Jan. 7, 2000

NORFOLK, Va. - The University of Virginia wrestling team began competition in the 2000 Virginia Duals. The Cavaliers first opponent of the day was the Northern Iowa Panthers. NIU entered its contest with Virginia ranked #16 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) and #17 by Intermat Wrestling. The Cavaliers were looking to upset their Top 25 opponent, but fell to the Panthers by the score of 35-10 in the first competition of the meet for both schools.

UVa's Steve Garland (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown), ranked fourth in the country at 125 with a record of 10-1 on the season, improved his mark to to 11-1 on the year after claiming a victory by forfeit. However, the wins would be much more difficult for UVa to gather for the remainder of the morning session. One Cavalier that did record a win was Don Carlo-Clauss (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Olympia). Carlo-Clauss recorded a major decision victory over NIU's Tom Koenig at 157 by the score of 15-7. However, Garland and Carlo-Clauss' wins would be the only two victories for Virginia in the dual with Northern Iowa.

UVa's Toby MacDonald (Venice, Fla./Venice) and David Takseraas (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) were defeated at 133 and 141, respectively. MacDonald lost a major decision bout by the score of 12-2 to Chad Bordreaux and Takseraas lost a major decision match by the count of 12-4 to M ark Rial. The Cavaliers' John Pozniak (State College, Pa./State College) dropped a close decision to the Panthers' Tony Davis at 149 by the score of 8-5 and Virginia's Ryan McGrath (Blairstown, N.J./Blair Academy) lost a slim decision to NIU's Kyle Hanson by the narrow margin of 7-6 at 184. UVa's Brian Muir (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) dropped a 6-1 decision to the Panthers' Nate Lawrenz.

The Cavaliers' Steve Mazzola (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edwards) and Josh Etu (Queensbury, N.Y/Queensbury) lost by falls to Northern Iowa. At 174, Mazzola fell to NIU's Randy Pugh at 2:13 and in the HWT class, Etu fell to Paul Hynek at 2:00. The Panthers' Tony Wieland gathered a win by forfeit at 197.

Virginia will continue action as they compete in day two of the Virginia Duals on Saturday, January 8. The Cavaliers opponent for the dual is yet to be determined.

NORTHERN IOWA   35
VIRGINIA        10

Individual Match Results

Wt. Opponent        Team    Result      Opponent        Score
125 S GARLAND       UVA     FORFEIT -
133 C BORDREAUX     NIU     MAJ DEC     T MACDONALD     12-2
141 M RIAL          NIU     MAJ DEC     D TAKSERAAS     12-4
149 T DAVIS         NIU     MAJ DEC     J POZNIAK       8-5
157 D CARLOS-CLAUSS UVA     MAJ DEC     T KOENIG        15-7
165 N LAWRENZ       NIU     DEC         B MUIR          6-1
174 R PUGH          NIU     FALL        S MAZZOLA       @ 2:13
184 K HANSON        NIU     DEC         R MCGRATH       7-6
197 T WIELAND       NIU     FORFEIT -
HWT R HYNEK         NIU     FALL        J ETU           @ 2:00