In a down year for Virginia wrestling, Paul Bjorlo's performances have been a bright spot.
Expected to remain strong with many wrestlers returning from last year's squad, which finished 16th in the NCAA Championships, Virginia's team currently stands at 4-9 following a weekend loss to No. 4 Lehigh at Memorial Gymnasium.
While the team has struggled to incorporate new wrestlers and replace All-Americans Scott Moore and Tim Foley, Bjorlo has found success in the 157-pound class, posting a team-leading 22-11 record so far this season. The red-shirt senior from Reston, Virginia has performed well this year, including taking 8th place at the Las Vegas Invitational, a large meet featuring over 40 schools. Bjorlo's 13-8 win over Dave Nakasone of Lehigh also helped the Cavaliers briefly take the lead before dropping four of the last five matches.
Success on the mat did not come easily for Bjorlo.
"I started wrestling when I was six," Bjorlo said. "My first few years I got killed by everyone I wrestled. But around the end of my second year, something clicked and I started winning matches, and I've been doing it ever since."
Since then, Bjorlo has continuously made the effort to improve. One way he has done so is by maximizing the opportunities available in practice. While many athletes loath practice, Bjorlo's love of competition helps him maintain his drive outside of meets.
"I've always been a really competitive person," Bjorlo said. "The most mundane thing can be fun if you're competing against someone. Wrestling is such a great competitive sport because it's you against one other person, when it all comes down to it."
Bjorlo said he recognizes that as a wrestler, he cannot simply rely on talent and needs to continuously work to get better.
"I've built on a lot of the fundamentals I brought with me from high school," Bjorlo said. "All college wrestlers are qualified from what they've done in high school, but the key to being a good college wrestler is developing the things you were good at in high school and improving on your weaknesses."
That effort has enabled Bjorlo to improve every year at Virginia and helped him stay focused in a difficult season. Bjorlo began the season without knowing whether he would be Virginia's wrestler at 157, having to beat out red-shirt junior Jim Hartey to earn the spot. Bjorlo's track record of success helped coach Lenny Bernstein decide to choose him over Hartey.
"Paul knows how to win at the college level at this point, when it comes to the competition," Bernstein said.
His individual success, however, has been dampened by the team's overall struggles. The prospects of improving on last season's results have dimmed considerably.
"I've had some ups and downs this season," Bjorlo said. "The Vegas tournament was a real high for me. I've also lost some close matches, and I've wrestled some really tough competition."
Bjorlo's losses have come against top competition -- three have been against wrestlers ranked in the top five in the nation.
"I want to be an ACC Champion, and I want to be an All-American," he said. "I had kind of a disappointing ACC tournament last year -- I didn't finish the way I wanted. That's been another big motivating factor this year."
Win or lose, Bjorlo's enjoyment of wrestling has kept him in the sport since he first started.
"Even in my early years when I wasn't winning, I always came back because I love the sport," he said.
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