The six freshmen wrestlers who started for North Carolina at home Friday against N.C. State didn’t expect to be shouldering this much of the load this soon in their college careers.
But when called upon, the newcomers came through.
The group came up with five victories, two by pinfall, and accounted for all but one of the bouts UNC won in its 24-12 win.
“These guys are good,” UNC senior Thomas Scotton said. “I don’t have to say anything. They’re doing great. I should be looking to them for advice.”
Though the Tar Heels graduated just two starters last season, NCAA qualifier Dennis Drury at 197 pounds and 133-pounder Jeremy Shaw, the team has been beset by eligibility and injury issues, opening up additional holes at heavyweight and the 157-pound weight classes.
The group has shouldered an even larger burden on behalf of a senior class that features three former NCAA qualifiers who have yet to regain their earlier form. At no time was this more apparent than UNC freshman and Chapel Hill native Corey Mock’s 157-pound bout with NCSU’s Colton Palmer.
Mock entered the bout on a two-match losing streak and with his team trailing 9-3.
Added pressure came from the fact that he’d be taking on an old friend from his rival Riverside High School. They had never wrestled previously, but had long been the subject of schoolboy debates about their relative merits.
Mock put a lid on those arguments, at least for the time being, pinning Palmer at 5:43 to tie the match.
