Sometimes one must look back before moving forward. As the Virginia wrestling team prepares for a trio of weekend duels - at Maryland Friday and then against Appalachian State and Duke at home Saturday - the Cavaliers continue to reflect on their heartbreaking loss to Virginia Tech this past Saturday. The Cavaliers are not thinking about what could have been, but rather, how they can turn the frustrating result in Blacksburg into a positive for the future.
"We're definitely very disappointed in the way that we competed late in matches [against Virginia Tech]," coach Steve Garland said. "We had the opportunity to win that dual meet and we let it slip away ... that's something we have to absolutely fix."
While some teams would be at risk of an emotional hangover after such a match, Virginia (15-6, 2-1 ACC) actually appears to feed off adversity.
"I know my guys, my staff, they were very disappointed and were angry, frankly, with the way that we competed, and I think that's a good thing," Garland said. "That's a good motivator. And sure enough Monday morning, 7 a.m. practice, we had one of the best practices we've had all year. Our kids tend to respond - that's why I respect them so much; they always respond after a letdown."\nThe Cavaliers hope to prove Garland right Friday as they travel to College Park to take on a talented Maryland that has given them fits in recent years. Anchored by the nation's third-ranked 165-pounder, sophomore Josh Asper, the Terrapins (11-4, 1-1 ACC) have beaten Virginia in four consecutive seasons, and the streak has seemed even longer to Virginia's coach.
"[I] frankly can't even remember the last time we beat them," Garland said.
To remedy the team's recent struggles against Maryland, Garland is again looking back to last weekend. In Blacksburg, Virginia faced a rowdy crowd that appeared to rattle the Cavaliers. The team knows this problem needs to be addressed if it wants to emerge with a road win Friday.
"It's going be another hostile crowd, so we need to suck it up and be ready for it and not let it intimidate us," Garland said. "The crowd at Tech affected us in a negative manner. It shouldn't have, and we need to make sure we use the roar of the crowd as motivation and as fuel as opposed to having the crowd basically incite panic in our guys - we can't have that anymore. We need to make sure we get over that roadblock before Maryland."
Regardless of the result, the Cavaliers will need to pack their bags and leave Maryland quickly after their Friday night match. Noon Saturday they return to Memorial Gymnasium to face Appalachian State (6-9-1), followed immediately by their match against Duke (1-3-1, 0-2 ACC). The team remains confident, however, that the quick layover time will not affect the weekend outcomes.
"The schedule won't be a problem," redshirt sophomore Mike Salopek said. "It kind of simulates a tournament style of wrestling, so we're used to that. In tournaments you wrestle Friday and Saturday back-to-back, so it shouldn't be too big a deal for us."
Nevertheless, the team acknowledges it faces two underrated teams and cannot afford to let up after matching up with a very formidable Virginia Tech. Appalachian State boasts two very skilled wrestlers - redshirt junior Austin Trotman at 174 pounds and junior Kyle Blevins at 165 pounds - both ranked 20th in the country in their respective weight classes. Meanwhile, Duke is an ACC rival, and Virginia can expect to get absolutely everything the Blue Devils have to offer Saturday.
"[Appalachian State] has some studs and Duke isn't going to lay down for us," Garland said. "Nobody lays down for anybody nowadays; that's what's great about the parity of our sport. So win or lose at Maryland - obviously we want the win - but heaven forbid we don't, guess what? [It's] another test for us to suck it up, man up and compete hard"
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