Early in the season, Virginia has earned some attention. After hanging tough with then-No. 8 Lehigh and posting strong performances on the road, it seemed that a challenging road schedule would not faze the Cavaliers.
Facing their second consecutive nationally ranked opponent on the road, the question became whether the Cavaliers could rise to the occasion once more — or if the toll of their demanding schedule would finally cause them to falter.
On the road for the fifth straight time due to Memorial Gym renovations, the Cavaliers traveled to the Crisler Center to take on No. 11 Michigan. Questions were quickly met with answers Sunday as the Cavaliers fell in humbling fashion, 40-3.
“We’ve been wrestling well all year, but not today,” Coach Steve Garland said.
The afternoon dual opened with a highly anticipated matchup in the 125-lbs weight class between the Cavaliers’ nationally ranked No. 20 senior Keyveon Roller and No. 26 graduate student Diego Sotelo. Roller could not keep up his early-season fire, falling by decision and allowing Michigan to take an early lead that set the tone for the rest of the dual.
Another highly anticipated matchup came at 157 lbs, with No. 27 freshman Cameron Catrabone and No. 18 graduate student Colton Washleski. For Washleski, it was his first ranked matchup of the season, and, like Roller, he had looked unstoppable coming in and poised to protect his undefeated streak. But in this bout, he fell short, losing by pin, a result that foreshadowed the afternoon’s larger theme.
The Cavaliers’ highest-ranked wrestlers were unable to find their groove and could not recover from those losses as Virginia continued to lag behind.
On a gloomy day, however, No. 33 sophomore Gable Porter was the lone bright spot. In a closely contested match, Porter won by decision, securing the only points the Cavaliers would score all day. With the victory, he also extended his undefeated streak, improving his dual record to 4-0 on the season.
But even with Porter’s strong showing, the rest of the Cavaliers could not follow suit. Many suffered the same fate as Roller and Washleski. In the only two matchups where both wrestlers were nationally ranked, Michigan took both. Just as Garland described, the Cavaliers were simply not wrestling to their usual standard.
Still, these losses may be a byproduct of the demanding schedule the Cavaliers have faced all season.
“The journey of the season is layered with hard lessons, and most of our guys are going to learn some hard lessons from this,” Garland said.
It was indeed a hard lesson for the Cavaliers, who have opened the season with a string of very strong performances.. But the only way to learn from that lesson is to move forward and keep the pedal down.
In a quick turnaround, Virginia has another road matchup Saturday at Bloomsburg. In that matchup, the Cavaliers will look to make a swift bounce-back and wrestle at the level Garland wholeheartedly believes they are capable of.
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