Currently tied with Maryland for first place in-conference, the Virginia wrestling team has its sights set on emerging from this weekend's ACC Championships as the only team on top.
In the final regular season match, Virginia defeated Maryland 24-14 and earned a share of first place by improving to 4-1 in conference competition. Nevertheless, the Cavaliers know they will have to give it their all this weekend if they want to bring home a trophy.
"We look at this tournament like there are four teams that could probably win: North Carolina, North Carolina State, [Virginia] and Maryland," coach Lenny Bernstein said. "The way I look at it is whoever is most hungry at this time of the year, whoever can execute, whoever is healthiest coming into this tournament will win it."
Virginia has been training particularly hard for this weekend's matches, altering their traditional practices slightly to compensate for the fact that they did not compete last weekend.
"Last week we were training really hard, doing two-a-days, once at 6:30 a.m. and then again in the afternoon," Bernstein said. "This week I really wanted the guys to concentrate on getting more of the mental side into their ACC competition. Guys talk about how the sport is 30 to 40 percent mental, yet they don't always put the mental side in at practice."
It will be particularly important for freshman Brent Jones and Eric Albright to prepare not only physically, but also mentally, for what will be their first ACC Championship tournament.
Albright goes into the tournament with the expectation of being the No.1 seed in his 133-pound weight class, but he refuses to let the magnitude of this weekend's matches rattle his nerves.
"I am sort of coming in under the radar," Albright said. "I am just keeping the pressure off and looking at it like every other match I have wrestled this season. I'm going to take it one at a time and hopefully qualify for Nationals."
Jones, another strong freshman wrestler, was named last week's ACC Wrestler of the Week after his fall at 197 pounds secured Virginia's victory over Maryland. This weekend's matches, however, could prove quite challenging for Jones.
"He has a very tough weight, probably the toughest weight in the conference," Bernstein said. "There are two guys who are pretty much top-20 in the country and in order to win the whole conference he will have to beat both of them. I think he is up to the task, but he will have to bring his A-game to the championship."
Coach Bernstein also stressed the importance of each wrestler's performance this weekend. Because there is considerable parity in the conference, Bernstein believes the overall winner will only beat the runner-up by a slim margin. Therefore, it is important that none of Virginia's 10 competitors go winless. Every team member needs to place and earn points toward the team score.
Albright further emphasized how vital overall team performance is to Virginia's success this Saturday.
"In order to win it outright, everyone on the team, all 10 of us, [is] going to have to give our best performances," Albright said. "Every bonus point is going to count and kids are going to need to step up. Everybody needs to be at their best in order for us to win."
The ACC Championships will take place Saturday, March 4 in Lexington, Va. as part of VMI's MatJam 2006.
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