The Virginia wrestling team split its first dual action of the season on Saturday, downing LIU in the first dual of the day before falling to No. 8 Lehigh at Journeymen WrangleMania. The Cavaliers defeated LIU by a score of 39-3 before battling eighth-ranked Lehigh in a 21-17 loss.

Virginia (1-1) roared through the first dual of the day, winning 9 of 10 weight classes against the Sharks of LIU (0-2). It started with a pin by Keyveon Roller – one of two Virginia pins in the dual – as the Cavaliers posted six bonus-point victories on the morning.

The dual with Lehigh was a back-and-forth battle until the Mountain Hawks pulled away down the stretch. After Lehigh claimed the first two weight classes, Virginia won three straight to take a 10-7 lead at the halfway point. Lehigh claimed the 165 pound bout before Nick Hamilton put Virginia on top again with a major decision at 174.

The Mountain Hawks (2-0) took the lead for good with a pin and a tech fall in the next two weight classes before Brenan Morgan closed things with a bonus-point win for Virginia at heavyweight.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Gable Porter, Wynton Denkins, Colton Washleski, Nick Hamilton and Brenan Morgan all went 2-0 on the afternoon.
• The Cavaliers posted nine bonus-point victories through the two duals with two pins, two tech falls and five major decisions.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND

On the dual with LIU
“Keyveon started us off with a pin –  a great way to get us going. Gable looked great and Colton got a big win at 157. He just found a way late. That set the tone for the rest of the match. We won close, hard-fought wins then at 165 and 184..Hamilton looked great at 174 with constant pressure. He gets better each match as the season goes on. Then our two big guys put on a show to close it out. Max Shulaw and Brenan Morgan scored a bunch of points with back-to-back tech falls and that’s what we want to see. They have the ability to do that every match.”

On the dual with Lehigh
“That Lehigh match was a war. That was a pretty intense match back-and-forth the whole way. It’s one of the top teams in the country and our guys went toe-to-toe with them. Gable, Wynton, Colton, and Hamilton looked awesome and other guys like Shulaw wrestled their hearts out but made some mistakes late that cost them. Morgan really sucked it up and won a tough one against a guy he’s wrestled before, so he continues to show growth. Bottom line, we’ve got a long season with a lot of tough teams ahead, so this was really good for us to feel and get that experience heading into a really tough month.”

VIRGINIA 39, LIU 3
125: No. 22 Keyveon Roller pinned Anthony Chuquilin (LIU), 4:32 – UVA 6, LIU 0
133: Carter Pack (LIU) dec. Aiden Allen, 5-4 – UVA 6, LIU 3
141: No. 33 Gable Porter major dec. Amir Avazov (LIU), 12-3 – UVA 10, LIU 3
149: Wynton Denkins dec. Tommy Bonasera (LIU), 4-1 – UVA 13, LIU 3
157: No. 19 Colton Washleski dec. Brayden Roberts (LIU), 6-4 – UVA 16, LIU 3
165: Michael Murphy dec. Jack Valentin (LIU), 2-1 (TB-2) – UVA 19, LIU 3
174: No. 19 Nick Hamilton major dec. Domenic D’Agostino (LIU), 11-3 – UVA 23, LIU 3
184: Jack Lesher pinned Anthony D’Alesio (LIU), 7:50 – UVA 26, LIU 3
197: Max Shulaw tech fall Kaleb Wright (LIU), 15-0 (3:50), UVA 31, LIU 3
HWT: Brennan Morgan tech fall Max Ohamou (LIU), 17-2 (1:26), UVA 36, LIU 3

NO. 8 LEHIGH 21, VIRGINIA 17
125: No. 5 Sheldon Seymour (LEH) dec. No. 22 Keyveon Roller, 9-2 – LEH 3, UVA 0
133: Mason Ziegler (LEH) major dec. Aiden Allen, 13-4 – LEH 7. UVA 0
141: No. 33 Gable Porter dec. Carter Bailey (LEH), 9-2 – LEH 7, UVA 3
149: Wynton Denkins major dec. Owen Reinsel (LEH), 16-7 – UVA 7, LEH 7
157: No. 19 Colton Washleski dec. Griffin Gonzalez *LEH), 8-3 – UVA 9, LEH 7*
165: No. 9 Max Brignola (LEH) tech fall Michael Murphy, 21-6 (6:10) – LEH 12, UV 9
174: No. 19 Nick Hamilton major dec. Dom Federici (LEH), 18-5 – UVA 13, LEH 12
184: No. 27 Rylan Rogers (LEH) tech fall. Jack Lesher, 19-4 (6:10) – LEH 17, UVA 13
197: No. 29 JT Davis (LEH) major dec. Max Shulaw, 13-5 – LEH 21, UVA 13
285: Brenan Morgan major dec. Calvin Lachman (LEH), 14-2 – LEH 21, UVA 17
*Team point deducted during this weight class

Virginia had nine wrestlers place in their respective brackets on Sunday as the Cavaliers competed at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic.

• Virginia had four wrestlers take third place in their brackets with Ethan Timar (133), Kyren Butler (141), Steven Burell (197) and Cooper Rudolph (HWT) all claiming the third-place spot.
• Steven Burrell knocked off the No. 14 wrestler at 197 pounds with his victory over Jack Wehmeyer from Columbia on the way to his third-place finish in his bracket.
• Kyren Butler returned to the mat for the first time since last season, claiming a third place finish at 141 pounds.
• It was the first action of the season for seven of the 10 Virginia wrestlers in the field.
• Anthony Rossi (125), Burrell (197) and Rudolph (HWT) all competed at the Navy Classic last weekend.
• The 149-pound white bracket had five rounds of wrestling, so did not continue with bouts for place winners.

UP NEXT

Virginia continues to wrestle on the road next weekend with a dual match against Kent State on Saturday. Wrestling is set to begin at 2 p.m. with the competition at St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio.

125
Rocco Hayes – Fifth Place
Round Robin
R1: Cooper Foster (App. State) major dec. Hayes, 16-3
R2: Noah Tonsor (Army) major dec. Hayes, 12-2
FIFTH PLACE MATCH: Hayes dec. Caden Smith (Sacred Heart), 8-6

Anthony Rossi – Fourth Place
Round Robin
R1: Bye
R2: Rossi dec. Patrick Adams (Rutgers), 12-8
R3: Sulayman Bah (Columbia) major dec. Rossi, 15-4
THIRD PLACE MATCH: Jack Bergman (Navy) major dec. Rossi, 11-2

133
Ethan Timar – Third Place
Round Robin
R1: Timar pinned Kade Kluce (Bloomsburg), 1:58
R2: Gauge Shipp (Hofstra) dec. Timar, 11-4
THIRD PLACE MATCH: Timar dec. Branden Rozanski (LIU), 17-11

141
Kyren Butler – Third Place
Round Robin
R1: Butler dec. Tahir Parkins (Rutgers), 8-5 (sv-1)
R2: Bye
R3: No. 22 Henry Porter (Indiana) dec. Butler, 4-3
THIRD PLACE MATCH: Butler major dec. Bryce Kresho (Franklin & Marshall), 13-4

149
Aiden King – Sixth Place
Round Robin
R1: King tech fall Logan Shugar (Sacred Heart), 16-0 (6:53)
R2: Nieto Luke (LIU) dec. King, 12-5
R3: Tom vonEschenbach (Army) major decision King, 9-1
FIFTH PLACE MATCH: Tyler Hood (Navy) over King by medical forfeit

Jayce Paridon
Round Robin
R1: Pat Phillips (Franklin & Marshall) dec. Paridon, 4-3
R2: Noah Tapia (Hofstra) dec. Paridon, 7-7
R3: Bye
R4: Paridon dec. Kelly Dunnigan (Penn), 10-5
R5: Devon Magro (Rutgers) dec. Paridon, 8-3

165
Macon Ayers – Fifth Place
Round Robin
R1: Ousmane Duncanson (Lock Haven) pinned Ayers, 6:15
R2: Jordan Barry (LIU) dec. Ayers, 4-3
R3: Ayers pinned Nicholas Mackland (Sacred Heart), 1:04
FIFTH PLACE MATCH: Ayers tech fall Michael Bobola (Harvard), 19-4 (3:58)

184
Dylan Newsome – Sixth Place
Round Robin
R1: James Conway (Franklin & Marshall) tech fall Newsome, 23-8 (5:56)
R2: No. 13 Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) major dec. Newsome, 11-2
FIFTH PLACE MATCH: Schoppe (Lehigh) dec. Newsome, 6-4

197
Steven Burrell Jr. – Third Place
Round Robin
R1: Zyan Hall (Navy) dec. Burrell, 7-6
R2: Burrell dec. Jno. 14 ack Wehmeyer (Columbia), 7-5
THIRD PLACE MATCH: Burrell over Hudson Skove (Harvard) by medical forfeit

HWT
Cooper Rudolph – Third Place
Round Robin
R1: Stephan Monchery (App. State) dec. Rudolph, 8-1
R2: Rudolph dec. Tristin Hitchcock (Army), 2-1 (TB-2)
THIRD PLACE MATCH: Rudolph dec. Tyler Macathran (Bloomsburg), 4-2