The Cavalier Daily
Serving the University Community Since 1890

Virginia clobbers foes in debut

Cavaliers outscore both Anderson, Campbell by 76-18 margin during dominant season-opening tri-meet

The crowd roared as the referee smacked his hand on the mat. After the two wrestlers shook hands, the referee raised Matt Nelson's hand for the second time of the day. It was a long overdue reward for the 133-pound redshirt senior.

After being unable to wrestle for nearly five years as a result of serious concussion symptoms, Nelson finally wrestled the first matches of his NCAA career. The upperclassman wasted no time in getting to work, quickly downing Campbell redshirt sophomore Tanner Bidelspach during the first period. Nelson followed up his first-career victory by methodically pinning Anderson freshman Daniel Haines during the second contest.

"Just going out there to compete, win matches, it's been something I've been waiting on for four and a half years, five years almost. So it's great," Nelson said. "But for me the coolest part about it is that I get to wake up on Monday and go in at 7 a.m. and do the same thing again ... which for a long time that wasn't the case."

With only one year of eligibility left, Nelson intends to make the most of his final season. The Cavaliers' 133-pounder already has his eyes set on the NCAA Championships in the spring.

"Two pins is a step in the right direction, but no one's perfect on Nov. 5," Nelson said. "I'm not trying to be. I'm trying to be perfect in March."

And while Nelson and the rest of the No. 17 Virginia wrestling team were not perfect during its season-opening meet Saturday, the Cavaliers (2-0) found much success as they won both duels against Campbell (1-1) and Anderson (0-2) by large margins of victory. The Virginia matmen defeated the Fighting Camels 34-12 by taking seven out of the 10 weight classes, before thumping the Trojans 42-6 later that afternoon with a near sweep of all weight bouts.

"I thought our technique looked great, [and] I thought our conditioning was superb," Virginia coach Steve Garland said. "We really wore out our opponents. But we need to get all 10 guys wrestling like that, not just seven. We don't want to have any weak links in our lineup."

The Virginia squad was noticeably in better shape than its opponents. The disparity in conditioning played a significant factor in most weight class matches as the Cavaliers dominated the Campbell and Anderson wrestlers as the matches wore on and fatigue began to set in.

"I was really excited about that," Garland said. "We do a lot of extra conditioning with our guys, and I thought their lungs looked really good today."

The only position at which the Cavaliers consistently struggled was in the 125-pound weight class, in which Virginia forfeited two matches. Redshirt junior Matt Snyder was unable to wrestle this weekend because of injury, but Garland hopes to rely on the leader during the squad's next outing.

Despite the Snyder's absence, the Cavaliers excelled at almost all other positions. Redshirt freshman Derek Papagianopoulos, a 285-pounder, drew the crowd to its feet with two strong takedowns against Campbell freshman Joe Nolan, before capping off the Cavalier victory against the Fighting Camels by pinning his opponent with eight seconds remaining during the first period.

"I was excited, obviously," Papagianopoulos said. "It was a nice feeling but ... it's over. It's just a score now. We just have to be ready to turn it up for the N.C. State Open [next weekend]."

Redshirt sophomore Jon Fausey, redshirt freshman Nick Sulzer and redshirt senior Shawn Harris also all went 2-0 on the day. Fausey scored tech falls in both of his matches, while Sulzer scored a major decision and took a forfeit. Meanwhile, Harris and redshirt junior Jedd Moore, who won his match against Campbell by major decision, impressed the Virginia coaching staff with solid performances.

"They're both older guys who dropped down a weight," Garland said. "You always want to see if they can handle that cut and I thought they did a great job. Jedd and Shawn completely got their opponents tired, and that's something you always want to see."

All in all, every single Cavalier who made an appearance Saturday claimed a match, including redshirt senior Nick Nelson who followed up his twin brother's pin with a win of his own and freshman Ethan Hayes who collected his first-ever collegiate victory.

With two dominant wins under their belts, the Cavaliers will now look toward next Sunday's N.C. State Open, at which they will face some of the nation's elite.

"I'm excited to get a lot of matches for our guys," Garland said. "I just want to see our guys get a lot of competition, as many matches as possible"

Comments

Latest Podcast

The University’s Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment and Undergraduate Admission, Greg Roberts, provides listeners with an insight into how the University conducts admissions and the legal subtleties regarding the possible end to the consideration of legacy status.



https://open.spotify.com/episode/02ZWcF1RlqBj7CXLfA49xt