Virginia Wrestling Hosts No. 4 Missouri
Michaela Courtney, staff writer
Sunday Nov. 26 at 1 p.m. in Memorial Gym, the UVA wrestling team faced off against the number four wrestling team in the country, Missouri. UVA was the clear underdog of the match, but that did not stop them from putting up a fight all the way through to the end of match.
The dual started off at 125 pounds. UVA took this match with a 4-1 win over the nationally ranked Missouri opponent. This gave UVA the 3-0 lead over Missouri.
The next match was 133 pounds. UVA won this match as well with a 9-2 win over the number nine ranked wrestler in the country at 133 pounds. UVA now had a lead of 6-0 over Missouri. At 141 pounds, UVA picked up another 2-0 victory, leading the overall dual now 9-0 going into the fourth match.
At 149 pounds, UVA lost a close match to the nineteenth ranked wrestler in the country 3-1. UVA was still leading with a 9-3 lead over Missouri.
At 157 pounds, UVA faced the number 2 wrestler in the country. Missouri won this match over Virginia 11-2. The match score is now 9-7 with UVA still holding the lead.
At 165 pounds, UVA wins 7-4 over Missouri. UVA’s lead is now 12-7. At 174 pounds, UVA’s eighteenth ranked wrestler in the country faced the number four ranked wrestler from Missouri. Missouri takes this match with a 14-2 victory. The overall match score is now 12-11 as Missouri starts to close the gap.
At 184 pounds, UVA lost another match 1-2 giving Missouri the lead 15-11. At 197 pounds, UVA ties up the dual with a 7-2 win over Missouri making the score 15-15 going into the last bout of the day.
At 285 pounds, Missouri takes the last win 8-3, giving them the victory of the match 18-15.
UVA was the clear underdog of the match going into the start. Their three straight wins in the beginning of the match really made the difference and gave them a great start.
Missouri came with a tough line up and UVA proved they could hang with some of the top guys in the country.
This makes the anticipation of the rest of the season, and into the post season at NCAAs even more exciting. It will be interesting to see what happens come March.
