Cavaliers Kick Off 2025 Season at the Thrilling Southern Scuffle Showdown!

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia wrestling squad (4-1, 0-0 ACC) embarks on the road this weekend for its initial contest of the new year at the Southern Scuffle sponsored by Compound Sportswear. The tournament (Jan. 4-5) will be hosted by Chattanooga, with wrestling commencing at 9 a.m. on Saturday (Jan. 4).

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
The tournament will be streamed by FloWrestling on a subscription basis, and live results and brackets can also be accessed on FloWrestling.com. Links to both can be found at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also receive updates throughout the day by following the program’s official account on X (@UVAWrestling).

NOTING THE SOUTHERN SCUFFLE

• This marks the 20th year of the tournament held by Chattanooga that began in 2003.
• In this season, 22 teams will be competing in the event, including six nationally ranked teams this week: No. 1 Penn State, No. 8 Virginia Tech, No. 17 Little Rock, No. 21 Oklahoma, No. 23 North Carolina, and No. 24 Army.

HOOS IN THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
125: Keyveon Roller
133: Kyle Montaperto, Gable Porter
141: Kyren Butler, Dylan Cedeno
157: Gavin Cagle, Michael Gioffre, Nick Sanko
165: Mason Stefanelli
174: Rocco Contino, Michael Murphy
184: Hadyn Danals, Griffin Gammell, Justin Phillips
197: Max Shulaw, Ethan Weatherspoon
HWT: Gabe Christenson

NOTING THE HOOS

• Four Cavaliers are ranked in the InterMat rankings this week with Keyveon Roller (No. 18 at 125), Kyren Butler (No. 27 at 141), Jack Gioffre (No. 26 at 149), and Nick Hamilton (No. 17 at 165) representing the Hoos.
• The Cavaliers have four wrestlers designated as pre-seeds in their respective weight classes: Roller (No. 6 at 125), Butler (No. 5 at 141), Michael Gioffre (No. 6 at 157), and Gabe Christenson (No. 5 at 285).
• This is the fourth scheduled tournament for the Cavaliers, and Virginia has crowned at least one champion in every contest thus far this season.
• Kyren Butler clinched the 141-pound title at the Sheridan Invitational (12/20), while Kyle Montaperto secured the 133-pound title at the Patriot Open (12/8), and Brenan Morgan triumphed in the heavyweight category at the Southeast Open (11/2).
• Gavin Cagle garnered a place at last year’s Southern Scuffle, achieving eighth at 157 pounds in the 2023 competition.
• Michael Gioffre finished fifth at the 2022 Southern Scuffle, leading the Cavaliers in that season’s event.