The Virginia wrestling team (9-5, 3-1 ACC) rounded out the ACC portion of their schedule last night with a solid 25-15 home victory over Maryland (3-8, 0-4).
Not only was the night successful for the team, but national No. 1 Scott Moore set a career milestone with his 29th fall of his short Virginia wrestling career. Furthermore, the 141-pounder pushed his season record to 41-0. His 29 pins on the season set a new school record for pins in a career. Amazingly, Moore has only been in the program for one season.
This season, Moore has proven to more valuable than even his 41-0 record would indicate.
"Watching [Moore] go out on the mat like that and just dominate people every time is inspiring," junior Paul Bjorlo said. "It is good to know that he is there in your corner."
Similarly, Virginia coach Lenny Bernstein expressed the value of what Moore brings to the mat.
"The biggest effect he's had is the increase in the intensity level of the people that are around him," Bernstein said. "He wrestles with a high intensity level and when people see that and the success he has with it, they try to emulate that."
While Moore continues to garner a lot of attention, his teammates have steadily proven that Virginia is a solid team.
The Cavaliers showed their poise after falling behind 12-6 following the first four matches. In those matches, 197-pounder Kevin Collier came away with the only Virginia victory after pinning Maryland's Jerry Afari at 1:52.
Virginia, however, rebounded to take the next five matches after the slow start and seal up the victory. 133-pounder Steve Hromada started the string of victories with an 8-4 decision over Mike Lupa.
Moore's pin at 6:00 against Jason Gribschaw kept the Cavaliers rolling. The fall, however, almost did not happen for Moore.
"I was working for the fall, looking for it too much," Moore said. "I started to get to the point where I thought I might not pin him because he was pretty good at staying off his back. I just stayed aggressive and finally worked him into a position where I could get the pin and I finally got it."
In the next three matches, 149-pounder Aaron Martin earned an 8-1 decision over Jerad Villecco and Bjorlo followed with an 11-1 major decision over Jason Kiessling.
"I felt good about my match," Bjorlo said. "I have been struggling lately, having trouble getting my offense going. Tonight, I just went out and opened up on [Kiessling]. I started getting my shots back, getting in on him more, and scoring more."
In the 165-pound match, No. 14 Tim Foley sealed the victory for Virginia. Foley won a hard-fought 7-5 victory over the Terps' John Antonelli.
"I wrestled [Antonelli] a couple of years ago and he is a really tough kid to score on," Foley said. "I just really didn't have a good week in practice.So all that came together and I just had a flat match, but I was able to pull it out. I knew that I wasn't wrestling 100 percent right now."
Bernstein later echoed Foley's feelings.
"Tim's match was frustrating," Bernstein said. "I knew that it would be frustrating for him. Before going out there, I said to him, 'You have to stay focused and just be patient.Things will come.'"
The Cavaliers close out the regular season at Memorial Gymnasium Saturday at noon with a quad meet against Cornell, The Citadel, and James Madison University.
Read More
No. 14 women’s lacrosse unable to slow No. 2 North Carolina in road defeat
By Eleanor Buchanan | 1 hours agoThe lopsided defeat may prove to be a developmental stepping-stone.
Road loss to Syracuse concludes turbulent regular season for men’s basketball
By Emory Huffman | 11 hours agoEntering the ACC Tournament, the Cavaliers are left with more questions than answers.
Men's lacrosse triumphs over Towson in historic Houston matchup
By Eleanor Lynch | 12 hours agoVirginia earned a sorely-needed victory, and established momentum ahead of a pending clash with No. 1 Maryland.
