UVA comes up short against No. 15 Northwestern in first dual match, 20-13

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia wrestling team dropped its first dual of the season on Sunday, falling to No. 15 Northwestern by a score of 20-13 at Memorial Gym. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

After dropping the first two weight classes, Virginia (0-1) turned things around with victories from No. 9 Justin McCoy and No. 31 Neil Antrassian in the 165 and 184 weight classes respectively. Virginia’s biggest win of the dual came from Michael Battista, who defeated No. 32 Andrew Davison in the 197-weight class 6-2 to tie the overall score at 10-10.

In a hard-fought 4-3 decision, second-year Erik Roggie battled with No. 7 Chris Cannon at 133 pounds before dropping the decision by one point in his first collegiate dual match. Virginia closed out the dual with a 7-6 decision in favor of freshman Jack Gioffre in the 141 pound weight class.

NOTES

• Virginia and Northwestern (1-0) met for the 3rd time in school history, Northwestern leads the overall series 3-0
• The last time Virginia and Northwestern met was in the 21’-22’ season where Northwestern won 18-16
• Michael Battista’s win against Andrew Davison marked his 52nd career win
• No. 31 Neil Antrassian picked up his 7th win of the season, earning his 47th career win
• Erik Roggie competed in his first ever dual match with his appearance at 133 pounds.

Michael Battista talks about his win over No. 32 Andrew Davison (6-2). #GoHoos #TheVirginiaWay pic.twitter.com/45NKG6m2u2

— Virginia Wrestling (@UVAWrestling) November 21, 2022

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS   
149: No.8 Yahya Thomas (NW) dec. Jarod Verkleeren 9-4, – UVA 0, NW 3
157: No. 19 Trevor Chumbley (NW) dec. No. 23 Jake Keating 5-2, – UVA 0, NW 6
165: No. 9 Justin McCoy dec. David Ferante 10-4, – UVA 3, NW 6
174: No. 23 Troy Fisher (NW) dec. Vic Marcelli major dec. 12-3, – UVA 3, NW 10
184: No. 31 Neil Antrassian major dec. Jack Jessen 10-2, – UVA 7, NW 10
197: Michael Battista dec. No. 32 Andrew Davison 6-2, – UVA 10, NW 10
285: Lucas Davison (NW) dec. Gabe Christenson 5-0, – UVA 10, NW 13
125: Michael DeAugustino (NW) major dec. Patrick McCormack 15-3 – UVA 10, NW 17
133: No. 7 Chris Cannon (NW) dec. Erik Roggie 4-3, – UVA 10, NW 20
141: Jack Gioffre dec. Joel VanderVere 7-6, – UVA 13, NW 10

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND 
“I told these guys, I just want to stick to the positives. It’s been a really long week. I didn’t know if they were even going to be out here this weekend. So the fact that they’re out there at all, I’m proud of them. The fact that they competed the way they did, I’m proud of them. The big stories of the night were our captains. Justin McCoy was about to get the bonus points, and I don’t fault him. He was going for the pin and he gave up a reversal. He lost the bonus, but he was going for a pin. And then Batista beats a nationally ranked guy who’s really, really tough and looked awesome. And so he’s another captain leading away.

“That ignites the bench and then Neil Antrassian, he’s been the most consistent guy in our entire program the entire season. He’s a transfer from Penn that’s just been a huge blessing for our program. Eric Roggie in his first-ever match at home wrestling is against a two-time All-American and it was back and forth the whole way. Our freshman Jack Gioffre is a wild man, and he wrestles like a wild man. It was really scary at times, but he found a way to win. Winners win. I know it sounds really cliche, but winning is habit forming and he found a way to do it. So we ended on a good note.”

UP NEXT
Following Thanksgiving, Virginia travels to Queens College (Dec. 2) and Campbell University (Dec. 4) in a pair of road duals.