Wrestling: Cavaliers announce newcomer class for 2023-24

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia wrestling program will welcome a group of seven wrestlers to the squad for the 2023-24 academic year as head coach Steve Garland announced the group of newcomers to the program on Tuesday.

The class of newcomers features a trio of state champions, multiple All-America honorees and a pair of transfers from NCAA DI institutions. Transferring into the program are Ryan Catka from Navy and Sammie Hayes from Illinois.

“We brought in a small group this year, but as you can see from the list of accolades, it is a very talented and accomplished group,” Garland said. “Our goal heading into this class was to try and match the type of guys we brought in with the 2022 group – which we think very highly of – and we feel like we did that. These guys are competitors. They have competed against some of the best competition in the country and internationally. These guys love to work. They are bought into our program and our staff. That’s huge.”

The group of seven newcomers joins a group of 27 returning wrestlers that includes a group of freshman who made up the nation’s ninth-ranked recruiting class a year ago.

VIRGINIA’S CLASS OF 2023 RECRUIT PROFILES
Steven Burrell Jr. | New Rochelle, N.Y. | Greens Farms Academy

• Ranked No. 32 overall on FloWrestling Big Board for 2023
• Ranked No. 6 at 220 pounds by FloWrestling
• 2x All-State selection in New York
• 2023 U23 Freestyle World Team Trials Finalist
• National Prep Champion and Most Outstanding Wrestler
• Prep New England Champion
• Journeymen Fall Classic Champion
• NHSCA Senior All-American
• U.S. Open All-American
• 2022 Westchester/Putnam Wrestler of the Year

Ryan Catka | Brookhaven, Pa. | Sun Valley HS (Navy)

• Went 23-8 as a freshman at Navy
• 2x Pennsylvania State Placewinner as a junior and senior
• 2021 Daily TimesWrestler of the Year
• 3x Team Captain at Sun Valley
• Posted an 87-14 career record, including 19-1 as a senior and 40-3 as a junior

Sammie Hayes | Orland Park, Ill. | Carl Sandburg (Illinois)

• Redshirted last season at Illinois
• Fargo All-American
• 2021 Illinois State Finalist
• 3x All-State honoree in Illinois
• 3x Team Captain at Carl Sandburg
• 4x letterwinner
• Older brother, Louie, was a 2021 All-American at UVA

Michael Murphy | Westfield, N.J. | Westfield HS

• 2x New Jersey State Placewinner
• 2x New Jersey Regional Champion
• 112 career wins
• 3x Team MVP
• 42 wins in 2023 tied for single-season win record at Westfield
• Also lettered in lacrosse

Dylan Newsome | Columbus, Ohio | Bishop Hartley HS

• Ranked No. 93 overall on FloWrestling Big Board for 2023
• Ranked No. 17 at 170 pounds by FloWrestling
• 3x All-State selection
• 2023 Ohio State Champion
• 2022 Ohio State Third Place
• 2021 Ohio State Runner-up
• 2x NHSCA Champion
• Fifth-Place Finisher at Iron Man

Gable Porter | Council Bluffs, Iowa | Underwood HS

• 3x Iowa State Champion (2020, 2022, 2023)
• 4x Iowa State finalist
• World Team Trials finalist
• National finalist
• 42-0 record as a junior

Luke Roberts | Leesburg, Va. | Loudon County HS

• 2x Virginia State Champion (2022, 2023)
• First Team All-State selection
• 3x Regional Champion
• First Team All-Region selection
• 4x District Champion