The 2000-01 Virginia wrestling season kicked off Sunday night with the annual Blue-Orange intra-squad exhibition meet. The Orange team bested the Blue, 22-12, by capturing six of the nine matches, but the result was not as important as the atmosphere. When choosing the two teams, coach Lenny Bernstein aimed for an even mix of talent in an attempt to create a real sense of the regular season.
"When I set up the two teams, I picked them as evenly as possible," Bernstein said. "I thought 133 and 165 would be tossups, and as it worked out, they both ended up going the orange's way, giving them a six-point swing."
Bernstein said he will consider this preseason bout when he chooses his starting lineup, but the results in the upcoming Keydet Invitational, Keystone Classic and Mat Town Tournament also will help determine the starting 13.
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In the 125-pound match, freshman Brian Hutton defeated freshman Jeff Pradhan, 8-5. One of those two will have the heavy responsibility of replacing Steve Garland, who placed second in last season's NCAA tournament before graduating.
Following the 125-pound bout, captain Toby MacDonald won a close 7-4 decision for the Orange team over redshirt freshman Joe Alexander.
The Orange team pieced together a string of victories from 141 to 165 pounds before the Blue team's Kevin Collier pinned senior Cartney Curnuck with 1 minute, 20 seconds left in the first period of the match.
The closest match of the night came in the 197-pound weight class, where freshman Zach Freday defeated redshirt sophomore Mark McLean in double overtime, 2-1. Freday escaped from the bottom position with four seconds left in the match to take a one-point advantage and the win.
"Coming into the wrestling season as a freshman, I really expected the competition within the team to be difficult," Freday said. "In double overtime, I kept trying to stand up, but I wasn't blocking his hands. But I looked over to [teammate] Brian Hutton, and he told me to block off his arms, and then I was able to get an escape."
The Blue-Orange exhibition did not include some of Virginia's top wrestlers. Junior Ryan McGrath (184 pounds) is redshirting the 2000-2001 season, and sophomore Tim Foley is recovering from an injury. Sophomore heavyweight Josh Etu is competing for the United States in the 2000 World University Greco-Roman Championship in Tokyo, Japan.
Without Garland, the Cavaliers shift more from a tournament team into a dual meet team. With the exception of redshirt sophomore P.J. Bory, ranked 20th in the nation, the Cavaliers look like they will have to maintain a strong squad without many standout wrestlers.
Perennial ACC powerhouses N.C. State and North Carolina likely will be Virginia's toughest competition this season. Bory, MacDonald and Etu will have to produce strong seasons for the Cavs to secure victories in conference dual meets.
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