Wrestling: Virginia concludes season at NCAA Championships

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The season came to a close for the Virginia wrestling team on Friday, as Neil Antrassian and Justin McCoy fell in the consolation brackets of the early session of the NCAA Championships at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.

HOW IT HAPPENED

McCoy split his matches on the day, opening the day with a 7-3 decision over Columbia’s Joshua Ogunsanya. The Cavalier jumped out to an early lead on Ogunsanya and never looked back giving McCoy wins over Ogunsanya in consecutive seasons at the NCAA Championships. He then battled with seventh-seeded Michael Caliendo of North Dakota State in the third round of consolations, pulling to within one at 5-4 before a late takedown by Caliendo would lock up the decision.

Antrassian opened the day with a match against No. 19 seed Jacob Nolan of Binghamton. Antrassian fell behind early but battled back and pulled within one at 6-5 in the second period on a takedown, but an escape in the third after Nolan chose bottom iced the match with the 7-5 decision.

NOTES ON THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Justin McCoy’s appearance was the fourth of his career making him the 14th four-time NCAA qualifier for UVA.
• Virginia has had at least four NCAA qualifiers each year since the 2008 season under head coach Steve Garland.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND

“Our guys went out firing. They were so aggressive it actually hurt them in some positions, but I would rather have that than a guard and protect mentality. Those two guys are competitors. They went so hard. They competed in such a way. We are hurting right now for sure, but we are so proud of Justin and Neil.”

165
No. 15 seed Justin McCoy
R1: McCoy dec. No. 18 seed Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern), 7-2
R2: No. 2 seed Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) dec. McCoy, 5-2
Conso. R2: McCoy dec. No. 16 seed Joshua Ogunsanya (Columbia), 7-3
Conso. R3: No. 7 seed Michael Caliendo (NDSU) dec. McCoy, 7-4

184
No. 20 seed Neil Antrassian
R1: Antrassian dec. No. 13 seed Lenny Pinto (Nebraska), 11-6
R2: No. 4 seed Trey Muñoz (Oregon State) dec. Antrassian, 6-2
Conso. R2: No. 19 seed Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) dec. Antrassian, 7-5

VIRGINIA WRESTLERS ELIMINATED ON THURSDAY
149
No. 27 seed Jarod Verkleeren
R1: No. 6 seed Brock Mauller (Missouri) dec. Verkleeren, 11-5
Conso. R1: No. 11 seed Doug Zapf (Penn) dec. Verkleeren, 5-1

197
No. 25 seed Michael Battista
R1: No. 8 seed Silas Allred (Nebraska) dec. Battista, 13-7
Conso. R1: No. 24 seed Levi Hopkins (Campbell) dec. Battista, 6-4