The North Carolina wrestling team fell behind 6-0 after two bouts against the Appalachian State Mountaineers before picking up six of the final eight matchups in a decisive 24-12 team victory.
The first matchup on the mats saw North Carolina redshirt first-year Tyrone Klump fall 9-3 to Appalachian’s Vito Pasone. The Tar Heels dropped another match as first year A. C. Headlee fell 10-9 to Jacob Grigg, who picked up two points in the final seconds of the third period to grab the win.
In the third bout, No. 7 Evan Henderson, a redshirt senior, pinned Michael Longo of Appalachian at 2:07 for the win. Christian Barber then battled to a 3-1 victory for the Tar Heels over Matt Zovistoski.
The 157 pound and 165 pound bouts both involved third period wins by Tar Heels, as both went into the final period tied at 5. Robert Henderson, a redshirt senior, picked up a 7-6 win over David Peters-Logue. Then No. 5 Ethan Ramos, a redshirt first year, battled it out in a close match to pull out an 8-6 win over Forrest Przybysz.
The Mountaineers’ Nick Kee defeated North Carolina redshirt-senior John Michael Staudenmayer by a score of 5-3 in the 174 pound matchup to bring the Mountaineers within 6, the closest they would be to the Tar Heels for the rest of the day.
The matchup at 184 pounds was deadlocked at zero heading into the third period, with Taylor Jackson of Appalachian and Alex Utley of UNC holding each other off. But Utley, a redshirt senior, went on a tear with a one-point escape, two-point take down and four-point near fall in the first 30 seconds of the final period on his way to a 10-2 victory.
Sophomore Chip Ness continued this torrent over Appalachian’s Tyler Radford, putting up 18 points before earning the technical fall for the victory.
North Carolina’s redshirt freshman Cory Daniel squared off against Appalachian’s Denzel Dejournette in the 285 pound bout and fell 9-2, but the Tar Heels still walked away with a convincing margin of victory at 24-12.
