Wrestling: No. 20 Virginia takes 42-3 victory Over Duke

No. 20 Virginia closed out the home portion of its 2021 schedule on Friday, picking up a 42-3 victory over Duke at Memorial Gym.

Virginia (3-2, 2-2 ACC) got five bonus-point victories on the night, using four pins and a forfeit to power their way to the dual victory over the Blue Devils (0-4, 0-4 ACC).

In all, the Cavaliers won nine weight classes in the dual. The match started with a decision from Patrick McCormick (Poquoson, Va.) at 125 pounds before back-to-back pins from Louie Hayes (Orland Park, Ill.) and Brian Courtney (Athens, Pa.).

Duke picked up its one victory over the night with a decision from Josh Finesilver at 149 pounds.

Virginia then raced down the stretch, claiming the remaining weight classes, including pins from Jake Keating (Naperville, Ill.) at 165 pounds and Quinn Miller (Lilburn, Ga.) at heavyweight in conjunction with a Blue Devil forfeit at 184 pounds to help lock up the win.

“It was a good night,” UVA coach Steve Garland said. “Guys were looking to score points and going to their best positions and best things right away. The biggest thing was guys looking to score points and we were glad to see that tonight. The extra matches were awesome and we had some guys look really solid. You want to see, not just in the 10 matches that are part of the main bout, but guys representing the program well even in the extra matches and they did that tonight.”

Virginia will close out the regular season on the road next weekend, traveling to face No. 14 North Carolina in a 6 p.m. dual on Saturday, Feb. 13.

No. 20 Virginia 42, Duke 3

• 125: Patrick McCormick dec. Login Agin (Duke), 4-1 | UVA 3, Duke 0
• 133: No. 12 Louie Hayes pinned Drake Doolittle (Duke), 0:50 | UVA 9, Duke 0
• 141: No. 16 Brian Courtney pinned Patrick Rowland (Duke), 2:02 | UVA 15, Duke 0
• 149: Josh Finesilver (Duke) dec. Denton Spencer, 9-2 | UVA 15, Duke 3
• 157: No. 16 Justin McCoy dec. Brandon LaRue (Duke), 13-6 | UVA 18, Duke 3
• 165: No. 13 Jake Keating pinned Eric Carter (Duke), 1:42 | UVA 24, Duke 3
• 174: Vic Marcelli dec. Conor Becker (Duke), 6-3 | UVA 27, Duke 3
• 184: Michael Battista wins by forfeit | UVA 33, Duke 3
• 197: No. 8 Jay Aiello dec. Kaden Russel (Duke), 6-2 | UVA 36, Duke 3
• HWT: No. 20 Quinn Miller pinned Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke), 3:11 | UVA 42, Duke 3

Additional Matches

• 125: Sam Book dec. Login Agin (Duke), 9-5
• 133: Evan Buchanan dec. Drake Doolittle (Duke), 11-7
• 141: Patrick Noonan dec. Ty Mills (Duke), 8-3
• 141: Luca Errico pinned Ty Mills (Duke), 2:57
• 157: Bryson Neace (Duke) dec. Nic Sansone, 6-3
• HWT: Max Fausnaugh (Duke) dec. Jessie Knight, 11-6

Notes

• The Cavaliers honored four seniors prior to the dual: Sam Book, Cam Coy, Louie Hayes and Drew Peck.
• Virginia notched four pins on the night as part of five bonus-point victories that included a forfeit at 184.
• Jay Aiello and Louie Hayes each now have four pins on the season through eight individual matches.
• Jake Keating picked up his third pin of the season with his first-period pin at 165 pounds.
• Quinn Miller, Justin McCoy and Brian Courtney have each won three straight ACC matches.
• Virginia has won three straight duals against Duke and leads the all-time series 62-7-2.
• Freshman Patrick Noonan made his debut with a decision over Ty Mills in the additional.