North Carolina
Virginia
Carolina Wrestling Pins Virginia, 27-9
January 14, 2000 | Wrestling
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The University of North Carolina wrestling team extended its winning streak to 26 matches over the Virginia Cavaliers. UVa had not won against UNC since a 28-14 victory in the 1974-1975 season in Chapel Hill, N.C. Virginia entered the match coming off a 22-16 loss to North Carolina when the two teams faced one another on January 7th at the 2000 Virginia Duals in Norfolk, Va. On this evening, Virginia jumped out to a 6-4 after three matches before North Carolina took control of the match en route to a 27-9 victory over the Cavaliers at Memorial Gymnasium.
UNC took and early 4-0 lead when Brad Byers recorded a major decision victory over UVa's Dave Takseraas (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) by the score of 14-5 in the 133 lbs. class. The Cavaliers then managed to post back-to-back wins to claim an early 6-4 lead. At 141, P.J. Bory (Suffern, Va./Suffern) recorded Virginia's first win of the match by topping North Carolina's Rusty Lee by the count of 8-2 to trim Carolina's lead to 4-3. John Pozniak (State College, Pa./State College) then gave the Cavaliers their first and only lead of the match when he gathered a 6-1 victory over the Tar Heels' Aaron Gilson at 149 to make it a 6-4 contest in favor of UVa.
However, it was nearly all North Carolina from there on, as the Tar Heels won six of the last seven matches in the dual. UNC's Dennis Landin pinned UVa's Don Carlo-Clauss (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Olympia) just :23 seconds into the match at 157 and North Carolina's Jamie Graudle defeated Virginia's Brian Muir (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) by the score of 9-3 at 165 to give UNC a 13-6 lead. The Tar Heels would extend their lead to 18-6 after UNC's Cory Bell posted a 15-0 technical fall victory over UVa's Steve Mazzola (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edwards) at 174.
The Cavaliers would not quit though and managed their third victory of the match at 184 when Ryan McGrath (Blairstown, N.J./Blair Academy) edged Carolina's Nick Richmond by the score of 3-1 in overtime to pull Virginia within nine team points at 18-9. However, North Carolina won the last three matches and pulled away for the win. Clint Osborn topped Virginia's Jimi Massey (Williamsport, Md./Williamsport) by the count of 6-2 at 197 and the Tar Heels' Matt Kenny pulled out a 9-7 overtime win over UVa's Josh Etu (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) in the heavyweight bout.
Last but not least, in probably the most anticipated match of the evening, two of the nations elite wrestlers squared-off in the final match of the evening in the 125 lbs. class. Virginia's Steve Garland (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown), ranked fourth in the country at 125, entered the match with an overall record of 12-1 on the season. He faced North Carolina's Skyler Holman, who entered the match ranked 12th in the country with an overall mark of 22-5. After a back and forth affair, Holman upset Garland by the score of 10-5, giving the Tar Heels a 27-9 victory over the Cavaliers.
The victory improves UNC's record to 2-2 overall, 1-1 in the conference. With the loss, UVa falls to 1-3-0 overall, 0-1 in the ACC. The Tar Heels have now defeated the Cavaliers 26 consecutive times.
North Carolina will travel to College Park, Md. to face the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday, January 15th in an ACC dual. That contest is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. Virginia will return to home action on Saturday, January 15th when the Cavaliers host the Navy Midshipmen and the Old Dominion Monarchs in dual meet competition. UVa will face Navy at 1:00 p.m. and will meet ODU at 7:00 p.m. Both competitions will be held at Memorial Gymnasium.
Team Results:
North Carolina 27 Virginia 9
Individual Results:
Wgt. Results Score Team Score (UNC/Va) 133 Brad Byers (UNC) def. Dave Takseraas (UVa) MD 14-5 4-0 141 P.J. Bory (UVa) def. Rusty Lee (UNC) 8-2 4-3 149 John Pozniak (UVa) def. Aaron Gilson (UNC) 6-1 4-6 157 Dennis Landin (UNC) def. Don Carlo-Clauss (UVa) Pin @:23 10-6 165 Jamie Graudle (UNC) def. Brian Muir (UVa) 9-3 13-6 174 Cory Bell (UNC) def. Steve Mazzola (UVa) TF 15-0 18-6 184 Ryan McGrath (UVa) def. Nick Richmond (UNC) 3-1 (OT) 18-9 197 Clint Osborn (UNC) def. Jimi Massey (UVa) 6-2 21-9 Hwt Matt Kenny (UNC) def. Josh Etu (UVa) 9-7 (OT) 24-9 125 Skyler Holman (UNC) def. Steve Garland (UVa) 10-5 27-9
