March 17, 2000

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - University of Virginia wrestler Steve Garland defeated top seed Jody Strittmatter of the University of Iowa 9-7 in sudden death in the 125-pound weight class at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Friday (March 17). Garland, a graduate student from Middletown, N.Y., won on a take down 43 seconds into sudden death.

Garland, the eighth seed at 125 pounds, advances to the tournament semifinals where he is scheduled to wrestle T.J. Hill of California-Fullerton Friday night.

Virginia sophomore Ryan McGrath (Blairstown, N.J.) advanced in the wrestle-back bracket on Friday, while two other UVa wrestlers were eliminated from the competition with wrestle-back losses Thursday (March 16) night .

McGrath defeated David Potter of Northern Illinois 4-1 Thursday night at 184 pounds. On Friday, McGrath defeated Zach Breitenbach of North Carolina State 5-2 and pinned Dave Murray of Lock Haven in 2:25. He wrestles Shawn Scannell of Rider in the fourth wrestle-back round Friday night.

The Cavaliers' P.J. Bory (Suffern, N.Y.) lost to Sean Gray of Virginia Tech 10-0 at 141 pounds and UVa's John Pozniak (State College, Pa.) lost to Tommy Davis of North Carolina State 4-2 at 149 pounds Thursday night. Bory finished the season with an overall record of 11-8 and Pozniak finished with a record of 19-10.