GoHeels Exclusive: Heilmann's Final Act

By Pat James, GoHeels.com

This time last year, ahead of the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Troy Heilmann reached his decision, one that appeared inconceivable just weeks before.

Then a redshirt junior, he had compiled a 42-31 record in his two varsity seasons on the North Carolina wrestling team. But coming off a redshirt season in which he went up two weight classes, he began the 2016-17 campaign with only one win through his first nine matches.

Success seemed distant. His remaining time as a starter looked brief. And the enjoyment he'd always found in the sport was gradually diminishing.

"It wasn't a thought to stop the season," he said, "but it was tough to see the finish line."

Heilmann, an information science major, knew he'd be graduating in May. So amid his wrestling struggles, he contemplated not returning to the mat for his final year of eligibility.

Then came a return to form. He rebounded from his 1-8 start and ultimately reached nationals for the second time in his career. And before leaving for St. Louis, he learned he had been accepted into UNC's Master of Science in Information Science program.

He didn't speak with his parents about his future until after the NCAA Championships. But his decision was already made.

"I've got to give this another shot," he told them. "I owe it to myself.'"

Now, on the heels of a breakout redshirt senior season and Atlantic Coast Conference championship at 149 pounds, Heilmann's decision to continue his wrestling career looms large as he returns to nationals, which start Thursday in Cleveland.

In each of his previous NCAA appearances, Heilmann has gone 1-2 with a loss in the opening round. But he's faced larger obstacles in his career and never allowed those to derail him.

'That hometown vibe'

In South Plainfield, New Jersey, where wrestling is ingrained in the community and boys aspire to one day add to the high school's storied tradition in the sport, the Heilmanns are considered a family wrestling dynasty.

Troy and his brothers, Nick and Joe, combined for 474 career wins and 10 state medals at South Plainfield High. Nick, three years older than Troy, wrestled at UNC from 2010-14. Joe is a high school senior who signed with the Tar Heels on Nov. 8.

The brothers' infatuation with wrestling wasn't inherited, though.

Their father, Nick Sr., never slipped on a singlet or worried about making weight. But his sons couldn't resist the tug of the wrestling-crazed culture surrounding them, beginning with Nick.

Troy followed Nick's footsteps and started wrestling when he was 5. They came home from practices eager to show their father the newest moves they learned. The absence of a wrestling mat served as a compelling deterrent. Yet that didn't matter. Troy and Nick grappled on the hardwood floor.

"He was always beating me up," Troy said. "It was intense between us two."

From the time he joined a local recreation program through high school, Troy said he wrestled with some of his best friends. Four of them – Anthony Ashnault, Scott DelVecchio, Dylan Painton and Corey Stasenko – went on to wrestle at Rutgers.

At South Plainfield, they anchored a team that claimed Group III state championships in 2010, 2012 and 2013. The Tigers also won the prestigious Virginia Duals in 2013. South Plainfield's septet at 113-152 pounds, including Troy and his four fellow classmates, became known as "Murderer's Row," a homage to the heavy-hitting 1927 New York Yankees.

They fueled one another. And Troy benefited from that extra motivation, finishing his high school career with a 157-18 record, four state medals and three final appearances.

"A lot of guys take an individual aspect to wrestling now," Troy said. "They try to get the best training wherever they can and go about it for themselves with a lot these kids going to private schools. But that hometown vibe really made me understand that wrestling for the guys around you and trying to make everyone around you better makes you better."

He tried to bring that same approach to UNC. But he initially didn't experience the same sort of success he had at South Plainfield.

Troy opened his college career with four straight losses, including one against four-time NCAA All-American Tyler Graff of Wisconsin. He bounced back, going 10-2 over his next 12 matches. Still, it took some time to adjust to greater competition.

"You've gotta learn how not to get beat up," Troy said, "or you're going to keep getting beat up."

As a true freshman, he finished 19-18 overall and 8-10 in duals wrestling at 133 pounds. He built off those results the next season, when he took third at the ACC Championships to earn an automatic bid to nationals.

He showed signs of progress. Then came the trials.

Overcoming doubt

With Christian Barber and Evan Henderson returning as redshirt seniors, Heilmann entered the 2015-16 season expecting he'd redshirt. His inkling proved correct. But he didn't anticipate the coaching staff's suggestion that he move up to 149 pounds.

"They said, 'Just enjoy this year, take some time to build some strength, go up to 149,'" Heilmann recounted. "'Don't worry too much about cutting weight all year. Just worry about getting better at wrestling.'"

In many ways, he accomplished that. He added strength, increased his weight and recorded a pair of runner-up finishes at the Nittany Lion Open and the National Collegiate Open. Yet without the specialized attention that starters receive from coaches or the pressure of competition each weekend, Heilmann said he naturally relaxed a little bit during his redshirt year.

In his return last season, that showed early on.

Heilmann dropped his first five matches. His first win of the season finally came in his sixth bout. But he lost his next three, none more deflating than the last, a pin he suffered against Cleveland State's Nick Montgomery in his first match at the Southern Scuffle.

By that point, Kennedy Monday, then a freshman 149-pounder, had started traveling with the team. Heilmann noticed. And he knew if he didn't rally, he might lose his starting job.

"That was tough," he said. "But I think it was the best thing that could have happened."

Relegated to the Southern Scuffle's consolation bracket, Heilmann rattled off three straight wins, tripling his season total. The last came via major decision. Although he lost the ensuing match, a 5-1 decision against Drexel's Matthew Cimato, Heilmann responded well after being pinned.

And he never looked back.

He went 8-3 over his last 11 regular-season matches. He then upset No. 8 Sam Speno of N.C. State at the ACC Championships to earn All-ACC honors and an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships as the ACC runner-up. In his final victory of the season, he scored a major decision over Harvard's Hunter Ladnier at nationals.

Heilmann said volunteer assistant coach Tony Ramos has since told him that he thought Heilmann was done when Montgomery pinned him. Many would have been. But Heilmann didn't even considered that.

"There was never a point where I was fully convinced that I was going to quit; that was never really a thought," he said. "But you're just like, 'Damn, this is tough. How am I going to get through this?' Those doubts definitely go through your head. But I always finish what I start."

'Gunning for a national title'

It was at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in December, when he upended Ohio State's Ke-Shawn Hayes and Northern Iowa's Max Thomsen on his way to the 149-pound final, that Heilmann started garnering national attention.

But he sensed the success he's had this season months before that.

Competing at the University Nationals in June, Heilmann finished fourth in the 70-kilogram University freestyle division. He won six matches. Three of those victories came against All-American Geo Martinez of Oklahoma State, two-time All-American Cole Erickson of Division III's Coe College and 2014 NCAA champion Jason Tsirtsis of Arizona State.

"Right then got me really excited for the following season," Heilmann said. "I just kept training all summer."

And his hard work has paid dividends.

He went 27-4 overall and 17-3 in duals wrestling during the regular season. Along the way, he notched eight wins over ranked opponents. But no victory was more satisfying than the one that helped him claim the 149-pound title at the ACC Championships on March 3.

Facing Virginia Tech's Ryan Blees, responsible for Heilmann's lone ACC loss of the season, Heilmann scored a takedown with about five seconds left, securing a 3-1 victory in his final match at Carmichael Arena.

"It was really exciting to get that title, and to be able to win it in Chapel Hill was special," he said. "Now I've just got one more weekend to accomplish a goal I've been chasing my entire wrestling career."

One of eight Tar Heels participating in the NCAA Championships, Heilmann is the No. 4 seed at 149 pounds. That seed matches Ethan Ramos' No. 4 at 174 in 2016 as the highest for a UNC wrestler since T.J. Jaworsky won his third consecutive national title as the top seed in 1995.

"If I get on that podium, I'll be excited," he said. "But I'm gunning for a national title."

Yet Heilmann can still take pride in what's he already accomplished. He now owes himself that.

Players Mentioned

Troy Heilmann

Kennedy Monday

Ethan Ramos

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