Feb. 6, 1998

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Virginia took a 8-0 lead after back-to-back major decisions by Steve Garland (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown) and Matt Roth (Wescosville, Pa./Parkland) and never looked back as they went on to defeat ACC-rival Maryland 30-9.

Garland and Roth, the two most recent ACC Wrestlers of the Week, won at 118 and 126 respectively to stake the Cavaliers a lead that they would never lose. With the win, the Cavaliers even their record on the season at 6-6 and move to 3-1 in the ACC. Maryland falls to 4-5, 0-3 in the conference.

After Garland and Roth's decisions, Jason Mutarelli (N. Catasauqua, Pa./Catasauqua) decisioned Ted Harlan 4-1 to put Virginia up 11-0. The Terrapins made a run with a Shane Mack decision over Jon Frent (Wayside, N.J./Ocean Township) 9-4 at 142 and Jeff Whalen's pin of Shane Sigler (Iowa City, Iowa/West) in the first period in the 150-pound bout. With the two victories, the Terps closed to within two at 11-9, but the Cavaliers won all the matches after that for the final score of 30-9. Alex Leykikh (West Hartford, Conn./Hall) decisioned Josh Weidman 9-2 at 158 and John Qualter (Short Hills, N.J./Millburn) defeated Chad Masemer 8-4 at 167. In the 177-pound bout, Tom Shaw (Wichita, Kan./Derby) escaped in the final period with just over 30 seconds remaining to defeat Craig Garrison 1-0.

Nationally- sixteenth-ranked Martius Harding (Baltimore, Md./McDonough) scored a major decision over Ben Tomaino 18-6 at 190, and Jason Majestic (Patchogue, NY/Medford) put an exclamation point on the match with a pin of Jule Dolce with just two seconds remaining in the first period. Maryland travels into Washington, D.C. tomorrow morning to participate in the American University Invitational. The tournament, which will feature many of the nation's top teams including West Virginia and Nebraska, will begin at 9:00 a.m. The next home Terp match will be on Jan. 14, when the Terps take on the Duke Blue Devils.

Wt   Result                                      VA-MD
118   Garland (VA) maj. dec. Joe Guzzio 16-4      4-0
126   Roth (VA) maj. dec.Mark Mansueto  10-2      8-0
134   Mutarelli (VA) dec. Harlan         4-1     11-0
142   Mack (MD) dec. Frent               9-4     11-3
150   Whalen (MD) WBF Sigler            2:47     11-9
158   Leykikh (VA) dec. Weidman          9-2     14-9
167   Qualter (VA) dec. Masemer          8-4     17-9
177   Shaw (VA) dec. Garrison            1-0     20-9
190   Harding (VA) maj. dec. Tomaino    18-6     24-9
HWT   Majestic (VA) WBF Dolce           2:58     30-9