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The Daily Tar Heel

Wrestling team opens ACC matches with a loss

After a three-meet trip to upstate New York failed to yield a win for the North Carolina wrestling team, the Tar Heels returned home Friday night with hopes of righting the ship in their ACC opener against Maryland.

But the meet proved to be anything but a homecoming, as the No. 7 Terrapins dominated the UNC grapplers from start to finish en route to a 41-0 shutout victory at Fetzer Gym.

UNC 141-pounder Mike Rappo appeared to be on his way to the team’s first victory in the third bout of the evening after his takedown of No. 11 Alex Krom put Rappo ahead 4-3 inside the final minute of regulation.

But Krom sent the bout to overtime by earning an escape as time expired, ultimately pulling out the victory with a takedown early in the extra period.

Though coach C.D. Mock said he was happy with Rappo’s effort against a ranked opponent, the rest of his team’s effort left him decidedly displeased.

“Other than Rappo and (Dennis) Drury, I thought the whole rest of the team just stunk the place up,” Mock said. “I’m embarrassed for them. These guys work way too hard to be dominated in the fashion that we were tonight. I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a team that has been dominated that badly.”

Drury, the other wrestler to earn a pass from Mock, was pinned at 1:24 into the second period by No. 3 Hudson Taylor in the only bout to feature two ranked wrestlers.

Drury spent most of the bout’s first minute on one shoulder as he defended against an early near fall from Taylor. Though he was eventually able to roll to his stomach, the energy Drury exerted during the first period left him susceptible to the second-round fall.

Taylor was one of five ranked competitors in the Maryland lineup Friday night. Though Mock praised his opponents, even going as far as to call the Terrapins the best team the ACC has had in fifteen years, he still felt his team needed to do better.

“They’re ranked sixth in the nation. They’ve beaten some good teams. They’ve got four returning All-Americans on that team,” he said. “They’re good. They’re not that good.”

Though Maryland’s hand-blocking defenses repeatedly prevented UNC wrestlers from mounting an attack, Mock blamed a lack of willpower for the team’s poor performance.

“I don’t have a whole lot of confidence in technical crap,” he said. “You gotta have some heart and get it done. We didn’t demonstrate that tonight.”

The UNC wrestlers refused to comment after the match.



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.

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