Wrestling: Cavaliers pick up commanding 25-11 victory over Penn

By Colin Moore
JerryRatcliffe.com correspondent

The Virginia wrestling team defeated Penn at Memorial Gymnasium on Friday night, with a score of 25-11. The match began close, but the Cavaliers managed to gain a monumental lead after the fifth dual in the heavyweight battle from Gabe Christenson. The Wahoos won seven of the 10 duals on the night.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Hoos (3-1) opened the match with a great individual performance by Nick Hamilton. Hamilton battled adversity after being cut on the head early in the first set and winning 7-3.

Penn (0-2) got on the board in the second dual at 174 pounds before rattling off three more decisions from Justin Phillips (184), Max Shulaw (197), and Christenson (285). Christenson dominated his matchup earning an 18-2 win. Penn managed to win the next dual in the 125 division with a commanding 23-8 score.

UVA’s Gable Porter was next up and he did his role, winning the 133-pound division giving the Cavaliers a 18-8 lead with 3 duals remaining. Unfortunately for the Hoos, Kyren Butler lost a very close battle that came down to the wire, making the overall score 18-11.

After watching and preparing for most of the night, both Gioffre twins came into the match and handled their business. Jack Gioffre’s match was a very close fight that came down to the wire, where he made a great takedown that earned him the victory with less than 30 seconds remaining.

His brother, Michael Gioffre, sealed the victory for the Hoos with a commanding 10-2 victory. This dual was very competitive, as you could tell both athletes were fighting through some adversity and fatigue.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• With the win, Virginia moved to 2-5 all-time against the Quakers and the Cavaliers are now 2-2 against Penn under head coach Steve Garland.
• Gabe Christenson moved to 3-0 on the year and in dual action with his first tech fall as a Cavalier.
• Jack Gioffre’s win over No. 13 Cross Wasliewski is the highest ranked wrestler defeated by Gioffre to this point in his career.
• Justin Phillips saw his first dual action of the season after bumping up to 184 pounds for the dual.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND

“We’re pretty excited. That was a really good team. We’ve been watching film, and we’ve watched all of their guys, and they are good throughout the lineup. To come out and do what we did, to win the matches we won and pull off some of the upsets on paper (was outstanding). We got back out on the road, though, so we have to get back on the horse tomorrow for a tough dual at VMI.”

Head coach Steve Garland recaps the Hoos’ win over Penn on Friday night at Mem Gym and looks ahead to the rest of the weekend’s competition.#GoHoos | #TheVirginiaWay pic.twitter.com/VyNocIN7bo

— Virginia Wrestling (@UVAWrestling) December 7, 2024

UP NEXT

Virginia returns to action Saturday in an away match against VMI at 1 p.m.

VIRGINIA 25, PENN 11
165: No. 15 Nick Hamilton dec. Andy Troczynski (UP), 7-3 – UVA 3, PENN 0
174: No. 6 Nick Incontrera (UP) dec. Rocco Contino, 6-4 – UVA 3, PENN 3
184: Justin Phillips dec. Nate Taylor (UP), 7-0 – UVA 6, PENN 3
197: Max Shulaw major dec. Jackson Zimmerman, 9-0 – UVA 10, PENN 3
HWT: Gabe Christenson tech fall John Pardo (UP), 18-2 (6:12) – UVA 15, PENN 3
125: No. 18 Max Gallagher (UP) tech fall No. 28 Keyveon Roller,  23-8 (6:24) – UVA 15, PENN 8
133: No. 32 Gable Porter dec. Alex Almeyda (UP), 5-0 – UVA 18, PENN 8
141: Evan Mougalion (UP) dec. Kyren Butler, 9-6 – UVA 18, PENN 11
149: Jack Gioffre dec. No. 13 Cross Wasilewski (UP), 4-3 – UVA 21, PENN 11
157: Michael Gioffre major dec. Paul Ognissanti (UP), 11-2 – UVA 25, PENN 11