UVA wrestling head coach Steve Garland announced his program’s 2014-15 schedule on Tuesday (Aug. 26). The strong schedule is highlighted by a home dual with national power ohio state at John Paul Jones Arena as well as a road match at 23-time national champion Iowa in the NWCA National Duals.
“This schedule will be extremely challenging,” Garland said. “We feel that if we want to reach the next phase of our goals, we need to ramp up the competition. You can see from this schedule that we have done just that. On top of going to some of the toughest tournaments in the country, which include Las Vegas, the Southern Scuffle and the Virginia Duals, we also boast a home dual against ohio state in John Paul Jones Arena.
“We are also going to be a part of the NWCA National Duals this year and will take on Iowa in one of the most storied arenas in the history of our sport in Carver. Our guys have their work cut out for them and I think they will respond well.”
Virginia will play host to nine home duals over six dates this season. UVa hosts ohio state on Monday, Nov. 24, at John Paul Jones Arena. The Buckeyes finished sixth at the NCAA Championships last season, and three-time 141-pound national champion Logan Stieber returns for OSU.
Tickets for the ohio state dual are $7 for adults and $5 for youth (18 and under), seniors and staff and will go on sale Oct. 13 through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office. All tickets are general admission. Virginia’s remaining home matches will be contested at Memorial Gymnasium; there is no admission charge for matches at Mem Gym.
Pittsburgh comes to Charlottesville on Sunday, Jan. 25, for an ACC match in the Panthers’ first-ever trip to Charlottesville. Pitt was ranked 10th in the final national poll last season.
UVa will compete in its first-ever dual at Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena when the Cavaliers take on Iowa on Feb. 15 as part of the NWCA National Duals. The winner advances to the quarterfinals of the national duals; the final three rounds of the dual tournament will be contested Feb. 22, also in Iowa City. It marks just the second dual ever between the two programs. Behind six All-Americans, the Hawkeyes placed fourth at the 2014 NCAA Championships.
UVa opens the season Sunday, Nov. 2 with a quad meet featuring Anderson, George Mason and VMI at Memorial Gymnasium. The Cavaliers also will wrestle in a home tri-meet against North Dakota State and Gardner-Webb Nov. 15 at Mem Gym; NDSU was a top-25 team last year and finished 21st at the NCAA Championships.
In addition to the Pitt bout, UVa will wrestle Duke (Jan. 16) and NC State (Feb. 19) at home. The Cavaliers will wrestle Virginia Tech (Feb. 1) and North Carolina (Feb. 7) on the road in ACC competition. Virginia also has a non-conference dual on Dec. 20 at Bucknell.
Virginia once again will compete in three of the premier tournaments in the country. UVa will wrestle in the Las Vegas Cliff Keen Invitational Dec. 5-6. The Cavaliers begin the new year at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn., Jan. 1-2. UVa also will compete at the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va., Jan. 9-10; the Cavaliers are the reigning champions in the event.
The ACC Championships will be hosted March 8 in Pittsburgh. The NCAA Championships return to the Scottrade Center in St. Louis March 19-21.
Virginia returns 25 letterwinners from its 2013-14 squad, including two-time All-American Nick Sulzer, who placed fourth at 165 pounds at the 2014 NCAA Championships, and ACC champions Blaise Butler and George DiCamillo.
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