No. 12 Virginia wrestling competed at the NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City during the weekend. At the conclusion of the three day tournament, the Cavaliers (18-3, 5-1 ACC) stood in a tie with Old Dominion for 23rd place with 18.5 points.
Junior Nick Sulzer played a star role, finishing in fourth place and claiming All-American honors for the second consecutive year. Sulzer is only the second multiple-time All-American in Virginia history — Chris Henrich was a three-time All-American.
Sulzer cruised into a quarterfinal matchup against No. 11 seed junior Turtogtokh Luvsandorj of the Citadel. The match was decided by a razor thin margin, with Sulzer requiring an overtime period to clinch a 4-3 victory.
The win earned Sulzer a rematch with Oklahoma State senior Tyler Caldwell, the 2nd seed. Caldwell — having already defeated Sulzer once this season — bumped the wrestler from Virginia into the consolation bracket with a 5-0 decision.
Sulzer reached the third-place final with a 13-1 major decision victory against junior Michael Moreno of Iowa State. North Dakota State senior Stephen Monk got the best of Sulzer and pinned him in the second period to claim third place.
No other Cavalier wrestler made it past the first session. Junior Joe Spisak and senior Jon Fausey were both eliminated on the first day after going 0-2. The remaining wrestlers advanced into the consolation bracket before they were handed an eliminating loss.
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