Dec. 3, 1999

LAS VEGAS - The University of Virginia wrestling team began competition in the 1999 Cliff Kenn Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational held the Star of the Desert Arena. The invite began today and will continue through Saturday, December 4th. Some of the top wrestling programs and wrestlers in the country will be compete in the event.

On day one of the tournament after three rounds of competition, Steve Garland (Middletown, N.Y.) picked right up where he left off after a successful first place finish at the Keystone Classic and recorded a technical fall over Adam Chavira of Arizona State in the 125 class by a score of 16-1 in the first round of competition. Garland then posted a major decision victory over Buffalo's Charlie Vorhees with a score of 14-1 before earning a 7-0 win over Harvard's Brandon Rhoades in the third round to improve to 3-0 after three rounds.

Teammate David Santamaria (Holmdel, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) followed Garland's lead and posted a technical fall of his own in the 133 class after defeating North Idaho's Derek Keaveny by a score of 16-1 as well. However, Santamaria fell to Oklahoma State's Charles Walker in a major decision bout by the score of 15-4 in his next match.

Virginia's John Pozniak (State College, Pa./State College) pinned Jason Grant of George Mason at 5:17 in the 149 class in the first round. However, Pozniak was then defeated by Jason Brown of Columbia by the score of 8-5 in the next round.

The Cavaliers' Brian Muir (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) at 165 and Ryan McGrath (Blairstown, N.J./Blair Academy) at 184 also came away with victories in their respective weight classes in the first round. Muir defeated Kevin Brown of Clarion by a score of 8-3 and McGrath posted an 11-4 victory over Conrad Johnson of Adams State. In the second round, Muir was pinned at 6:43 by Oklahoma State's Ty Wilcox. However, McGrath pulled off a 4-2 overtime victory over Joe Degain in the second round before eventually falling to Jeremy Wilson of Portland State by the score of 4-2 in the third round.

In the first round of competition, UVa's P.J. Bory (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) dropped a close 5-2 decision to Arizona State's Mark Perryman in the 141 class and Steve Mazzola (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edward's) lost by a narrow margin to Matt Chase of Colorado SOM by a score of 9-7 in the 174 class. Jack Anderson of Central Washington topped Virginia's Jeremy Kirk (Flemington, N.J./Blair Academy) in the 157 round of 32 by a score of 11-3 and the Cavaliers' Josh Etu (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) dropped a 7-5 decision to Eric Rodreguez in the HWT class.

Virginia will continue competition in the Cliff Kenn Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational on Saturday, December 5th. The invitational will be held at the Star of the Desert Arena. Competition is scheduled for: 9:00 a.m. - Consolation Round 4, 10:00 a.m. - Semi-Finals and Consolation Round 5, Consolation Semi-Finals, Consolation Finals, 5th & 6th, 7th & 8th. 5:00 p.m. - Championship Finals 1st & 2nd, 3rd & 4th.

** Through Three Rounds of Competition **

Wgt. Results                                                Score
125 Steve Garland (UVa) def. Adam Chavira (ASU)             TF, 16-1
    Steve Garland (UVa) def. Charlie Vorhees (Buffalo)      MD, 14-1
    Steve Garland (UVa) def. Brandon Rhoades (Harvard)      7-0
133 David Santamaria (UVa) def. Derek Keaveny (N. Idaho)    TF, 16-1
    Charles Walker (OSU) def. David Santamaria (UVa)        MD, 15-4
141 Mark Perryman (ASU) def. P.J. Bory (UVa)                5-2
149 John Pozniak (UVa) def. Jason Grant (George Mason)      Pin @ 5:17
    Jason Brown (Columbia) def. John Pozniak (UVa)          8-5
157 Jack Anderson (C. Wash.) def. Jeremy Kirk (UVa)         MD, 11-3
165 Brian Muir (UVa) def. Kevin Brown (Clarion)             8-3
    Ty Wilcox (OSU) def. Brian Muir (UVa)                   Pin @ 6:43
174 Matt Chase (Colorado SOM) def. Steve Mazzola (UVa)      9-7
184 Ryan McGrath (UVa) def. Conrad Johnson (Adams St.)      11-4
    Ryan McGrath (UVa) def. Joe Degain (Michigan)           4-2 OT
    Jeremy Wilson (Portland State) def. Ryan McGrath (UVa)  4-2
HWT Eric Rodreguez (Cal-Poly  St.) def. Josh Etu (UVa)      7-5