North Carolina
Navy
Navy Edges Carolina, 19-18
January 25, 2014 | Wrestling
CHAPEL HILL --- North Carolina stormed back from a 15-3 deficit to tie the dual but Navy got a late major decision to hold on for a 19-18 victory Saturday afternoon at Carmichael Arena. Nathan Kraisser tallied his 10th pin of the year at 125 pounds for the Tar Heels, who will return to Atlantic Coast Conference action next Friday at NC State.
The dual started at 165, and Navy's Peyton Walsh got the Midshipmen on the board first with a 4-1 victory over John Michael Staudenmayer. No. 11 Mathew Miller then pushed the Navy lead to 9-0 with a third-period pin of Scott Marmoll at 174.
Alex Utley scored Carolina's first win of the day at 184 with a decisive 10-5 victory over William Miller. After taking a 2-0 lead after one period, Utley closed the second on the attack with a pair of takedowns and a 2-point near fall. The Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, junior finished with almost three minutes of riding time after another takedown in the third.
Navy (3-1) got decisions from Paul Rands and Colynn Cook at the top two weights to push the lead to 15-3 before Kraisser sparked the Tar Heel comeback.
Kraisser, who had lost five of his last six matches entering the day, rebounded from a pair of early takedowns by Brenden Campbell to take control of the bout with a reversal. After scoring back points, Kraisser finished the job with a pin at 2:09 in the first to make the dual 15-9.
Troy Heilmann maintained the momentum at 133, as the true freshman dominated Colton Rasche and won 5-0 with 3:51 of riding time.
Evan Henderson was up next at 141, and the junior standout was in control throughout his 4-0 victory over Joe Locksmith. Henderson is now 27-3 on the year and 12-1 in duals.
With the overall score tied at 15, Navy's Raymond Borja got a key major decision over Christian Barber at 149. Borja led 8-4 after two periods and closed with a flurry, getting a pair of near falls to post an 18-5 win and give the Mids a 19-15 advantage.
Jake Crawford took down Zach Johnson early in their bout at 157 and stayed on top for the vast majority of the match. But despite logging over four minutes of riding time, Johnson was able to stave off any potential bonus points and Crawford's 6-0 win meant that Navy hung on for the narrow win.
Carolina will hit the road for a pair of ACC contests in the next two weeks, as the Tar Heels face NC State on Jan. 31 and Virginia on Feb. 7. UNC will return to Carmichael on Feb. 11 to face Duke at 7 p.m.
Navy 19, North Carolina 18
165: Peyton Walsh (N) dec. John Michael Staudenmayer (NC), 4-1 - Navy leads 3-0
174: #11 Mathew Miller (N) fall Scott Marmoll (NC), 5:26 - Navy leads 9-0
184: Alex Utley (NC) dec. William Miller (N), 10-5 - Navy leads 9-3
197: Paul Rands (N) dec. Frank Abbondanza (NC), 9-2 - Navy leads 12-3
285: Colynn Cook (N) dec. Bob Coe (NC), 6-3 - Navy leads 15-3
125: Nathan Kraisser (NC) fall Brenden Campbell (N), 2:09 - Navy leads 15-9
133: Troy Heilmann (NC) dec. Colton Rasche (N), 5-0 - Navy leads 15-12
141: Evan Henderson (NC) dec. Joe Locksmith (N), 4-0 - Tied 15-15
149: Raymond Borja (N) maj. dec. Christian Barber (NC), 18-5 - Navy leads 19-15
157: Jake Crawford (NC) dec. Zach Johnson (N), 6-0 - Navy wins 19-18
Players Mentioned
