But after the first day of competition, only one Tar Heel hadn’t suffered a loss. While redshirt junior Joey Ward reached the quarterfinals, the rest of his teammates faltered.
After reaching the semifinals in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, Ethan Ramos looked poised to end up there again. Crowned ACC Champion just a week earlier, Ramos was the No. 4 seed in the 174-pound weight class. But the 2015 All-American took two stunning losses to open the first day, exiting the tournament without a win.
Evan Henderson saw his day end in a similar fashion. After Henderson — a No. 8 seed at the 149-pound weight class — dropped his opener, the redshirt senior gave up a technical fall in wrestlebacks to end his day.
While three other Tar Heels won their consolation matches to advance to the second day of competition, Ward became the bright spot of the tournament for North Carolina.
Ward lost his quarterfinal match to top-seeded Dean Heil — the eventual 141-pound NCAA champion, who Ward had beaten earlier in the season in a dual match against Oklahoma State — but the redshirt junior battled back to win seventh place in the consolation bracket.
Ward was the only Tar Heel to earn All-American status this weekend, despite high hopes for numerous wrestlers entering the tournament. The Tar Heels finished with just 10 team points, tied for 32nd overall.
Quotable
“It’s a tough tournament. You can’t just show up at the national tournament and expect to win it. But you’ve got to live and learn, you can’t dwell on it. All you can do is improve from it.” — Coach Coleman Scott on his team’s performance in the NCAA Tournament.
