The stage is set for the Virginia men's wrestling team to establish its legitimacy on the national level when they travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. Saturday. The Cavaliers, coming off a solid performance at the Brute/Binghamton Open, will face Michigan State and Purdue in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
At the Brute/Binghamton Open the Cavaliers had place winners in eight of the 10 weight classes, highlighted by junior Rocco Caponi's first-place finish at 184 pounds.
"I think we did better than even myself and my staff expected," Virginia coach Steve Garland said. "We were the talk of the tournament, particularly our depth."
Michigan State and Purdue are the only two teams in the Big Ten that are not nationally ranked; however, they will undoubtedly bring the hard-nosed style of play characteristic of Big Ten schools. While both Michigan State and Purdue match up well for the Cavaliers on paper, getting two wins against Big Ten teams would provide a tremendous boost of confidence for the surging Cavaliers.
"I think we've proven to the country that we're deep and that our kids can wrestle, that we have the ability to compete at a high level," Garland said. "Now it's time to actually do something. The Binghamton Open is great and all but it's not Purdue and Michigan State."
The Cavaliers match up well against Michigan State, even though the Spartans have more wrestlers nationally ranked and carry a strong reputation. The most intriguing matchups of the weekend are in the 133 and 197 pound weight classes. Coming off a knee injury, junior Eric Albright, ranked ninth nationally, will be tested in his first match of the season against the sixth-ranked sophomore Franklin Gomez at 133 pounds. Gomez earned Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors this Wednesday for claiming the 133 pound championship at the Michigan State Open. Gomez will undoubtedly be a tough test for Albright in his return, but Albright said he is confident that his offseason workouts have made him a much stronger wrestler than last season.
"I definitely feel fresh," Albright said. "I wrestle the No. 6 kid in the country from Michigan State but I feel like my work in the offseason has made me better than ever. I feel like I can wrestle at less than 100 percent and beat the best guys in the country-- I feel like that's how much I've improved."
The Cavaliers compiled personal accolades of their own this week when Caponi was named ACC Wrestler of the Week following his championship in the 184 pound weight class. Ranked 11th nationally, Caponi could face newcomer freshman Ian Hinton of Michigan State, the runner-up in the freshman/sophomore bracket at the Michigan State Open. In the 197-pound weight class Virginia' No. 20 sophomore Brent Jones will grapple with No. 14 senior Joe Williams. This will be Williams' first season at 197 pounds, moving up from 184. These matches will allow the wrestlers who have NCAA championship hopes to see how they stack up against other nationally ranked wrestlers.
At last season's ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Purdue beat Virginia by a close margin.Garland said his team has improved greatly since last year and is very similar to the Purdue squad.
"I'm excited for that matchup, because I think they're a lot better; they got a new coach who's completely revamped the program," Garland said. "He's done a lot of good things with the program. They're like a mirror image of us. They've got a lot of good young kids just starting to learn and figure it out, but then they've also got some senior anchor guys in there that are pretty tough."
Coaches and players agree that the Cavaliers have a new atmosphere in the locker room that has not been there in the past. For a program that does not have the national reputation that it feels it deserves, Virginia wrestling hopes to make great strides this year based on a positive attitude and team chemistry.
"We're definitely underdogs," Albright said. "No one even knows what Virginia wrestling is, but this year it's completely different. The freshmen brought a whole new attitude to the room and just helped push the older guys, and we've come together. Our team chemistry is a lot closer, and I know everyone that's in the starting lineup this weekend is 100 percent confident that we're going to beat both teams"
Read More
After another winning season, where does Virginia go from here?
By Emory Huffman , Ben McNiff , Victoria Blankenship and Cierra Lyles | 6 minutes agoThe 2025 season saw Virginia softball repeat much of its 2024 season.
Virginia baseball’s breakup is painful, in more ways than one
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayAfter 22 years, Brian O'Connor is leaving Virginia baseball.
New era, same fight: Virginia rowing finishes 10th at NCAAs
By Eleanor Lynch | 2 days agoThe Cavaliers made significant strides in 2025.
