CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Three members of the Virginia wrestling team hit the mat in pursuit of an NCAA Championship on Thursday (March 19) as competition begins at the three-day event at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday, March 19
Noon ET – Session 1 (Prelims) | ESPN2/ESPN+
7 p.m. ET – Session 2 (Prelims, Wrestle-backs) | ESPN/ESPN+
Friday, March 20
Noon ET – Session 3 (Quarterfinals, Wrestle-backs) | ESPNU/ESPN+
8 p.m. ET – Session 4 (Semifinals, Wrestle-backs) | ESPN2/ESPN+
Saturday, March 21
11 a.m. ET – Session 5 (Consolation Finals) | ESPNU/ESPN+
6:30 p.m. ET – Session 6 (Championship Finals) | ESPN
OPENING ROUND MATCHUPS
141: No. 27 seed Gable Porter vs. No. 7 seed Vince Cornella (Cornell)
157: No. 22 seed Colton Washleski vs. No. 11 seed Ty Waters (West Virginia)
285: No. 31 seed Brenan Morgan vs. No. 2 seed Isaac Trumble (NC State)
NOTING THE HOOS
- Virginia has two wrestlers making their first appearance at the NCAA Championships in Gable Porter (141) and Brenan Morgan (285)
- Colton Washleski (157) makes his second appearance at the NCAA Championships after earning a bid while competing at Rider in the 2024 NCAA Championships
- Brenan Morgan is the only one of the three wrestlers with a rematch in the first round of the tournament as he will meet NC State’s Isaac Trumble – a wrestler he faced in the regular season and semifinals of the ACC Championships
- Washleski earned his bid to the NCAA Championships by taking third place at the ACC Championships, while Porter and Morgan both received auto bids by virtue of their finishes at the ACC Championships that locked in one of the automatic slots
- The Hoos have three wrestlers ranked in the latest NCAA Coaches Rankings: Gable Porter (No. 29 at 141), Wynton Denkins (No. 31 at 149) and Colton Washleski (No. 26 at 157)
- Cavaliers have wrestled tough schedules this season, with all three wrestlers in the field ranked in the NCAA RPI: Gable Porter (No. 27 at 141), Colton Washleski (No. 15 at 157) and Brenan Morgan (No. 41 at 285) in the last RPI before the postseason
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