After a great non-conference portion of the season in which it started 4-1, Virginia was thrown into the fire Friday when it played NC State in its first ACC dual match of the season, losing 32-4. The Cavaliers (4-2, 0-1 ACC) were completely outmatched by the Wolfpack (8-1, 2-0 ACC), receiving a true wake-up call as conference play begins.
The dual opened in poor fashion for Virginia, and things never really got better. In the first match, freshman Anthony Rossi lost by tech fall to redshirt freshman Vince Robinson, giving NC State extra points off the jump. A decision win by sophomore Troy Hohman put the Wolfpack up eight points just two matches in.
At that point, it seemed like the Cavaliers were doomed to be steamrollered. But some hope remained. Fifth-year Dylan Cedeno, the highest-ranked Cavalier wrestler at No. 21 in the 141-lbs class, was able to get a win over redshirt freshman Tyler Tracy to put points on the board for Virginia.
“[Cedeno] just wrestled amazing on top,” Coach Steve Garland said. “He rode him out, almost turned his opponent, chain-wrestled really nice and just did a good job there.”
The next few battles saw Virginia drop key opportunities for points. Junior Jack Gioffre put up an incredible fight against redshirt freshman Koy Buesgens but fell 4-2 in a match the Cavaliers would have loved to get back. His twin, junior Michael Gioffre, then lost to senior Ed Scott, expanding the Wolfpack lead to 14-4. After that, junior Mason Stefanelli dropped a close 4-2 match to junior Derek Fields, taking the wind out of the whole affair.
“We would have them 98 percent taken down and just could not get the last two percent,” Garland said. “It really killed us.”
With just four matches left, the Cavaliers were down 17-4. It was do or die time if Virginia was to make a comeback — the Cavaliers did not exactly “do.” Sophomore Michael Murphy lost 9-2 to sophomore Matty Singleton, and junior Griffin Gammell lost 14-8 to sophomore Dylan Fishback. This made the score 23-4 and mathematically won the dual for NC State.
Despite securing the win, the Wolfpack did not relent in the final two matches. Redshirt senior Christian Knop defeated sophomore Steven Burrell Jr. in an 8-5 decision. Then junior Isaac Trumble pinned senior Gabe Christenson to lock up a resounding victory for the Wolfpack.
This loss was certainly not the start Virginia wanted in conference play, but the context behind it is important. NC State’s lineup featured a nationally-ranked wrestler in all but one weight class, whereas the Cavaliers had only two of them. Virginia was also missing three of its usual wrestlers in junior Nick Hamilton, senior Rocco Contino and junior Keyveon Roller due to injury. The Wolfpack are the highest-ranked ACC team nationally, so Virginia was never going to be favored to win. The absences of three strong wrestlers only tilted the scales further.
It will be critical for the Cavaliers to find a way to get more points against tough opponents. Three of the matches Friday were won by three points or less, and so Virginia really could have found a way to make things interesting if it scrapped to win more points here or there. With more ranked opponents coming up, this will be critical for the Cavaliers to have a chance at winning ACC duals.
“The theme for me tonight was guys wrestling really hard, fighting for each other and getting better as the match went on, but making a lot of silly mistakes late and getting beat,” Garland said. “We can learn from that.”
Virginia has over a week off before it returns to the mat Jan. 26. The team will make a long road trip out to play No. 17 Stanford. The dual will start at 6 p.m.
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