University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
NCAA Championships
Three Tar Heels Remain Alive At NCAA Championships
March 19, 2009 | Wrestling
March 19, 2009
ST. LOUIS - North Carolina's Thomas Scotton, Keegan Mueller and Justin Dobies each won their first-round match but fell short in a bid to advance to the quarterfinals at the 2009 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Thursday at the Scottrade Center. This trio is still alive in the double-elimination tournament and will be back on the mat Friday when action resumes.
Mike Rappo (133), Vincent Ramirez (141), Nick Stabile (149) and Dennis Drury (197) were eliminated with consecutive losses to open the tournament.
At 157 pounds, Scotton broke open a tight match in the third period with a takedown, an escape and the riding time point for a 6-1 win over Aaron Hynes of Michigan in the first round. The Willingboro, N.J., native followed that up with a 6-2 loss to No. 3 seed Jordan Leen of Cornell in the second round to drop to the consolation bracket. Scotton will enter Friday's match with Bryan Deustch of Northern Illinois with a 22-14 season mark.
The ACC champion at 165, Mueller opened strong with a takedown and a three-point near fall in the first against Luke Manuel of Purdue in first round and never looked back en route to a 10-4 decision. The Dallas senior fell short of the quarters with a 6-4 loss to Hofstra's Ryan Patrovich on a third-period takedown. Mueller, who will face Chattanooga's William Garvin in his first match Friday, is 33-8 on the year.
At heavyweight, Dobies avenged an early-season loss to Ohio State's Corey Morrison with a 3-1 sudden victory win on an overtime takedown. The win was victory No. 109 in Dobies' career, which ranks seventh in school history. No. 3 seed Jermail Porter of Kent State pinned Dobies in 4:11 in the second round. He will enter Friday's opening match with Nebraska's Tucker Lane with a 29-9 record.
Rappo lost to Cal Poly's Filip Novachkov by a 5-4 decision and to Missouri's Todd Schavrien by a 9-3 margin. Ramirez took Oklahoma State's Jamal Parks to overtime before suffering a 6-4 loss and then fell to No. 4 seed Alex Tsirtsis of Iowa by a 10-2 margin.
Stabile opened with a 5-2 setback against No. 7 seed Bryce Saddoris of Navy and then lost 3-2 on riding time to Edinboro's Torsten Gillespie. Drury opened with an 11-4 loss to Jesse Strawn of Old Dominion before dropping an 11-10 decision to Joe Fagiano of Hofstra,
Action resumes Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern.
Players Mentioned
