The cornerstone of Virginia wrestling this season seems to be the Keystone State. Twelve of the 31 wrestlers on Virginia coach Steve Garland's roster wrestled their prep careers in Pennsylvania, which is one of the top prep and collegiate wrestling states in the country. Thus, for slightly more than a third of the Virginia wrestling squad, the Nittany Lion Open Sunday in State College, Pa. was like a homecoming meet.
Highlighting Virginia's Pennsylvanians is junior Eric Albright, who is currently ranked ninth in the country at 133 pounds. Albright wrestled his junior and senior years at Red Lion High School in York, Pa., closing out his prep career with a fourth-place finish at the 2005 AAA Pennsylvania State Championships. Coming out of high school, Albright was a top-20 recruit nationally.
At the Nittany Lion Open, Albright won the 133-pound championship in a 3-2 victory against No. 12 Mike Grey of Cornell for his first open title of the season.
Albright and the rest of next season's upperclassmen will find themselves continually challenged the rest of this season and on into the next. Pennsylvania will continue to support Virginia wrestling into the future because nine of Virginia's 12 Keystone Staters are sophomores or freshmen.
"I'm so excited to see, not just where these guys are at the end of the year, but where they are two or three years from now," Garland said. "I think technically they've improved leaps and bounds."
The Nittany Lion Open was closest to home for freshman Matt Bonson, who comes from Lewistown, Pa. Bonson medaled at the state tournament three times for Lewistown Area High School and won three freestyle state championships.
Although he is behind Albright at 133 pounds, Bonson wrestles at open tournaments and he got plenty of mat time Sunday. Junior Rocco Caponi described his approach at the open in a similar manner.
"The weekend is just getting a bunch of matches in against some good competition," Caponi said. "Just go up there, it's a one-day tournament where [you] just get as many matches in as you can."
Bonson won his first two matches, including a 15-0 technical fall against Boston University sophomore Ryan Goddu, before losing to Kutztown redshirt freshman Joe Kemmerer 5-1. After the tough loss, Bonson bounced back, winning his next three matches with two pins and a major decision. Bonson lost his next match 11-7, missing a chance to place by five points.
Freshman Nick Nelson took sixth place at 141 pounds in the open. Nelson won four matches, including three major decisions, on his way to a quarterfinal match-up with No. 2 Jake Strayer of Penn State, which Nelson lost 3-0.
Nelson won his next two matches before losing to Pittsburgh freshman Tyler Nauman 3-1 in the consolation final and placing sixth.
Garland said he was happy with the Cavaliers' performance so far this season but added that these freshmen are just that, freshmen.
"I keep saying this, but you have to understand, they're kids," Garland said. "Their bodies aren't even physically developed yet. They're young guys who have not even come close to hitting their potential yet."
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