The NCAA Championships began March 19 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland with 330 total wrestlers representing schools across the country. While Washleski was making his second appearance — his last coming in 2024 — Porter and Morgan were making their first career appearances.
Of the Virginia omissions, Denkins and Roller perhaps had the most compelling cases for consideration.
As a member of the coaching staff, he is returning the favor to the program and the people that helped shape his identity and career.
“Our other guys showed no urgency,” Garland said. “The ACC tournament is right around the corner. Our staff will do everything we can from now until then to help our guys improve.”
Garland hopes the performances of standouts Porter, Denkins and Washleski will not only continue, but also inspire and embolden their teammates that they can take the same strides.
Friday night, Virginia wrestling hopes to upend No. 7 Virginia Tech in dual action, an upset that would immediately take on a revered place in Virginia wrestling history.
“They're special. But what's frustrating to watch is [Stanford] executed exactly their game plan like we have game plans all week,” Garland said. “But it doesn't matter what we know. They got to actually do it.”
“Not only were we getting out [strategized] by them, but we were getting beat on technique that we should know better,” Garland said. “So I got to figure out how I get our knowledge as coaches into their brains and have them actually do it.”
Virginia, now 8-4 overall and 0-1 in the ACC, has faced more consecutive road matches than any other winter sports team, a grueling reality caused by the Memorial Gymnasium renovations.
The Cavaliers will need to find ways to turn their narrow losses into wins as they enter arguably the most important stretch of the season. Their next five duals will all be conference matches, with three taking place at home.
Virginia wrestling traveled to Raleigh, N.C., Friday to conclude a lengthy stretch of road matches with its first ACC dual of the season against No. 9 NC State.
Virginia wrestling kicked off the new year on the road in Chattanooga, Tenn. for the Southern Scuffle.
Porter began the year with a loss in the Round of 16 of the Navy Classic Nov. 2, but has not fallen since.
“People probably aren’t going to believe this, but I honestly didn’t know that was my 200th win,” Garland said. “I’m grateful more than anything."
The weekend was filled with firsts, including eight wrestlers who saw their first action of the season.
“Score first, get time and not get ridden,” Garland said. “They hit all those goals.”
Cavaliers fell in humbling fashion, 40-3.
“Our guys showed up today and got the job done,” Garland said.
“That Lehigh match was a war,” Garland said. “It was a pretty intense match back and forth the whole way.”
"We were all blown away by Keyveon Roller,” Garland said. “He’s a perfect combination of skill and toughness."
