UVA wrestles great against Drexel, wins by score of score of 39-3 and incoming NLI signee Will Mason (Cape Henry, VA) wins the Beast of the East
Dear Friends,
It was a spectacular weekend for the Virginia Wrestling team and for one of our future stars Will Mason. Here is the link to our official release for the Drexel match and quick breakdown of the dual meet. Then copied below is a the link to the Beast of the East tournament bracket for Virginia native Will Mason. You guys are going to love watching this kid!!
125: Matt Snyder came out and did what he always does. He got taken down first (shocker) and then quickly reversed his opponent and went to work on top. He earned a few sets of near fall points before pinning the Drexel wrestler in the first period. Believe it or not, Matt has actually gotten better from the top position the last two weeks. He has added a couple tricks to an already strong position and we hope that it will help him in his quest to reach to top of the podium this season.
133: Matt Nelson fought through a tough injury and once again showed his teammates what "heart" really is. He is such an inspiration to everyone around him. He got banged up early on in the week, found a way to get through it and came out an earned a big fall for the team. This was a huge momentum boost for our program and I think it was the turning point in the match. We never looked back after this bout.
141: Nick Nelson avenged an earlier season loss (actually his only loss of the season thus far) to Drexel's Frank Cimato. Nelson lost to Cimato in the quarter-finals of the Cornell Body Bar invitational and was eagerly awaiting this rematch. Cimato is a very skilled wrestler and took Nick down right away. Nelson kept plugging away though and got the winning takedown w/ less than 30 seconds to go in the bout. It was great to see Nick not panic and fight back to earn the big win against a tough kid. Great way for him to end the semester.
149: Shawn Harris also avenged a previous loss (also at the Body Bar at Cornell) with a 4-1 victory. Shawn didn't start off great but really picked it up as the match went on. His pace is the third period was exactly what we wanted to see from him and he put the match away with a takedown off a great scramble late in the third period.
157: Jedd Moore, aka "the machine" did what he always does and just kept going crazy until points started to rack up. The match was fairly close for two periods and then Jedd wore his opponent out and exploded with takedown after takedown to shoot the score to a 14-3 major decision.
165: Nick Sulzer was anticipating facing off against a great kid in Drexel's Joe Booth. Booth is ranked as high as 15th in the nation in some rankings but was injured and unable to compete in this match. Nick wrestled Anson Worrell instead and was able to earn a 18-3 technical fall and more bonus points for the team.
174: Vinny Waldhauser was one of the big stories of the day. This was his first ever dual meet start for our team and he really impressed us. He came out and shot in the first 5 seconds of the match, won a great scramble and kept racking up points from there. By the end of the match the score was 13-3. We were most pleased at his approach to the match. He didn't let nerves get to him and focused instead on scoring points constantly. He has improved vastly since he stepped on grounds and we hope this will continue.
184: Jon Fausey is just flat out in the zone. He came out and looked amazing on his feet and from the top position. I can't really explain it any other way. He scored a technical fall as well to put the dual meet away.
197: Ryan Malo earned arguably the most hard fought and toughest win of the night in defeating Brandon Palik 3-1. Palik is a total stud and has been in and out of the national rankings for most of his career. He is fresh off of a good performance out in Vegas where he placed in perhaps the toughest tournament in the country. So we knew this was going to be a battle going into the dual. The match was tied 1-1 heading into overtime but Malo was able to score a takedown from a scramble and get the victory.
Hwt: Ethan Hayes had a very tough opponent in top 12 nationally ranked Kyle Frey. He got taken down to his back right off the bat in the first period and got down 4-0 very early. As you all have seen however, Ethan has zero quit in him and he just kept coming the rest of the match. In the third period specifically, he was in on three shots that he couldn't finish. This is a common weakness for all first years and he'll continue to work on this. He fought hard though and really pushed the pace the last two periods.
Overall we were very excited about the way all our guys FINISHED the matches. We have been talking about this a lot with our guys so it was good to see the fruit of our labor a little bit. Next up, the Southern Scuffle.
As I mentioned one of our top recruits Will Mason, who signed an NLI to come here this past November, won one of the toughest high school tournaments around in the Beast of the East. Mason, from Cape Henry Collegiate in Virginia Beach, won the tournament as the #3 seed. He upset two nationally ranked wrestlers along the way and showed tremendous technique and toughness the whole tournament. Here is the link to his bracket. Congrats to Will!!!!
Steve Garland
Head Wrestling Coach
The University of Virginia
PO Box 400844
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4844
Work: 434-982-5738
Cell: 434-962-0171
Fax: 434-243-7339
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