Navy, N.C. State crush UNC

Facing his second match in two days and suffering from a torn oblique muscle, North Carolina 125-pound wrestler Bobby Shaw had every reason to take a day off.

But for Shaw, it wasn’t an option.

“It gets to the point where if you’re sick, you just have to fight through it sometimes,” Shaw said. “In my case, I was really hurt, but you gotta fight through it for the team.”

The sophomore wrestled valiantly in UNC’s 21-17 loss at N.C. State on Friday and against No. 21 Navy in a 27-10 defeat Saturday, despite the team’s disappointing performances.

On Friday, Shaw battled N.C. State (5-5, 1-0 in the ACC) sophomore Garrett Cummings to a tie after three periods. In overtime, Shaw saw an opening and lunged for Cummings’ legs to score a takedown and a sudden-death victory.

Saturday afternoon, Shaw showed no signs of fatigue as he dominated Navy’s Brad Canterbury for a 14-0 major decision.

The performances were all the more impressive given the extent of Shaw’s injury.

“(Friday) night, as well as last week against Nebraska, he got a shot before he went out to numb the pain,” said head coach C.D. Mock. “I was going to forfeit him today, save him for (Tuesday’s match against) Duke. I didn’t want to take any chances, but he wanted to wrestle.”

Shaw’s injury is just one example of the adversity that has sapped the Tar Heels’ (3-5, 2-1) depth this season.

Freshman Alex Maciag was out sick for both matches, forcing Tim Barbis to shed 13 pounds in one day to fill the 174-pound spot.

“He worked all night, literally all night long he trained,” Mock said. “And I didn’t even know he was doing that. We were going to forfeit the weight.”

Barbis’ sacrifice was caused by UNC’s lack of depth, which has been a source of frustration for Mock.

“Navy just weighed in three guys in each weight class,” he said. “I am having trouble weighing one.”

Because the team is so thin, Shaw said he felt compelled to compete Saturday.

“Normally the only way to get better is take some time off, but we don’t have the depth to take time off,” Shaw said.

Against Navy (9-3), the Tar Heels lost their first six matches, but made the score respectable with three lightweight victories, starting with Shaw’s major decision.

“We came out a little flat today, and it showed,” Shaw said. “They took it to us right away. And when it got down to my match, I just wanted to turn things around.”

Shaw was also one of the few bright spots Friday, as his overtime victory keyed an 8-0 start for UNC. But after Isaiah Britton lost a late lead at 141 pounds, the team collapsed, surrendering five consecutive matches.

“(Friday) night we lost, and I was questioning whether we had enough heart on the team,” Mock said.

But the coach said he was not concerned about Shaw’s heart because of the toughness the sophomore has shown.

Said Shaw: “I don’t want to take time off, because when it comes down to the NCAA Tournament it doesn’t matter if you have a broken leg or something, if you’re not going to go you’re not going to be an All-American, and that’s the goal right now.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.