UVA head coach Steve Garland announced the 2016-17 wrestling schedule on Tuesday (Aug. 30). The schedule includes dual meets against six nationally-ranked teams in the final polls from a year ago.
Virginia will host meets against four opponents, including former ACC rival Maryland, Lock Haven, NC State and Pittsburgh. The Cavaliers will travel to compete in eight dual meets in addition to the Virginia Duals, the U.S. Collegiate Championships and four open tournaments.
“I have to give coach Jordan Leen a ton of credit here,” said Virginia head coach Steve Garland. “I tasked him with the difficult assignment of designing our schedule this year. He and I collaborated on this effort over a long period of time to come up with a great plan for our program, and I think we came up with a schedule that will expose our student athletes to top notch competition.
“Of note is a new trip this year out to Michigan where we will take on two fantastic programs in Michigan and Central Michigan. We will also be competing again at, what is in my opinion, the toughest tournament in the country in the Southern Scuffle. We will also be making our return to the very tough Virginia Duals tournament and of course will end with our ACC dual meet run, which has become an absolute beast of a stretch. All in all I am very happy with the plan that has been laid out for our guys.”
The Cavaliers open the season at the Clarion Open (Nov. 6) before heading out on a road trip against Michigan (Nov. 11) and Central Michigan (Nov. 13). Both teams finished ranked in the top 20 of the final rankings a year ago.
Virginia then returns home to host Maryland and Lock Haven in a tri-meet (Nov. 20) for the only home competition of the fall.
The Cavaliers then close out the fall with wrestlers competing in open meets including the Mat Town Open (Nov. 27) and the Nittany Lion Open (Dec. 4). In dual meet competition, the Cavaliers will travel to Gardner Webb (Dec. 2) and Chattanooga (Dec. 4), while facing George Mason (Dec. 21) in a neutral-site meet at the St. Christopher’s School in Richmond.
Virginia jumps back into the thick of things in the spring with the prestigious Southern Scuffle (Jan. 1-2) before competing in the Virginia Duals (Jan. 13-14) in Hampton, Va.
ACC competition will see the Cavaliers travel for three dual meets while hosting two. Virginia will travel to Virginia Tech (Jan. 22), North Carolina (Feb. 3) and Duke (Feb. 5). The Cavaliers host defending ACC Champion NC State (Jan. 29) and Pittsburgh (Feb. 12).
Virginia will close out the regular-season schedule at the U.S. Collegiate Championships (Feb. 19) in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The ACC Championships (March 5) will be hosted by NC State, while the NCAA Championships (March. 16-18) return to St. Louis, Mo.
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