Virginia wrestling hopes to carry enough momentum from its Wednesday victory over Maryland to beat Clarion in its final dual match of the season. The Cavaliers (6-7) host the Golden Eagles (9-3) Saturday at 1 p.m. at Memorial Gymnasium.
"There are a couple of matches that are going to be extremely important if we're going to get a win," Virginia coach Lenny Bernstein said. Clarion's "pretty good this year."
In one of the most crucial matchups, Virginia junior Jimi Massey will face Clarion's fifth-year senior Bob Topper at 184 pounds.
"He's one of their better kids," Bernstein said. "But Massey's one of our better kids as well. It's one big tossup that we need to win."
Clarion coach Ken Nellis agreed that 184 pounds most likely will be a tough battle since "Massey has a nice record, but he's wrestling one of my seniors."
Another important class for the Cavs will be the 141-pound weight class. Sophomore Bob Seidel will be up against freshman Barret Johnson.
The Cavaliers also are looking for an upset at 133 pounds, which pits Virginia freshman Joe Alexander against Clarion junior Rad Martinez, who is ranked in the top 20 nationally.
Alexander "needs to upset," Bernstein said. "That would go a long way toward upsetting Clarion."
The heavyweight match will be a factor since Virginia sophomore Josh Etu will be up against nationally-ranked John Testa.
The Cavaliers are coming off a 20-15 win at Maryland in their final ACC dual match of the season. Virginia took 6-of-10 weight classes from the Terrapins, including Etu at heavyweight, Seidel at 141, P.J. Bory at 149, Don Carlo-Clauss at 157, Gregory Francesca at 165 and sophomore Brian Muir at 174.
Maryland won the 125- and 133-pound weight classes to pull out to an early lead, but it was the Terrapins' only lead of the meet. At one point, the Cavaliers won five consecutive matches before dropping the final two bouts in the five-point win. The victory brought Virginia's dual meet record to 2-2 in the ACC.
Nellis also is keeping his eye on matches he feels will be crucial to the outcome of the meet.
"Virginia has a balanced lineup top to bottom," Nellis said. "The key will be between 133 and 165: Seidel, Bory, Carlo-Clauss, Francesca. They have a lot of veterans in their lineup. It could go either way."
The Cavaliers needed the Maryland win after a 27-13 loss to rival Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Clarion comes to Charlottesville from Blacksburg, where they are matching up against the Hokies today.
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