New wrestling coach Steve Garland, at 29, has taken over a program that went 12-5 last year but hasn’t won a team ACC title since 1974.
“All that matters in wrestling is how many All-Americans you have, how many guys you’re bringing to the big dance, and did you win ACCs or not,” says Garland. “That’s all that [Athletic Director] Craig Littlepage and people here want to know…and that’s what we’re going for.”
The former assistant head coach at Cornell University, Garland has moved from the wrestling town of Ithaca, New York, to Charlottesville, which is, apparently, nowhere on the spectrum of wrestling fandom. As Virginia wrestling’s new head coach, though, the former UVA All-American is determined to get his guys more fans and more titles.
To do that, Garland is focusing on short and hard practices and fostering a team mentality among his wrestlers. “That’s what’s interesting about wrestling. We want to win a team ACC title,” Garland says. “The cool thing is, if you focus on the individual part of it, the team effort takes care of itself.”
Garland’s also reaching out to the public to come to more matches. “You think it’s an underdog sport, wrestling in general, but this area, Central Virginia really needs more work… We’re looking to get more people in the stands and get more people excited about Virginia wrestling.”
UVA wrestling is also aiming to become a top-drawing program, with a renovation to their practice facilities in Onesty Hall and recruits like Rocco Caponi, freestyle Junior National champion (the country’s biggest amateur wrestling event) and Brent Jones, a Greco-Roman wrestler who was the No. 2 high school recruit in the country. “Virginia sells itself,” says Garland. “If we can convince the top kids in the country to come see this place—I haven’t had anybody come here and say, ‘Man, that place was terrible.’”
Garland hints there are more top recruits headed for the program. “I can’t comment on specifics yet, but recruiting’s going very well,” he says.
The Cavaliers’ first meet of the season is November 11—they wrestle Delaware State, George Mason and Liberty.
Related stories
‘Permanent damage’
After almost three months, Charlottesville police have dropped charges against Patrick McNamara for the January 12 assault of a woman on the Rivanna Trail. The case against McNamara has been dismissed, but the arrest continues to affect his life. On January 18, McNamara was taking a break outside while working from his apartment when he […]
Passing the buck
Charlottesville representatives returned to Richmond for the April meeting of the state legislature. The April 17 session was originally intended to address vetoes, amendments, and the state budget, but a jam-packed agenda pushed budget considerations to May. Though he didn’t outright veto the budget, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin put forward 233 amendments to the bill, […]
Hall pass
On Tuesday, April 30, representatives from the University of Virginia Alumni Association will publicly present a site plan for “a new Alumni Hall” at the corner of Emmet Street and Lewis Mountain Road. The Alumni Association is a separate entity from the university, and pays property taxes to the City of Charlottesville. Unlike UVA, it […]
