While most University students were at home over Winter Break, Virginia's wrestling team was in Charlottesville. While the typical University students was watching a movie, reading a book or trying to earn some extra cash, Virginia's wrestlers were here for two-a-day practices.
But all the work paid off. After returning from a seven-day break stretching from Dec. 19 to 26, the team participated in two invitationals and five matches, finishing the run with a 3-2 record and two top-20 finishes. The Cavaliers (5-3) recorded identical wins, 22-12, over North Dakota State and Bloomsburg at the Virginia Duals meet on Friday and Saturday but lost to Drexel and North Carolina at the same meet.
After a strong start, the team finished 18th at the Southern Scuffle and finished second at the Virginia Intercollegiates meet held at JMU Jan. 7.
Helping to bolster the team has been an unlikely hero, Eric Albright. But what makes his ascendance unlikely is that Albright is only a freshman. With a 20-6 record this season, he has quickly made himself a force to be reckoned with in the 133 lb. class, inside and outside of Virginia's squad.
"He's really kind of a dangerous wrestler," Virginia coach Lenny Bernstein said. "He wrestles from a lot of different positions. He doesn't have a lot of weak spots, and he's pretty aggressive and real coachable."
At the Southern Scuffle, held over Dece. 29-30, Albright defeated No. 4 seed Mike Mormile of Cornell 7-4 to advance to the quarterfinals. At the time, Mormile was ranked No. 10 in the country in the 133 lb. class. In the Virginia Duals meet, Albright went 4-0 and recently cracked the top-30, a significant accomplishment for a wrestler who has only been in the program and with the team one semester.
"I had some big wins there that helped my confidence and stuff, and I got my 20th win already this year," Albright said.
At the same time, he's still dealing with traditional problems freshmen encounter.
"At the beginning of the year, he knocked off a guy that was top 20 and then he lost the very next match," Bernstein said. "So it reminds me he's a freshman, but I think since then he's really shown a lot of maturity and progressively gotten better."
With the start of the second semester, Virginia once again will refocus, turning now to Ohio State, which it will face at noon Sunday at Memorial Gymnasium. Being a member of the Big Ten, OSU annually boasts a top wrestling program, a unique challenge to date for the Cavaliers.
All in all, Albright seems to prefer the school-time schedule to that of the break.
"Coming back to school sort of just helps us get back into the flow -- just one practice a day," he said.
Either way, Bernstein has faith in his freshman.
"He's certainly built a lot of confidence throughout the year," Bernstein said. "I think he's had some milestones to get over, and now he's beating some guys who are ranked in the top 20."
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