The No. 22 North Carolina wrestling team finished off an impressive weekend in Carmichael Arena on Sunday afternoon, taking down the visiting Little Rock Trojans 37-6 to move to 6-4 on the season.
What happened?
The Tar Heels got off to an hot start, with first-year Spencer Moore – a day after celebrating his 18th birthday – winning 11-2 in the 125-pound bout, redshirt junior Joe Heilmann using a dominant second period to win 13-3 at 133 pounds, and No. 7 Kizhan Clarke winning by decision in the 141-pound match.
At 149 pounds, No. 20 Zach Sherman physically dominated his opponent en route to a 13-2 victory. The Florida native led 6-0 after the first period and never looked back, earning his 70th career victory. UNC led 15-0 after four matches.
2021 national champion Austin O’Connor then stepped onto the mat for the Tar Heels in the 157-pound weight class, and as he’s done for years in Chapel Hill, O’Connor dominated.
Despite falling behind 2-0 on a takedown, the Illinois native recorded three takedowns and an escape to lead 7-4 after one. Five more takedowns and a near fall followed as the redshirt senior extended his lead, and O’Connor finished the bout with a dominant 23-9 victory, the 96th of his illustrious career.
Little Rock got on the board with a pin in the 165-pound match, which moved the score to 20-6 overall. These were the Trojans’ only points of the afternoon.
Graduate student Clay Lautt – ranked 16th in the country – then stepped to the mat and got all he could handle. The Kansas native fell behind 2-1 after the first period, but the second frame is where things got interesting. The Little Rock coaches erupted when they saw their wrestler earn a two-point takedown at the edge of the mat, but the officials deemed the wrestlers to have been off the mat and did not award any points.
A tie at 4-4 halfway through the second period got reduced to a 2-2 score after a lengthy video review, and Lautt capitalized on the extended break. After a Little Rock escape put him down 3-2 with just 30 seconds left, Lautt found an extra gear and earned a takedown in the closing seconds to win 4-3.
