North Carolina
Duke
Tar Heel Wrestlers Down Blue Devils, 33-6
February 5, 2002 | Wrestling
Feb. 5, 2002
Powered by three consecutive victories from freshmen, the UNC wrestling team bounced back from an early 4-6 hole to defeat Duke 33-6 Tuesday night in ACC action at Carmichael Auditorium. Wins by freshmen Mark Canty (174 pounds), Dusty Heist (184 pounds) and Austin Wall (197 pounds) provided the spark for Bill Lam's Tar Heels to reel off seven straight victories and take the match.
After the Tar Heels dropped two of the first three matches, Canty earned a 14-4 major decision over Duke's Tim Marcantonio to put Carolina ahead, 8-6. Heist then beat the Blue Devil's Frank Cornely by an 18-8 major decision. Heist outscored Cornely 12-4 in the final period to gain the four-point major decision and further UNC's lead to 12-6. Wall used two takedowns in the third period to turn a close 5-4 match into a 9-4 win over Daegan Smith and put the Tar Heels ahead 15-6.
Carolina sophomore heavyweight Ryan Adams pinned Duke's Levi Karnehm in 4:53 with a spectacular takedown into a pinfall which moved Carolina into a 21-6 advantage. UNC freshman Chris Rodrigues (125 pounds) then won his eighth straight match with a 5-1 win over the Blue Devil's Tommy Hoang, last season's ACC runner-up at 125 pounds.
Freshman Evan Sola (133 pounds), pinned Duke's Stuart Holzer in 2:42, and senior Brad Byers (141 pounds) decisioned Duke's Harry Clarke 11-4 to wrap up Carolina's 33-6 win.
Also competing for Carolina were junior James O'Connor (157 pounds) who took a 12-1 major decision over Ben Balmages, junior Chris DiGuiseppe (165 pounds) who fell to Matt Hoover, 8-3, and sophomore Mike Booth (149 pounds) who dropped a close 4-3 decision to the Blue Devils' Luke Palmisano to start the night.
The win is the Tar Heels' eighth straight and improves them to 11-2, 4-0 in the ACC. With the loss, Duke drops to 5-3, 0-1 in conference action.
The win also gives Carolina one point in the Carlyle Cup standings and pushes the Tar Heels' lead to 17-4 over the Blue Devils.
Carolina is back in action Saturday hosting Navy at 2 p.m. in Carmichael Auditorium.
UNC 33
Duke 6
149 - Luke Palmisano (Duke) dec. Mike Booth (UNC), 4-3
157 - James O'Connor (UNC) major dec. Ben Balmages, 12-1
165 - Mike Mitchell (Duke) dec. Chris DiGuiseppe (UNC), 8-3
174 - Mark Canty (UNC) major dec. Tim Marcantonio (Duke), 14-4
184 - Dusty Heist (UNC) major dec. Frank Cornely (Duke), 18-8
197 - Austin Wall (UNC) dec. Daegan Smith (Duke), 9-4
Hwt. - Ryan Adams (UNC) pinned Levi Karnehm (Duke), 4:53
125 - Chris Rodrigues (UNC) dec. Tommy Hoang (Duke), 5-1
133 - Evan Sola (UNC) (UNC) pinned Stuart Holzer (Duke), 2:42
141 - Brad Byers (UNC) dec. Harry Clarke (Duke), 11-4
