Staff
Head Coach
Steve Garland

Coming off his second ACC Championship season, former Cavalier All-American Steve Garland is serving in his 10th season as head wrestling coach at Virginia. A master motivator, recruiter and coach, Garland has worked diligently to push the Cavaliers among the nation's elite. The results of Garland's perseverance are evident. In Garland's first nine seasons at Virginia, the Cavaliers earned eight All-America honors and 16 ACC individual titles while qualifying 57 to the NCAA Championships and recording Top-25 team finishes at NCAAs in five of the last six years.

Virginia has had at least one All-American in six of the last seven seasons. UVa has a 126-54 dual record during Garland’s tenure, as he ranks second in dual wins in school history. The Virginia wrestling program also has been a standout in the classroom; in 2013 UVa was honored by the NWCA as one of the top academic teams in the nation.

Garland and his staff have brought in nine straight Top-25 recruiting classes, including a program-best No. 5 ranking for the 2015 class. His 2007 recruiting class, which included UVa’s first three-time NCAA All-American, Chris Henrich, was ranked No. 5 nationally by W.I.N. Magazine and No. 8 by InterMat.

Virginia won its second ACC Championship under Garland in 2015 and earned a 19th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Three Cavaliers made the NCAA Round of 12 and seven qualified for NCAAs, with Nick Sulzer (165 pounds) advancing through to claim All-America honors for the third straight year as he became the second three-time All-American in program history. Virginia rolled to the ACC Championship by 14.5 points over Pitt as Sulzer and George DiCamillo each won titles while all 10 Cavaliers finished in the top four at their respective weight classes. UVa defeated four ranked opponents during the dual season, including a pair of top-10 foes, Edinboro and Pitt.

Eight Virginia wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2014, with a program-record five Cavaliers earning national seeds. With a fourth-place finish at 165, Nick Sulzer notched All-America honors for the second straight season. Sulzer and Blaise Butler (157) each claimed ACC championships as well. UVa went 18-3 in the regular season - the second-most dual wins in program history - and reached as high as No. 11 in the national polls.

Virginia set program records with nine NCAA qualifiers and four national seeds in 2012-13. Jedd Moore (157 pounds) and Nick Sulzer (165) each earned All-America honors while Matt Snyder (125) and George DiCamillo (133) reached the All-America round. DiCamillo was crowned the ACC champion at 133 pounds, becoming the first UVa freshman to win an ACC title since 1995.

The Cavaliers recorded a program-best No. 11 national ranking during the season and defeated then-No. 9 Central Michigan at the Virginia Duals, marking the first top-10 opponent that Virginia has ever beaten. UVa posted a 16-4 record in dual matches before narrowly finishing second at the ACC Championships and taking 21st at the NCAA Championships.

Virginia also was honored as one of the top academic teams in college wrestling in 2013 as UVa recorded the fifth-best GPA nationally (3.239), while a national-best eight Cavaliers wrestlers were named to the 2012-13 NWCA All-Academic Team. Matt Snyder was named an Academic All-American for the second straight year.

Virginia had another standout year in 2011-12 as three Cavaliers won ACC championships, while the team went 11-1 in dual matches. In recording a 91.7 winning percentage, the Cavaliers set a program record. Matt Snyder (125 pounds), Nick Nelson (141) and Jon Fausey (184) all won ACC titles, while Snyder also was honored as an Academic All-American. A league-high seven Cavaliers were named to the All-ACC Wrestling Academic Team.

Virginia recorded a strong 2010-11 season as the Cavaliers posted their second straight Top 25 finish at the NCAA Championships after taking 23th place. UVa produced a pair of All-Americans, as Derek Valenti (149) and Chris Henrich (174) each reached the podium at NCAAs, while seven Cavaliers qualified for the national championships.

As a team, UVa won a school-record 19 dual meets during the 2010-11 season, including a victory over then-No. 14 Kent State, which at the time was the highest ranked opponent that Virginia had defeated.

Continued....

Assistant Coach
Travis Paulson

Travis Paulson, a three-time All-American at the NCAA Division I level, is in his first season as an assistant coach with the Virginia wrestling program.

Paulson joins the Cavaliers after spending the last eight seasons at his alma mater Iowa State. He served as an assistant coach for the Cyclones from 2009 through 2017 before being named the interim head coach at Iowa State in February after the resignation of then-head coach Kevin Jackson.

“Travis has succeeded at every level in this sport,” Garland said. “His accomplishments, both on and off the mat, and as both a coach and competitor, are impressive. But, that’s not the most exciting thing about him. What drew me to Travis was the reputation he has in the wrestling community, especially with his student-athletes.”

“I was first interested in the opportunity at Virginia because of Steve Garland and what he represents as a leader,” Paulson said. “I had an opportunity to hear him speak at an FCA event during the NCAA Championships and was blown away. After visiting Charlottesville and seeing what UVA offered academically and athletically, it was an opportunity I could not pass up. I’m excited to get settled and hit the ground running.”

In his time at Iowa State, Paulson coached the middleweights and had a key role in the development of several wrestlers for the Cyclones. He served as the individual coach for two NCAA champions in Jon Reader in 2011 and Kyven Gadson in 2015, and helped develop five NCAA champions in his time as an assistant coach. Paulson coached 15 All-Americans with the Cyclones, including coaching All-American Mike Moreno to the biggest turnaround in Iowa State history. Moreno went from a 4-17 record in 2012 to All-America honors in 2013 with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships and a 31-10 record.

A tireless recruiter, Paulson brought in the third-ranked recruiting class in 2016 and the second-ranked recruiting class in 2017 at Iowa State.

“The young men he has mentored truly love him and believe in him,” Garland said. “That type of impact is what we want in our program. We aren’t just bringing in a world team member who can help our wrestlers technically. We are bringing in a mentor and leader they can look up to. He is someone they will have a relationship with for years to come.”

Prior to his coaching position at Iowa State, Paulson spent a season as an assistant coach at Nebraska. During that 2008-09 season, he helped develop four All-Americans and one NCAA Champion in Jordan Burroughs. Paulson also helped coach Nebraska to the Big 12 championship that season and a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

A four-year letterwinner at Iowa State, Paulson redshirted during the 2002-03 season. He was a three-time All-American for the Cyclones, a U.S. Open National Champion and a senior level World Team member. Paulson also earned first-team Academic Big 12 Conference honors, first team Academic All-America honors and was named to the Dean’s List.

Following his collegiate wrestling career, Paulson was twice selected as an alternate to the U.S. Olympic Team (2008, 2012) and was a four-time National Team member. He served as a freestyle coach for the University World Championships and was a two-time coach for the U.S. freestyle FILA Cadet Team in the Pan Am Games in 2014 and 2015.

Volunteer Assistant Coach
Shelton Mack

Shelton Mack is serving in his first season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Virginia wrestling program. Mack was a three-time NCAA qualifier while competing at Pittsburgh.

“We are very excited to welcome Shelton into the Virginia wrestling family,” Virginia head coach Steve Garland said. “I have known him for several years as we recruited him while he was in high school. I also followed him throughout his career and saw him first hand when Pitt joined the ACC. He will be a big help with the hands-on training of our lightweights moving forward.”

Mack recorded 84 wins while wrestling at 133 pounds for Pitt. He qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2012, 2013 and 2014, reaching the round of 12 in 2012 before falling one win shy of All-America status. He earned a career-best 26 wins during his senior season and went 2-2 at the NCAA Championships, where he took eventual national champion Tony Ramos of Iowa down to the wire before narrowly falling, 3-1.

Mack finished third at 133 at the ACC Championships in Pitt’s first year in the ACC in 2014 after recording back-to-back runner-up finishes at the EWL Championships in 2012 and 2013.

A native of Meadville, Pa., where he attended Meadville Area High School, Mack graduated from Pitt in 2014 after double majoring in sociology and history.

Assistant Coach
George DiCamillo

2017 ACC Wrestler of the Year
2017 NCAA Runner-Up
2013 ACC Freshman of the Year
NCAA All-American
3X ACC Champion

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