The 13th-ranked Virginia wrestling team concludes the challenging 2014-15 regular season with a Thursday night battle against No. 20 North Carolina State. Seven fourth- and fifth-year seniors will be recognized for their contributions to the program prior to the match.
The path which led the Cavaliers (10-6, 2-2 ACC) to Thursday’s finale is not the one coach Steve Garland would have imagined. The team opened the season ranked thirteenth in the nation and was riding the momentum from the 2013-14 campaign, which recorded the second-most victories in program history, but injuries to multiple key contributors turned the latter half of the calendar into an up-and-down affair.
Furthermore, the extremely rigorous nature of the schedule has worked against Virginia’s win-loss record. The Wolfpack (15-5, 2-2 ACC) will be the ninth ranked opponent to challenge the Cavaliers — Virginia is 4-4 against teams in the polls this season.
One of those four losses came last Sunday against No. 1 Iowa in Iowa City. The undefeated Hawkeyes took eight out of the ten bouts and cruised past the Cavaliers, 30-6.
“Carver-Hawkeye Arena is the toughest place to wrestle,” Garland said. “We went out there, so our athletes could feel the heat, and the only way to prepare for that environment is to be in that environment.”
Garland makes no pretenses when discussing the regular season. It is simply four months of preparation, and how you compete vastly outweighs your record. Scheduling the likes of Ohio State and Iowa put deeds behind Garland’s words.
“Our schedule was unforgiving,” Garland said. “But the whole point of [the schedule] is getting us ready for the best postseason possible.”
Likewise, North Carolina State can claim to be battle tested. Virginia will be their seventh ranked opponent, and the Wolfpack are a dangerous team for it. Coach Pat Popolizio’s team is coming off a 27-12 beat-down of then-No.14 Pittsburgh.
“[North Carolina] State has had a fantastic year,” Garland said. “They’re rolling right now.”
NC State is a dangerous foe for the somewhat reeling Cavalier team on a three-match losing streak — Virginia had not dropped three consecutive matches since November of 2006. Two Wolfpack wrestlers — highlighted by reigning national champion and No. 1 junior Nick Gwiazdowski — are currently ranked in the top-25 of their respective weight classes, and six can be found in the coaches’ panel.
Virginia will be at full strength on Thursday. Seniors Joe Spisak and Gus Sako returned to the starting lineup against Iowa following prolonged absences due to injury. The rust showed — Spisak fell by major decision and Sako lost via pinfall — but any mat time is valuable at this juncture of the season.
“It was tough coming back from an injury to wrestling the No. 1 team in the country,” Spisak said. “There is no training that can simulate live wrestling quite like live wrestling, but now that I am healthy again I have been getting as much time on the mat as I can to prepare.”
The returns of Spisak and Sako shore up two glaring weaknesses. Prior to his injury Spisak was 5-2, and his losses came at the hands of top-ranked Logan Stieber of Ohio State and No. 6 Josh Dziewa of Iowa. All other Virginia wrestlers competing at 141 pounds have a combined 2-7 record.
Sako is only 1-4 this season, but he has battled injuries from the get-go. But when healthy the Cleveland, Ohio native can be dominant — he was a top-ten wrestler in 2013-14. Redshirt freshman T.J. Miller was holding down the fort before a knee injury suffered against Pittsburgh ended his campaign early — he was 4-3 when wrestling at 149-pounds. As a collective entity, the Cavaliers’ 149-pounders are 5-11.
Thursday night will also be the time to commemorate and honor the seven seniors of the program — Sako, Spisak, Nick Sulzer, Derek Papagianapoulos, Billy Coggins, Nick Kidd, and Mason Popham. Their efforts have helped transform Virginia into a top-flight wrestling program, and they leave many lasting impressions in the record book.
Garland describes the emotion of the night as two-fold.
“It’s really hard because you get so close to these guys,” Garland said. “But there is also a sense of deep pride because all of them are going to be so successful in life. It’s like saying goodbye to a friend.”
Spisak will tackle the match like it is not exceptional.
“I’ve wrestled since I was five,” Spisak said. “Thursday will be one of my more special matches, but I’ll approach it like I do every other one. There has been no greater honor for me then to wrestle bearing the V-Sabers on my singlet.”
Senior day activities begin at 6:45 p.m. Wrestling will begin at 7 p.m. at Memorial Gymnasium.
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