University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Southern Scuffle
Five UNC Wrestlers In Title Hunt At Southern Scuffle
December 29, 2008 | Wrestling
Dec. 29, 2008
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Five North Carolina wrestlers survived Monday's opening action of UNC Greensboro's Southern Scuffle to reach the quarterfinal round, which resumes Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Paced by quarterfinalists Vincent Ramirez at 141 pounds, Nick Stabile at 149, Keegan Mueller and Kyle Kiss at 165, Ben Fiacco at 174, the Tar Heels stand in eighth place with 29.5 points in the team competition.
Additionally, eight Tar Heels will be alive in the consolation bracket when action resumes Tuesday.
Stabile and Mueller both went 3-0 Monday to reach the quarterfinal round. Stabile opened with a 12-4 major decision over Binghamton's Justin Lister and followed with decisions against Calvin Miller of Cal State Bakersfield (7-0) and Scott Heckman of East Stroudsburg (8-4). Now 15-5 on the season, Stabile returns to action Tuesday against fourth-seeded Torsten Gillespie of Edinboro.
Mueller, now 16-4 on the year, allowed just three points Monday en route to the quarters. He opened with a major over Aaron Ernest of Lock Haven (15-0) and followed with a decision against NC State's Ray Ward (6-0) and a major over Kyle Blevins of Appalachian State (13-3). Mueller is back in action against Kent State's Obie Simpson Tuesday morning.
Ramirez won two bouts by a 12-2 margin to reach the quarters. He topped Mike Kessler of Appalachian State (8-1) and Germane Lindsey of Ohio (4-1) and will square off against Navy's John Majka when wrestling resumes.
Wrestling unattached, Kiss joined Mueller in the quarters at 165 with a pair of wins. He bested Navy's Robert Neil (10-4) and followed with a 5-3 victory over Edinboro's Chris Hrunka to set up a meeting with No. 1 seed Mack Lewnes of Cornell.
At 174, Fiacco scored a 9-3 decision over Aaron Kelley of Liberty and an 8-4 win over Justin Herbert in Franklin and Marshall to move on the final eight. He will face top-seeded Steve Anceravage of Cornell Tuesday.
Cal State Bakersfield leads the team competition with 44.5 points.
Players Mentioned
