University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Southern Scuffle
Three Tar Heels Take Third At Southern Scuffle
December 30, 2008 | Wrestling
Dec. 30, 2008
GREENSBORO, N.C. - North Carolina's Vincent Ramirez, Keegan Mueller and Dennis Drury each took third in their respective weight classes to lead the Tar Heels to a fifth-place finish Tuesday at UNC Greensboro's Southern Scuffle at the Greensboro Coliseum.
UNC's trio of third-place finishers led a group of nine Tar Heel place-winners in the highly-competitive tournament. Carolina was fifth with 104 points. No. 3 Cornell took the team title with 139 points, while No. 17 Edinboro was second with 134.
In addition to Ramirez at 141 pounds, Mueller at 165 and Drury at 197, Nick Stabile took fourth at 149, Mike Rappo was fifth at 133, Thomas Scotton placed sixth at 157 and Ben Fiacco was eighth at 174. A pair of unattached Tar Heels also placed as Nick Tenpenny placed seventh at 174 and Kyle Kiss was eighth at 165.
Drury suffered an 8-5 loss to No. 6 Cayle Byers of George Mason in his first match Monday but ran off eight consecutive victories in the consolation bracket en route to his third-place finish. He picked up two pins and a technical fall before closing things with a 3-2 win over 17th-ranked Cameron Simaz of Cornell in the third-place bout. After logging an 8-1 record in Greensboro, Drury moves to 16-4 on the year. He also pinned No. 15 Brent Jones of Virginia in 4:52 to reach the third-place match.
After going 2-0 Monday, Ramirez reached the semis with a decision over Navy's John Majka before falling in overtime to Kent State's Drew Lashaway (3-1). The Durham native rebounded with a pair of victories in the consolation bracket, including a 6-1 win over Virginia's Nick Nelson in the third-place bout to move to 5-1 in the tourney and 19-4 this season.
Mueller went 3-1 on day two of the tourney to place third with a 6-1 record. He bounced back from a setback in the semifinals with a 12-6 victory over Ricky Schmely of Bloomsberg in and a 4-2 win over Matt Epperly of Virginia Tech in the third-place match. Mueller is now 19-5 on the year and was joined as a place-winner at 165 by Kiss, who took eighth with a 3-3 mark.
Stabile won his first four bouts in the tourney before falling to No. 3 Darrion Caldwell of NC State (12-3) in the semis. After an 11-6 victory over Pete Yates of Virginia Tech, Stabile took a medical forfeit to earn fourth place. He went 5-2 in the event to run his season mark to 17-7.
Rappo, who went 6-2 in Greensboro to move to 15-6 on the season, posted a 12-6 victory over Virginia Tech's Will Livingston in the fifth-place bout.
Scotton, now 14-4 this season, was 5-3 in the tourney en route to his sixth-place finish.
At 174, Tenpenny went 6-2, while Fiacco was 3-3. Tenpenny scored a 3-2 decision over Fiacco in the seventh-place bout, as the Tar Heels took a pair place-winners in the class.
Carolina is back in action Saturday against Oklahoma, Cal Poly and Army at the Lone Star Duals in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Players Mentioned
