The Virginia wrestling team celebrated its Senior Day in grand fashion Saturday as it cruised to a pair of home wins. The Cavaliers began the day by blanking Duke 40-0 - their first ACC shutout since a 44-0 victory at Duke Jan. 16, 1984 - before defeating Appalachian State 31-8.
Virginia (17-7, 3-2 ACC) suffered a devastating 19-16 loss on the road at Maryland Friday night, and the Cavaliers knew that they would need to put that match behind them if they wanted to win both duals Saturday. If the team was drained physically or emotionally, it did not show it, thanks in large part to the motivational efforts of coach Steve Garland.
"You just keep talking and convince them of something," Garland said. "Even though they should have been tired and should have been miserable, I just kept telling them, 'Look, I don't want to hear anything, there's absolutely no way anyone's going to be tired, you guys are rested' ... I just kept telling them they're OK, and then sure enough they're OK. If you tell them enough, they start to believe it."
The match against Duke (1-4-1, 0-4 ACC) started with the Blue Devils forfeiting the first two weight classes - 125 and 133 pounds - because of injuries, which spotted Virginia an early 12-0 lead.
Then at 141 pounds, redshirt junior Dave Ebbott held on for a hard-fought 5-3 victory against Duke senior Mike Bell to push Virginia's lead to 15-0. The win gave Ebbott the perfect Senior Day send-off, as it marked the last home match of his collegiate career.
"I was really excited right away with David Ebbott," Garland said. "He's been battling to get a spot in the lineup up for four years, and we put him in there and he got a big win. The kid he wrestled is tough; he's one of their better guys, and Ebbott really gutted it out. It was an important moment for me and definitely for him."
The Cavaliers continued to pile up the victories, and the most exciting match of the day occurred at 184 pounds when sophomore Stephen Doty rallied back from a late third period deficit. Down 5-3 with precious seconds left on the clock, Doty shot in for a two-point takedown just as the clock expired to send the match into overtime. Fueled by the new momentum, Doty scored an early takedown in the extra period to pick up the 7-5 win.
"Once I knew it was a one-takedown match, I just got it into my mind that I was going to get the takedown," Doty said. "That's all I was thinking about for the whole final minute."
Garland could do nothing but gush about Doty as a wrestler and as a person, and he even went so far as to entreat Virginia's athletic director on Doty's behalf.
"We preach all the time how you live your life, not just in the wrestling room but off the mat," Garland said. "And that kid lives it, man, he lives it. So that's what you see out there; that's why he doesn't get tired, that's why he's so focused. Because that's the way that kid lives his life ... And that's why we need a statue, Craig Littlepage, of Stephen Doty somewhere in our wrestling room."
Against Appalachian State (7-10-1), Virginia started strong with back-to-back pins - one by redshirt sophomore Matt Snyder at 125 pounds and the other by freshman Joe Spisak at 133 pounds - to again emerge with an early 12-0 lead.
Senior Chris Henrich, the program's all-time wins leader, ended his storied career at home with two victories on the day - including a quick pin in his final match. After the match, the gravity of concluding his final time wrestling at home still had not sunk in for Henrich.
"It really hasn't hit me yet, to be completely honest," Henrich said. "It's hard to grasp the magnitude, I've been wrestling for so long. I'm just honored that everyone came out today, that we really wrestled our heads off, and I'm really proud to be a part of this right now."
Virginia's third and final senior, heavyweight redshirt senior Jack Danilkowicz, also ended his home career on a high note by earning two wins by decisions. Danilkowicz is known as a very intense individual, but his second victory turned his normally stoic face into a big smile - much to the delight of his teammates.
"It was a really big moment for the team - that's what we were clapping for after the match," Garland said. "Everybody was just kind of acknowledging, 'Hey Jack, it's good to see that smile on your face.'"
Virginia now stands one win shy of the school record for dual wins in a season - set in 2008 - and has two chances to match it on the road this week. The Cavaliers travel to George Mason for a 7 p.m. match Thursday and then conclude the regular season at Old Dominion Sunday.
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