Eight Tar Heels Set For NCAA Wrestling Championships

CLEVELAND --- The largest North Carolina wrestling contingent in nearly two decades is set to begin competition at Quicken Loans Arena Thursday on day one of the 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships. ACC champions Troy Heilmann and Ethan Ramos lead the way for head coach Coleman Scott, who brings a group of eight competitors to the national tournament, the most for UNC since the 1999 team had nine qualifiers.

Heilmann enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed at 149 pounds, the highest for a Tar Heel since Ramos was the No. 4 seed at 174 two years ago. Ramos is the No. 10 seed this season, and the redshirt senior is looking to return to the podium after an All-American performance at 165 in 2015.

Joining Heilmann and Ramos are a trio of returning qualifiers and three nationals newcomers. Redshirt senior Danny Chaid (197) is back for the second straight year along with heavyweight junior Cory Daniel. Chip Ness (184) returns to NCAAs after redshirting a season ago. Redshirt sophomore A.C. Headlee (141), redshirt freshman Kennedy Monday (157) and true freshman Zach Sherman (133) round out the eight Tar Heel qualifiers.

Thursday Matchups
133 - Zach Sherman (15-18)
First round: No. 2 seed Stevan Micic, Michigan (22-2)
Second round: No. 15 seed Ali Naser, Arizona State (21-11)/Anthony Tutolo, Kent State (27-11)

141 - A.C. Headlee (15-13)
First round: No. 2 seed Jaydin Eierman, Missouri (28-1)
Second round: No. 15 seed Nate Limmex, Purdue (25-14)/Eli Stickley, Wisconsin (19-12)

149 - No. 4 seed Troy Heilmann (29-4)
First round: Tyshawn Williams, SIU Edwardsville (15-13)
Second round: No. 13 seed Colton McCrystal, Nebraska (21-5)/Jarrett Degen, Iowa State (20-9)

157 - Kennedy Monday (18-14)
First round: No. 2 seed Joey Lavallee, Missouri (29-1)
Second round: No. 15 seed John Van Brill, Rutgers (20-12)/Alex Klucker, Lock Haven (25-9)

174 - No. 10 seed Ethan Ramos (17-4)
First round: Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech (21-10)
Second round: No. 7 seed Taylor Lujan, Northern Iowa (28-5)/Will Schany, Virginia (18-12)

184 - Chip Ness (17-10)
First round: No. 10 seed Emory Parker, Illinois (21-3)
Second round: No. 7 seed Taylor Venz, Nebraska (23-7)/Chaz Polson, Wyoming (31-11)

197 - Danny Chaid (22-10)
First round: No. 12 seed Stephen Loiseau, Drexel (31-10)
Second round: No. 5 seed Shakur Rasheed, Penn State (20-3)/Sawyer Root, The Citadel (25-14)

285 - Cory Daniel (23-7)
First round: No. 10 seed Jordan Wood, Lehigh (19-5)
Second round: No. 7 Nathan Butler, Stanford (24-7)/Jeramy Sweany, Cornell (19-6)/Brett Dempsey, American (18-11)

THURSDAY, MARCH 15

Noon
Session 1- Eight Mat Configuration
Pigtails and First-Round Competition
7 p.m.
Session 2- Eight Mat Configuration
Preliminaries: Wrestle-Back Prelims (pigtail matches) as needed.
Wrestle-Back First Round.
Followed by Championship Round, Second Round and Consolation Round.

FRIDAY, MARCH 16
11 a.m.
Session 3- Eight Mat Configuration
Quarterfinals on middle four mats; Wrestle-Back Second and Third Rounds on outside mats.
8 p.m.
Session 4- Six Mat "Dog Bone" Configuration
Semifinals on inside two mats (one weight at a time) and Wrestle-back Fourth Round on outside four mats.
Followed by Wrestle-Back fifth rounds on all six mats.

SATURDAY, MARCH 17
11 a.m.
Session 5- Three Mat Configuration
Wrestle-Back Semifinals on all three mats.
Followed by third, fifth and seventh place medal round matches.
8 p.m.
Session 6- One Championship Mat
Championship weight class finals.
Individual weight class awards.

Players Mentioned

Danny Chaid

Cory Daniel

A.C. Headlee

Troy Heilmann

Kennedy Monday

Chip Ness

Ethan Ramos

Zach Sherman

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