22, UVA 10
133: No. 19 Ethan Oakley dec. Marlon Yarbrough, 8-1 – UNC 25, UVA 10