With the dust settling on the regular season, Virginia wrestling shifted its attention toward trying to achieve postseason success. The ACC Tournament, the first step in the road to national competition, is the route wrestlers can take to qualify for the NCAA Championships. After a long day of battling, the Cavaliers (6-6, 1-5 ACC) finished in sixth but sent four individual wrestlers to the NCAA Championships and claimed one individual ACC title.
The best performance of the day for Virginia was no doubt from fifth-year Dylan Cedeno. Cedeno has been the backbone of the team all year and was one of the favorites to win at 141 lbs as he opened up as the second seed.
After dominating Duke senior Christian Colman 21-5, Cedeno edged out a 4-3 decision in a scrappy battle with sophomore Briar Priest of Pittsburgh. Cedeno then faced the top seed in the class championship, graduate student Sam Latona of Virginia Tech, who beat him in the regular season. Cedeno jumped out to a 7-2 lead early with a couple of takedowns and controlled most of the match.
A crazy comeback late from Latona almost turned the tide, but the score was 7-6 when the clock struck zero, granting Cedeno the title and a trip to the NCAA Championships. Cedeno’s career at Virginia was marked by injuries and losses before he became the top Cavalier wrestler. Coach Steve Garland could not be more proud of his journey.
“We are so happy for Dylan Cedeno,” Garland said. “His journey has been filled with trials and setbacks, injuries and adversity, and to see the way he has overcome this year — with a 12-1 record and an ACC Championship he probably just locked up a top-10 seed at the NCAA Championships. It’s one of the bigger comeback stories in my career. I’m really proud of him.”
Another story of the day was junior Nick Hamilton looking to defend his title at 165 lbs. Hamilton had a Cinderella title run in the 2024 ACC Championships and looked to win again this year as the second seed.
Hamilton defeated graduate student Charlie Darracott of North Carolina with ease, 5-1, before winning 4-2 in a close semifinal battle with junior Derek Fields of NC State. LIke Cedeno, Hamilton would have to take down the top seed to win the title, sophomore Hunter Garvin of Stanford. But Garvin controlled the match from the get-go, and Hamilton lost 5-1 despite a strong performance. As runner-up, Hamilton did qualify for the NCAA Championships, so his season is not done.
The other place-finisher for Virginia was junior Keyveon Roller. Roller started off as the fifth seed and eventually lost by major decision to Panther graduate Nick Babin. However, Roller battled hard in the consolation bracket, winning his next match 8-5 to advance to the third place match. As luck had it, Roller faced Babin again. Roller must have learned something from his first match, as he was able to win a nail-biter 7-5. This secured a third-place finish and a trip to the NCAA Championships.
Despite not placing, there was one other Cavalier who qualified for the NCAA Championships through his performance. Junior Jack Gioffre was also the fifth seed in his bracket and went on to defeat redshirt freshman Koy Buesgens of the Wolfpack. But Gioffre then lost 21-4 to Hokie junior Caleb Henson, the top seed in the class. Gioffre won his first consolation match, clinching qualification regardless of his third-place match performance. While he lost, ironically to Buesgens, Gioffre still made his coach proud.
“We are excited for the other guys who punched through and got automatic bids to the NCAA Championships,” Garland said. “They are going to get a chance to go after one of their main dreams in Philadelphia, so I am filled with joy thinking about that.”
Despite the fact that nobody else earned qualification for the NCAA Championships, this was still a successful tournament for Virginia. They finished sixth, which was expected given their record. Yet, they had five wrestlers finish top four in their bracket and were able to have an ACC champion for the third consecutive year. Roller and Gioffre also qualified for their first trip to the NCAA Championships.
The Cavaliers will rest up for the next week before heading to Philadelphia for the NCAA Championships. While every match will be an absolute battle, Virginia still has a chance at some national glory. The NCAA Championships run from March 20-22.
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