I have been rather impressed with the growth of Virginia wrestling over the years. There are a lot of weight changes and switches this season and I'm anxious to see how it effects things. I can see very good showings at both CKLV and The Midlands/Southern Scuffle (Whichever they attend this season), with multiple place-winners. I see 9 going to the NCAA's this season. One has a very good shot at being an All American, and 3 others are in contention themselves.
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| 125 Patrick McCormick Sophomore Record: 36-24 NCAA: 21'NQ ACC: 21'3rd |
With Jakob Camacho of North Carolina State & Sam Latona of Virginia Tech both returning, McCormick will once again battle for 3rd place with Pittsburgh's Gage Curry & North Carolina's Joey Melendez. While I don't see McCormick contending for All American honors this season, he does own a 7-4 victory over 7th place All American Killian Cardinale.
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| 133 Brian Courtney NCAA: 21'NQ ACC: 21'4th SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 18'R12 |
Courtney has had fairly decent showings at 141 lbs thus far in his career, which would lead one to think that he'll do well at 133. It's difficult to say, as he hasn't faced any of the competition how he will do. The key in going down a weight class is to have a strength advantage, but it can sometimes result in a loss of wind. Positive he'll qualify for the NCAA's, but with what # on his ACC medal at this point remains in question.
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| 149 Jarod Verkleeren OR Denton Spencer Junior OR Junior Record: 41-17 OR Record: 68-35 NCAA: 20'NQ OR BIG 10: 20'WC OR SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 18'7th OR |
This is going to be a good wrestle-off. At this point I give Verkleeren a slight advantage. He owns victories over 3rd place All American Yahya Thomas of Northwestern as well as Kizhan Clarke of North Carolina. Yet on the same hand, Spencer is no pushover himself. Along with defeating SOCON champion Jonathan Millner of Appalachian State 8-3, he also owns victories over NCAA qualifiers Tanner Smith of Chattanooga and Triston Lara of Northern Iowa.
As the ACC, they contend with Tariq Wilson of North Carolina State, Bryce Andonian of Virginia Tech, Josh Finesilver of Duke and Luke Kemerer of Pittsburgh. This is a tough weight class & whoever starts, Verkleeren or Spencer, they fit in somewhere.
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| 157 Jake Keating Junior Record: 58-36 NCAA: 21'NQ ACC: 21'2nd |
Switching weight classes with Justin McCoy, I can see Keating having a very good season at 157. Austin O'Connor of North Carolina is probably out of the question, but there isn't anyone else in the ACC that Keating can't beat. I see another runner-up finish for him in the conference. A 10-4 victory over Quincy Monday of Princeton, a 21-4 technical fall over Jimmy Hoffman of Lehigh and a 6:25 fall over Jarrett Jacques of Missouri suggest that All American could be in his future.
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| 165 Justin McCoy Sophomore Record: 52-20 NCAA: 20'NQ, 21'NQ ACC: 20'4th, 21'2nd |
Switching weight classes with Jake Keating, Justin McCoy will move up from 157 to 165 this season. Jake Wentzel, NCAA runner-up of Pittsburgh as well as Thomas Bullard of North Carolina State are at the weight, so as of right now I'm seeing McCoy 3rd in the ACC. As the NCAA, I can possibly see McCoy contending for All American honors. I want to see more wins at 165, but even at 157, a 22-3 technical fall over Markus Hartman of Army and a 7-4 victory over 4th place All American Jacori Teemer cannot be ignored.
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| 174 Victor Marcelli OR Robert Patrick Sophomore OR Sophomore Record: 42-29 OR Record: 28-27 NCAA: 21'NQ OR ACC: 21'WC OR MIDLANDS: 20'7th OR |
Pretty positive that Marcelli wins this wrestle-off, but I wouldn't overlook the T-1,000. Patrick isn't as consistent as Marcelli, but he is capable of pulling off impressive wins as a 9-6 victory over Appalachian State's Thomas Flitz implies. As to the ACC, Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech & Hayden Hidlay of North Carolina State are way out of the league. Marcelli is 0-3 against Clay Lautt of North Carolina and Josh Finesilver of Duke is going to be tough to beat too. At this point I see Marcelli or Patrick, either one, 5th.
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| 184 Michael Battista Junior Record: 33-40 |
Even though Battista has yet to qualify for the NCAA's, I see him contending for 3rd place honors in the ACC this season. He already owns a victory over Gregg Harvey of Pittsburgh who will battle him for that bronze medal.
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| 197 Jay Aiello Senior Record: 93-43 NCAA: 19'NQ, 20'NQ, 21'NQ ACC: 19'2nd, 20'1st, 21'2nd CKLV: 19'3rd, 20'8th MIDLANDS: 20'2nd |
Being 0-3 & two of those matches being rather one-sided Vs Nino Bonaccorsi of Pittsburgh, I'm gonna call Aiello an ACC runner-up once again this season. With that said, he better not dare overlook newcomer Isaac Trumble of North Carolina State who has already proven what he is capable of. With that said, top performances at both Midlands and CKLV suggest that Aiello is all American material as do notable victories over All American Jacob Warner of Iowa, as well as Stephen Buchanan of Wyoming, Ethan Laird of Rider, Noah Adams of West Virginia and Eric Schultz of Nebraska.
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| HWT Quinn Miller Junior Record: 46-24 NCAA: 20'NQ, 21'NQ ACC: 20'5th, 21'3rd |
He's 0-3 vs Deonte Wilson of North Carolina State & Nathan Traxler of Virginia Tech threw Wilson to his back and pinned him in the first period. With that information, I'm thinking Miller is 3rd in the ACC again. With that said, I think he does stand a workman's chance at making All American status this season. Notable victories include a 6-3 decision over Zach Elam of Missouri as well as a 2-0 victory over Yaraslau Slavilouski of Harvard.
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125 - NQ
133 - NQ
141 - DNQ
149 - NQ
157 - Possible AA
165 - Possible AA
174 - NQ
184 - NQ
197 - Strong candidate for AA
HWT - Possible AA
As I said in the beginning of this preview, I think the wrestling community will take note of Virginia at both CKLV and Midlands (or Southern Scuffle). The Cavaliers are an up and coming team.
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