Virginia wrestling battled back from a 16-0 deficit, but fell just one point short, 19-18, to Clarion in the Cavaliers' final home dual match of the season Saturday. The close loss to the traditionally strong Golden Eagles was a confidence booster for Virginia, even if it didn't come away with a win.
"We wrestled really well," junior Jimi Massey, who was victorious at 184 pounds over Clarion's Bob Topper, said. "We needed it since we didn't wrestle well in our last two against Maryland and Virginia Tech. Everyone's fired up going into ACCs, which I really believe we can win. It would be the first time in U.Va. history."
The Cavaliers were weak out of the gate and dropped the first four matches. The Golden Eagles' Eric Mausser pinned freshman Zach Freday 4 minutes, 9 seconds into the 197-pound match to give Clarion its first six points.
Virginia junior heavyweight Ryan Painter followed with a decisive 10-2 loss to nationally-ranked John Testa. Virginia freshman 125-pounder Ryan Stewart then dropped his match against Peter Derstine 4-8, which gave Clarion a commanding 13-0 lead. After Virginia freshman Joe Alexander fell to Rad Martinez at 133 pounds, the Golden Eagles' lead was 16-0.
"They were favored through the first four matches," Virginia coach Lenny Bernstein said. "I didn't expect to lose all four, but if you look at the lineup, they were favored."
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Senior Jason Bernd, wrestling in place of junior Bob Seidel, who was benched with a groin pull, turned the tide for Virginia with a 7-6 victory at 141 pounds.
Virginia rode the momentum through the rest of the match. Senior P.J. Bory squeaked by Dominic Surra 8-7 at 149 pounds to boost the Cavaliers' total to 16. Sophomore Don Carlo-Clauss added another three points by defeating Shane McChesney, 5-2, at 157 pounds. Clarion's Pete Kroshefskie forfeited to junior Greg Francesca at 165 pounds, and left Virginia one point shy at 16-15.
In perhaps the Cavaliers' most frustrating loss of the afternoon, Virginia sophomore Brian Muir fell to Clarion's Aaron Mitchell, 3-1, in overtime at 174 pounds.
Muir "took every shot," Bernstein said. "He came very close to finishing. But it was heartbreaking for both the team and Brian."
Muir's loss left Virginia down 19-15 with just the 184-pound bout left. Massey went up against another of Clarion's nationally-ranked wrestlers, Bob Topper. Massey edged him out, 3-2, to finish up the meet, but the final total gave Clarion the win by one point, 19-18.
"That match was very important for me because I've struggled the last two matches," Massey said. "A loss going into the ACCs would not have been good."
The loss to Clarion leaves Virginia with a 6-8 record for the season, but Bernstein is not completely disappointed that the Cavaliers didn't come out on top.
"I felt good about the way we finished," he said.
The Cavaliers head to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the ACC Tournament on March 3.
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