After a triumphant return to the mat last Saturday which featured dominant performances across the board, the Virginia wrestling squad will travel to Raleigh, N.C. this weekend to compete in its first tournament of the 2011-12 season.
The Cavaliers (2-0), who will face a myriad of challenging foes during Sunday's Wolfpack Open, will look to build off the momentum they gained in the season-opening tri-meet against Campbell and Anderson last Saturday. Virginia claimed 16 of 20 weight classes throughout the weekend to outscore its opponents by a 76-18 margin.
Perhaps even more impressive than the Cavaliers' margin of victory is the fact that they achieved such dominance without their highly-touted leader, redshirt junior Matt Snyder. Snyder, who ranks as high as No. 7 nationally in the 125-pound weight class, was unable to compete last weekend, but is expected to return to the lineup for the Wolfpack Open.
With the standout wrestler sidelined, several other Cavaliers stepped up to make an impact, including redshirt senior Matt Nelson, who made his grand return to the sport after suffering from serious concussion symptoms during the last five years. During his debut, Nelson pinned both of his opponents and gained confidence that he hopes will lead him to further success in Raleigh this weekend.
"I didn't come back, wait five years to go out there and lose," Nelson said. "I plan on going to win. It'll be my first tournament in five years, so four or five matches will be an interesting dilemma throughout the day, but it'll be fun. I'm excited."
Like Nelson, Virginia coach Steve Garland expects endurance to determine the winner of this weekend's meet. Garland purposefully scheduled a team appearance at the Wolfpack Open so that his squad could adjust to the intensity of quality competition early in the season - especially against teams the Cavaliers usually do not see in the regular season.
"It's going to be really tough," Garland said. "It used to be an open that redshirts went to, but now there's a lot of teams going to this thing, so we're excited. We see the same guys so much. My hope is we get guys like [University of Tennessee Chattanooga] and other guys from up north that are coming down for it. I just want to see our guys get a lot of competition."
Garland also believes this weekend is just as much about competition as it is about fostering a sense of team unity through travel.
"We love going places as a family," he said. "We jump in a huge sleeper bus. We get everybody with a heartbeat in there, and it's just so much fun to go down there and compete."
In addition to bonding with teammates, the Cavaliers will also look to improve upon their technique, conditioning and toughness - three areas for which the coach praised the unit following last weekend's tilts.
But despite overall success, Garland stressed that to be competitive in the future, the Cavaliers cannot afford any weak links in their lineup. He said he will continue to toy with the squad's roster as the early season progresses.
"Bottom's always a position we're working on, [and] that's why you didn't see us there much [Saturday]," Garland said. "And the guys who didn't wrestle [well] know they've got time to fix that, but that's what we've got to work on."
This weekend's tournament will provide another opportunity for the coaching staff to evaluate weight class competitions. Last weekend, redshirt senior Nick Nelson and senior Sam MacGregor split time at the 141-pound weight class, though the No. 16-ranked Nelson seems firmly entrenched in the starting lineup.
Redshirt junior Jedd Moore and redshirt sophomore Nicky Gordon, both of whom won matches at the 157-pound weight class last weekend, will continue trying to secure a starting spot, while freshman Ethan Hayes and redshirt freshman Derek Papagianopoulos will both compete for the 285-pound weight class position.
Ultimately, the trip south could be a litmus test for how the team will perform against ACC opponents later this season.
"The whole team's been training hard all summer, all fall, so we're all ready to go," Papagianopoulos said. "We'll see where we stand after this weekend"
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