January 25, 1999

LEXINGTON, Va. - Virginia's Craig Fenstermaker (Hilton Head, S.C./Northampton, Pa.) defeated 19th-ranked Isaac Moore of VMI 7-1 and won his second state title, helping the Cavaliers to claim their third consecutive state championship in Lexington. Fenstermaker, who pinned James Madison's Elliott Williams in the semifinals, was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler, marking the third consecutive year that a Cavaliers has been so honored.

Virginia started the afternoon by claiming the 125-pound title when freshman Bob Seidel (Wall, N.J./Wall) received a medical forfeit from teammate Matt Roth (Wescosville, Pa./Parkland). Seidel had pinned his three opponents in the draw.

Cavalier P. J. Bory (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) won the 141-pound weight class with a 3-0 upset of top-seeded Mike Coyle of James Madison. Virginia's John Pozniak (State College, Pa./State College) also competed in a title match, but fell to top-seeded Jason Grant of George Mason 3-2 in the 149-pound class. Greg Francesca (Union, N.J./Blair Academy) took fourth place in the 157-pound class.

Virginia's Jim Harshaw (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley), the Outstanding Wrestler the last two years at this competition, won his third consecutive title with an 11-6 come-from-behind victory at the 165-pound class. He is only 16th wrestler in state history to claim three titles.

Ryan Painter (Rainelle, W.V./Rainelle) also competed in the title bout , but he lost to fourth-ranked and top-seeded Leslie Apedoe of VMI 8-3 in the heavyweight class. Teammate Jeremy Wilkins (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft) took third place at heavyweight.

Virginia has now won seven team titles in the championships history, more than any other school. The Cavaliers are also the first team to win three consecutive titles. Final team scoring is listed below.

Wgt  Championship Bouts
125  Seidel (UVA) med. forf. from Roth (UVA)
133  Sean Shea (GMU) med. forf. from Joel Jimenez (ODU)
141  Bory (UVA) dec. Coyle (JMU) 3-0
149  Jason Grant (GMU) dec. Pozniak (UVA) 3-2
157  Jeff Rusak (ODU) dec. Matt Erwin (VMI) 12-6
165  Harshaw (UVA) dec. Jeff Cies (Va Tech) 11-6
174  Nathan Rickman (JMU) dec. Trace Head (Va Tech) 8-4
184  Keith Sholders (GMU) dec. Brad Krepps (ODU) 10-6
197  Fenstermaker (UVA) dec. Moore (VMI) 7-1
HWT  Apedoe (VMI) dec. Painter (UVA) 8-3

TEAM SCORING

1.  Virginia            137
2.  James Madison       129
3.  VMI                 118
4.  George Mason        115
5.  Old Dominion      113.5
6.  Virginia Tech      61.5
7.  Norfolk State      26.5
8.  Apprentice School  22.5