Wrestling Preview: Virginia at No. 5 Ohio State

The Virginia Cavaliers come to Columbus on Friday night in the Buckeyes’ first dual meet of the young season. Virginia hosted Ohio State last season with the Buckeyes taking eight of ten matches and winning by a score of 30-7. Virginia brings a 3-1 record to St. John Arena, losing only to Minnesota thus far.

Head Coach: Steve Garland
Garland is a 2000 graduate of Virginia and has coached his alma mater since 2006. Garland was an NCAA runner-up as a senior and has led the Cavaliers to a 129-55 record as head coach. Garland has coached 8 All-Americans, most recently Nick Sulzer, who placed 5th at 165 pounds in last year’s tournament. Garland has a pair of NCAA champions as assistant coaches in Jordan Leen and Keith Gavin.

Ohioans on the Virginia Roster

George DiCamillo: 133 pounds
DiCamillo was a two-time state champion for St. Ignatius. He has twice fallen a match short of All-American status at the NCAA tournament and will be a strong contender for the top 8 this season.

Ethan Hayes: Heavyweight
Hayes was a two-time state champion for New Lebanon Dixie High School. He started at heavyweight for the Cavaliers as a freshman and sophomore, but has been hampered by injury since 2014.

James Suvak: 184 pounds
Suvak was twice a state placer for St. Edward High School in Lakewood, placing as high as 2nd as a senior. Suvak was high school teammates with Mark Martin.

Notable Wrestlers

George DiCamillo: 133 pounds

Fox Baldwin: 174 pounds
Possibly named for a background character in Top Gun, Baldwin holds the national high school records for both career wins and career pins with an astounding 395 and 305 respectively. He hails from Florida, which allows wrestlers to compete at the varsity level beginning in seventh grade.

Zach Nye: 197 pounds
Nye is a two-time NCAA qualifier, earning less-than-favorable bracketing each time. Nye is a two-time ACC runner-up, and he is currently ranked No. 10 in the latest InterMat rankings at 197.

Andrew Atkinson: 157 pounds
An NCAA qualifier last season, Atkinson is off to an undefeated start in his sophomore season with an upset win over then-ranked No. 6 Cody Pack of South Dakota State.
 

Key Matches

133: Johnni DiJulius vs. George DiCamillo
JDJ and DiCamillo are two of the more decorated lightweight wrestlers to come out of northeast Ohio. The two wrestled twice last season with DiJulius taking both matches by the closest of margins. Both of these guys will be in contention for an All-American finish next March, so a win here would be a good boost in momentum to start the season. JDJ earned his 100th career victory last weekend with his semifinal victory at the EMU Open.

149: Cody Burcher vs. TJ Miller
Burcher is coming off of a title at the EMU Open, and a win over Miller would put a lot of people at ease about him filling the 149-pound spot until Hunter Stieber returns to the lineup in January.

157: Jake Ryan vs. Andrew Atkinson
Ryan is entering his first real action as a starter after last season’s redshirt. He was able to score points in bunches at the EMU Open on his way to the title at 157, but Atkinson is no slouch with four wins by bonus points already this season. If the Buckeyes are going to duplicate the success found last season, they are going to rely on Ryan to win matches like these.

174: Bo Jordan vs Fox Baldwin
Who doesn’t want to see Bo Jordan in action? Baldwin is just a true freshman, but is a pinning machine and is dangerous in nearly any position.

Match Outlook

The Buckeyes are the much better team on paper and ought to handily defeat the Cavaliers. Bonus points aren’t out of the question for Ohio State from Tomasello, Micah Jordan, and Bo Jordan. Mark Martin is not expected to be in the lineup at 197, so a tough Zach Nye could put up some points against Matthew O’Hara. Burcher, Ryan, and Kresevic are looking to establish themselves in the lineup and each should be viewed as tentative underdogs in this match, but even still, the Buckeyes should come out on top behind Tomasello and the Jordans.