March 17, 2000

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - University of Virginia wrestler Steve Garland won twice in sudden death on Friday (March 17) at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships to advance to the championship match in the 125-pound weight class on Saturday (March 18). Garland, the eighth seed at 125 pounds, will wrestle second-seeded Jeremy Hunter of Penn State for the national championship in that weight class.

A graduate student from Middletown, N.Y., Garland defeated top seed Jody Strittmatter of the University of Iowa 9-7 in sudden death in the quarterfinals. He won on a take down 43 seconds into sudden death.

In the semifinals, Garland won 6-5 in sudden death over T. J. Hill of California-Fullerton. He won on an escape in sudden death.

Virginia sophomore Ryan McGrath (Blairstown, N.J.) won three consecutive matches in wrestle-back competition before losing Friday night, 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 was eliminated from the competition with a 7-4 loss to Shawn Scannell of Rider on Friday night. McGrath finished the season with an overall record of 23-9.

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.