Virginia’s Zach Nye (R-So., Enola, Pa.) earned an upset win at 197 pounds, topping 19th-ranked Conner Hartman of Duke, 5-4. Nick Herrmann (So., Amarillo, Texas), Nick Sulzer (R-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio), Stephen Doty (R-Sr., St. Louis, Mo.), Jon Fausey (R-Sr., Dalmatia, Pa.) and Ethan Hayes (R-So., New Lebanon, Ohio) each racked up bonus-point victories for the Cavaliers.
Joseph Martinez (R-So., Platteville, Colo.) and Joe Spisak (R-Jr., Boiling Springs, Pa.) also recorded wins for Virginia, which earned its ninth straight dual victory over Duke (3-6, 0-2).
“Duke wrestled hard tonight and really pushed us,” Virginia head coach Steve Garland said. “Herrmann looked really good in getting a tech fall, and the big highlights for us were Sulzer, Doty and Nye. All three beat tough opponents and wrestled well. It’s always great to get a win on the road. Now we’ll get ready for Old Dominion on Sunday.”
Herrmann got the Cavaliers off to a strong start with a 19-4 technical fall against Alex Elsea at 125 pounds. Following a late takedown, Herrmann recorded the final point needed for the tech fall with the riding time point.
Martinez followed with a 6-4 win over Evan Botwin at 133. After giving up three back points in the second period, Martinez rallied in the third period, culminating with the deciding takedown with 30 seconds left to seal the win despite nearly two minutes of riding time for Botwin.
Ranked 14th nationally, Spisak won a wild 12-11 decision over Xavier Ramos at 141. The match featured plenty of offensive fireworks, particularly in the first two periods. The wrestlers were tied at 10 heading into the third period, and Spisak rolled through to reverse Ramos midway through the period for the deciding points.
Duke scored consecutive wins at 149 and 157. Connor Bass earned a 7-1 win over UVa’s Chris Yankowich (So., Norristown, Pa.) at 149. Immanuel Kerr-Brown then scored an upset win at 157, riding No. 13 Blaise Butler (R-So., Belivdere, Ill.) for the full third period to snap a 5-5 tie and claim the riding time point in a 6-5 victory that cut the Cavaliers’ team lead to 11-6.
UVa won the next three classes without surrendering an offensive point, and took the final five classes overall. Sulzer continued his domination this year with a 12-2 major decision over Marcus Cain at 165. Improving to 23-1 on the year and ranked second nationally, Sulzer piled up 4:45 of riding time in recording his team-leading 12th major decision.
Doty, ranked No. 14, jumped out to a big early lead with a takedown and three back points in the first period as he rolled to a 9-0 major decision over Trey Adamson at 174. Fausey also came out strong with a takedown and three-point near fall in the first period as he went on to a commanding 10-1 win over Jacob Kasper at 184. Fausey moved back into the AWN rankings at No. 19 this week.
Nye scored a third-period takedown to break a 3-3 tie in earning his fourth straight win, 5-4 against Hartmann. Hayes concluded the dual with a 12-4 major decision against Brian Self in the heavyweight bout.
Virginia continues its weekend road trip on Sunday when it visits Old Dominion for a 3 p.m. dual in Norfolk, Va. UVa returns to ACC competition next Friday (Jan. 24) when it travels to No. 13 Pittsburgh as the teams square off for the first time as ACC rivals.
Results:
125: Nick Herrmann (UVa) tech fall Alex Elsea (Duke), 19-4 (7:00); UVa 5-0
133: Joseph Martinez (UVa) dec. Evan Botwin (Duke), 6-4; UVa 8-0
141: No. 14/16 Joe Spisak (UVa) dec. Xavier Ramos (Duke), 12-11; UVa 11-0
149: Connor Bass (Duke) dec. Chris Yankowich (UVa), 7-1; UVa 11-3
157: Immanuel Kerr-Brown (Duke) dec. No. 13/12 Blaise Butler (UVa), 6-5; UVa 11-6
165: No. 2/2 Nick Sulzer (UVa) major dec. Marcus Cain (Duke), 12-2; UVa 15-6
174: No. 14/14 Stephen Doty (UVa) major dec. Trey Adamson (Duke), 9-0; UVa 19-6
184: No. 19/17 Jon Fausey (UVa) major dec. Jacob Kasper (Duke), 10-1; UVa 23-6
197: Zach Nye (UVa) dec. No. 19/19 Conner Hartmann (Duke), 5-4; UVa 26-6
285: Ethan Hayes (UVa) major dec. Brian Self (Duke), 12-4; UVa 30-6
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