While countless hordes of MTV Spring Breakers were gyrating for the cameras on the beaches of southern Florida in skimpy clothing, Virginia wrestlers Jimi Massey, Joe Alexander and Greg Francesca also were dressed in close-fitting spandex, though obviously for different reasons. The three wrestlers spent spring break representing Virginia at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Iowa City, Iowa.
Francesca and Massey headed into the national tournament as ACC champions, having won the 165- and 184-pound classes, respectively, at the ACC meet in Chapel Hill, N.C., on March 3-4. Alexander finished second at 133 and received a wild card bid for the tournament.
On March 13, after a plane ride Alexander described as "bumpy" and a layover in Cincinnati, the trio hit Iowa City.
"For a while it was surreal, and then it finally hit me Wednesday night," Massey said. "But I also knew I should be there."
All three wrestlers dropped their first decisions. Francesca fell, 7-6, to American University's Denis Alampiev, Alexander lost, 12-3, to Purdue's eighth-seeded Evan Robinson and Massey fell, 3-1, to Boise State's Cash Edwards in nail-biting double overtime. Alexander bounced back to take two straight victories in the 133 wrestle-back bracket. Massey and Francesca fell, 13-8 and 9-3, respectively, in the consolation round.
While it is a staggering accomplishment, competing in a national championship tournament is no way to see a town. For the two days before the tournament began, the wrestlers saw little but the inside of a gym and the University of Iowa wrestling room. There was no sampling of local cuisine, either, since according to Francesca, no one really "gets to eat that much since we're trying to keep our weight down."
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"We just ate in the hotel," Alexander confirmed. "There was a T.G.I. Friday's."
If your interests lie more on the wrestling mat than in the Iowa City Visitor's Center, however, then there's no better place to be than the University of Iowa's campus.
"Iowa is wrestling," Francesca said. "There's an aura you can't experience anywhere else. It's like Florida State and football."
If that's the case, then the Carver-Hawkeye Center is Doak Campbell Stadium. A crowd of 15,500 spectators packed Iowa's arena to watch the nation's top collegiate wrestlers. Their presence did not go unnoticed.
"The crowd was amazing," Alexander said. "Every time an Iowa guy wrestled, the place just erupted."
"I've never wrestled in front of a crowd like that," Massey agreed. "When an Iowa guy would go, it would be so loud that if you had a friend in the seat next to you, you couldn't hear him. The Iowa fans and the Minnesota Gopher fans would go back and forth doing chants at each other."
If the crowd was amazing, so were the wrestlers.
The most exciting aspect of the tournament was "watching the finals," Alexander said. "They were some of the best matches I've ever seen."
Iowa State junior Cael Sanderson, whom Francesca, Alexander and Massey all dubbed as the most impressive wrestler in the tournament, emerged as the brightest star of the finals.
"He's going down as the best wrestler in college history," Francesca said.
Sanderson is a three-time national MVP and is unbeaten in his college career. He also earned Outstanding Wrestler of the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive year.
"He never stops moving," Massey said. "He dominates."
Alexander summed it up best: "Wow."
While athletes can talk of championship aspirations until they're blue in the face, nothing is a substitute for the real thing that Massey, Francesca and Alexander had the opportunity to taste.
"It was a great experience this year," Francesca said. "Now I've seen it, so I won't be overwhelmed next year"
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