Sola hopes to garner national title

During the 174-pound bout at the North Carolina wrestling team’s meet against N.C. State on Friday, the master of ceremonies made an interesting announcement.

Kevin Gabrielson, the Wolfpack combatant in the ring, was a childhood friend of UNC’s Evan Sola, the junior All-American from Wernersville, Penn.

The pair had wrestled against each other when they were only 5 years old, the announcer said, and while Gabrielson had put on a few pounds since, the 133-pound Sola was “still a munchkin.”

Munchkin or not, the ninth-ranked Sola was one of the few bright spots in UNC’s 21-17 loss to State and its 27-10 loss to Navy Saturday.

In the match at Reynolds Coliseum, he secured a 17-1 technical fall victory, while in the match at Carmichael, he held his Midshipman opponent scoreless with a 6-0 decision.

With the pair of victories, Sola improved to 21-3 on the season and a flawless 8-0 in duals. For Sola, however, records and rankings are of little importance. “I haven’t looked at the rankings all year,” he said. “My mentality is number one.”

After earning All-American honors as a sophomore, Sola was forced to red-shirt last season due to a torn ACL.

He has returned with a vengeance.

“I expect All-American status again,” he said, “and I can’t say I’ll be satisfied with anything else.”

With All-American honors as the benchmark, Sola’s goal is to be a national champion.

“When I’m 100 percent fearless, I know I can beat anybody,” Sola said. “The biggest thing I have to deal with is going out on the mat with (that) frame of mind.”

In addition to making sure he doesn’t let his opponents affect his mentality, coach C.D. Mock described another challenge Sola faces this season.

In some of his matches, especially his losses, Mock has noticed an occasional tendency in Sola to rest too heavily on his laurels.

“He needs to wrestle not to defend the fact that he’s an All-American, but to prove that he’s a national champion,” Mock said.

After his achievement of All-American status, Sola has less to prove than when he was a sophomore, but he still needs to continue to raise the bar, Mock said.

The pair has discussed the matter at length and, at present, the topic appears to be a dead issue. Sola is undefeated in his last nine matches.

There’s a reason, of course, that both men are so concerned about Sola staying on top of his game. Both coach and wrestler think he has the potential to accomplish much this season.

When asked if national champion was a goal he thought Sola could attain, Mock replied, “No question about it.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.