After nine years as head coach of Virginia wrestling, Lenny Bernstein has learned not to mince words. Even so, after the Cavaliers (1-4) dropped Tuesday's match against VMI (5-3), Bernstein gave his wrestlers an earful.
"I ripped them a new one after VMI," Bernstein said. "I don't think they've ever seen me like that this year. I felt like they were maybe resting a little bit, maybe feeling sorry for themselves, not showing the kind of effort I expect from a Virginia team."
Bernstein's words did not fall on deaf ears.
"It was something that we needed," redshirt sophomore Tim Foley said. "It makes you concentrate a little more. People just needed a quick little wake-up call."
Virginia will get a chance to turn its season around when it hosts the Virginia Intercollegiate State Wrestling Championships at Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday at 11 a.m.
The Cavaliers will be up against teams from George Mason, James Madison, Virginia Tech, VMI and other in-state rivals. Although Virginia is the returning champion, last year's title was won without Virginia Tech in attendance, which left the state crown "tainted," according to team captain Jimi Massey.
"We're looking forward to this tournament and taking it" outright, Foley said.
Despite a tough loss to Virginia Tech on Jan. 11, the Cavaliers are legitimate contenders for the state championship because Virginia is especially strong in tournament competition. Rather than pitting the best wrestlers from two teams against one another, a tournament gives a team more chances to garner points from its best wrestlers against several different teams.
Virginia will have to be at the top of its game and find renewed confidence if the team hopes to keep up with the Hokies and Keydets, much less the other state teams.
The Cavaliers have had anything but a picture-perfect season. They started dual match play with a loss against Lock Haven on Jan. 5 but bounced back to defeat George Mason, 38-6, later that day.
Even after beating the Patriots, Virginia could not keep a winning stride. It lost to No. 10 Missouri and dropped a 21-18 heartbreaker to Virginia Tech on Jan. 11.
Now that the Keydets have handed the Cavaliers their fourth loss this season, Virginia is in for a little soul-searching.
"We've had a couple of injuries, so we're not quite as strong as we could have been," Bernstein said. "We have three freshmen starting who are having confidence problems, but I think we're getting in to the part of the season where they can overcome that. We're just not performing."
"It's youth and inexperience compounded with no college play," Massey agreed. "As a team we're just not coming together."
Massey, who wrestles in the 184-pound weight class, has been a bright spot for the Cavaliers, winning all five of his bouts in dual match play. He will face a special challenge Saturday, when he matches up with the Hokies' Scott Justus, who is ranked third in the nation. Massey lost to Justus last year and is determined to avoid a repeat.
"Definitely revenge is on my mind, but the kid from JMU [Dave Colabell] is also pretty tough and I didn't get to wrestle him last year. I can't really look forward to [Justus] until I beat" Colabell, Massey said.
Massey and his team have a lot to look for - and a lot to look forward to - as they try to turn their season around.
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