In baseball there is a saying that you can tell how the season will go by the first hitter of the year. Judging by its performance Saturday, the Virginia wrestling team should hope this applies to wrestling as well. In their three wins against Wagner (52-0), Anderson (45-3) and Virginia Military Institute (42-3) the Cavaliers lost only two of their 30 matches. This dominating performance by the entire squad speaks volumes to the intense off-season work logged by the wrestlers and their coaches.
A big part of this off-season training focused on the formation of the team aspect of Virginia wrestling. In his second season as head coach, Steve Garland said the work he is doing aims to remake the Virginia wrestling program into a system.
"Part of what we're trying to do here is a process [to] change the way we wrestle as a program, not individually, to wrestle as a system," Garland said, adding that he wants the team to be seen as "aggressive."
Garland noted that he started to see the team buy into his vision of Virginia wrestling toward the end of last season.
"Eric Albright won three matches at Nationals last year because he could out-scramble everybody -- that's something I take pride in," Garland said. "In my senior year here at U.Va., I was known for being a scrambler, being a guy who scores off of your scoring opportunities. I really like the fact that my guys are starting to pick that up."
Though this is only Garland's second season as head coach, his system should bring success this season. The dynamic between a nucleus of experienced veterans and a pack of hungry freshmen provides depth and promises growth and excitement throughout the season. Garland looks to the experience of his veterans to help the freshmen adjust to collegiate wrestling, and he expects the freshmen to push the returning starters to improve continually.
"We're looking for the older guys to really start stepping up and performing like they know they should and to start using the tools they're taught in the room," Garland said. "And for our younger guys to come up and display their talent and let it all on the line regardless of how old they are."
Garland spoke enthusiastically about the strides he has seen the upperclassmen take.
"I think [junior] Rocco Caponi, [sophomore] Brent Jones personify [the system]," Garland said. "Our younger kids are really starting to get there -- [sophomore] Kellon Balum's one of those guys. That's what I want to see. I want to see them keep with that style that we've been pushing and score as many points as they can."
In addition to their performances on the mat this past weekend, several wrestlers spoke about the impact Garland has had on the program. Caponi said Garland does coach in a system, but said the system tailors to each individual wrestler's style.
"His stuff is not just high-flying stuff that nobody can do, it's simple basic stuff that every wrestler can adapt to their style and make them better," Caponi said. "He's very good at doing that, and I do see all the wrestlers on this team using his style, using a lot of his moves and benefiting very much from it."
Jones said Garland has affected his wrestling from his first days with the team.
"The summer that he got the job he was in here [and] taught me a move that I hit regularly now," Jones said. "I took down the No. 1 kid in the country with it. It's my go-to shot now."
The match experience and success of Garland and his coaching staff contribute to the development of the system. Garland and assistant coaches Scott Moore and Matt Pell have conference and NCAA championship experience that has helped them guide Virginia's wrestlers through the season and into the postseason.
"They [the wrestlers] are supposed to take some of the attributes from us -- not supposed to wrestle exactly like us -- but they have to take a philosophy in the system from us," Garland said. "And hopefully it spreads across the team where everybody's wrestling like that."
This will be Moore's fourth and Pell's first season as assistant coach at Virginia. Garland came to Virginia in 2006 after six seasons as an assistant coach at Cornell, where he was part of four consecutive top-11 NCAA Championship finishes. Jones said the time and energy Garland and the coaches put into the team builds a great atmosphere for success.
"Garland is so technically sound with everything he does; everything he brings to the team reflects back in on us and so we're trying to do it to please ourselves ... but we also want to prove that coach Garland can take our team to the top," Jones said. "His system is great, it's working. I think we're going to shock a lot of people around the country this year as a team."
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