The Virginia wrestling team hosted James Madison, Cornell and The Citadel Saturday in a quad meet at Memorial Gymnasium. The meet completed Virginia's regular season of dual matches.
Virginia only earned one win, defeating the Dukes 39-6 with eight of 10 Cavaliers attaining victory. Virginia lost their next two dual matches -- first narrowly, 24-18 against The Citadel and then decisively versus No. 15 Cornell, 33-10. Cornell had the most successful afternoon Saturday, posting a 3-0 record. The Citadel defeated Virginia and James Madison, but fell to The Big Red, 33-6. The Dukes lost in all three of their duals by a margin of at least 33 points.
"Cornell is a team that is ranked 15th nationally, and could easily be as high as No. 7 or 8,"Virginia coach Lenny Bernstein said. "That's one of those matches where we had the opportunities to upset somebody really good. That's why we bring them in here -- it gives our guys some exposure."
Individually for Virginia, 141-pound Scott Moore and 165-pound Tim Foley each brought home three victories. Teammates Paul Bjorlo and Kevin Collier won two matches at 157 and 197, respectively.
Brian Sticca squared off against two top-20 wrestlers at the 125-pound weight class. In a crucial match against the Citadel's No. 14 Ryan McClester, Sticca nearly pushed Virginia into the lead before falling in overtime. Later in the afternoon, the sophomore faced No. 20 Mike Mormile of Cornell and battled hard before losing 9-4. Sticca proved explosive in both matches to avoid early defeats, yet tired as the three periods progressed.
Arguably the most impressive moment of the afternoon, however, came at the end of the final dual match between Virginia and Cornell. Cavalier fans exploded into applause when Moore stepped onto the mat to face Cornell's Ryan Bridge.
Moore's match, the second-to-last of the day, had little meaning for the Cavaliers, who were down 30-4 and on the verge of losing their second dual of the day. Yet it held great individual relevance. Moore entered the spotlight attempting to finish an undefeated regular season and hold onto his No. 1 ranking in the 141-pound weight class. After a solid first period, Moore pinned his opponent just 27 seconds into the second period. His victory preserved a perfect 44-0 record heading into the ACC and NCAA championships. After the match, the top-ranked Cavalier spun with his arms outstretched as the home crowd cheered one of the most impressive individual seasons in Virginia wrestling history.
"Coming into this year I wouldn't have thought I would have been undefeated," Moore said. "It felt great -- the season has gone perfect so far."
Virginia will now look to the ACC championships, held March 6 at University Hall.
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