The Virginia wrestling team (9-6) took a second-place finish at the Virginia Duals this weekend, falling in the finals to No. 13 Virginia Tech (5-2) by a score of 36-5 on Saturday night at the Hampton Coliseum.
It marked only the third time that both teams in the finals were from Virginia – all three of them featuring Virginia and Virginia Tech – with all three coming in the last seven years. The two teams met in the 2013 and 2015 finals prior to this year’s final.
“All credit to Virginia Tech, they took it to us tonight,” said Virginia head coach Steve Garland. “That loss hurts, but it doesn’t negate our progress. We have things that need to be fixed – attack areas that need to be addressed. Maybe that was the wake-up call some of our guys need to make the necessary changes.”
Junior Jack Mueller (Dallas, Texas), the fifth-ranked wrestler at 125 pounds, starting the dual with a tech fall for the Cavaliers. It was his eighth bonus-point victory in as many matches since coming off his redshirt at No. 6 Missouri on Dec. 20. In those eight matches, Mueller has posted four wins by fall, three tech falls and a major decision.
Mueller won all three of his matches this weekend at the Virginia Duals by technical fall and helped the Cavaliers to wins over No. 20 Lock Haven and No. 16 Arizona State on the way to Saturday night’s final against the 13th-ranked Hokies.
Despite the strong start, Virginia Tech claimed the remaining weight classes on the way to the dual victory, including tight bouts at 133 pounds, 149 pounds, 165 pounds and 197 pounds.
Virginia will return to action next weekend, wrestling on the road at VMI on Friday night (Jan. 18) before returning home to host Ohio on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 20). Friday night’s dual at VMI will begin at 7:30 p.m., while Sunday’s home dual with Ohio will begin at 1 p.m. at Memorial Gym.
No. 13 Virginia Tech 37, Virginia 5
- 125: No. 5 Jack Mueller tech fall Kyle Norstrem (VT), 21-6 – UVA 5, VT 0
- 133: No. 15 Korbin Myers (VT) dec. Louie Hayes, 7-3 – UVA 5, VT 3
- 141: Mitch Moore (VT) pinned No. 16 Sam Krivus, 3:18 – VT 9, UVA 5
- 149: Ryan Blees (VT) dec. Michael Murphy, 6-3 – VT 12, UVA 5
- 157: BC Laprade (VT) pinned Jake Keating, 0:43 – VT 18, UVA 5
- 165: No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (VT) dec. Cam Coy, 6-2 – VT 21, UVA 5
- 174: No. 6 David McFadden (VT) tech fall Robby Patrick, 18-1 – VT 26, UVA 5
- 184: No. 8 Zack Zavatsky (VT) major dec. Chance McClure, 17-4 – VT 30, UVA 5
- 197: No. 9 Tom Sleigh (VT) dec. No. 7 Jay Aiello, 7-3 – VT 33, UVA 5
- HWT: No. 17 Billy Miller (VT) major dec. Tyler Love, 12-3 – VT 37, UVA 5
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