North Carolina
NC State
Tar Heels Split Home Duals
February 1, 2015 | Wrestling
CHAPEL HILL --- Competing at home for the first time in 2014-15, the North Carolina wrestling team split a pair of duals Sunday afternoon at Eddie Smith Field House. The Tar Heels fell to ACC rival NC State 22-18 before defeating Drexel 22-13.
NC State (13-4, 1-1 ACC) got two pins in the final three bouts to rally from an 18-7 deficit to knock off Carolina in the opener. Top-ranked Nick Gwiazdowski, the defending NCAA champion at 285, pinned Frank Abbondanza early in the second period to complete the comeback.
After Joe DeAngelo's major decision opened the dual, UNC's Troy Heilmann scored a late pin against Jamal Harris at 133 pounds to give Carolina (8-4, 0-2 ACC) a 6-4 lead. State's Sam Speno put the Wolfpack back in front with a 9-3 win over No. 10 Joey Ward at 141 before Christian Barber sparked a run of four straight wins for the Tar Heels.
Barber trailed Sam Melikian 3-2 late in the third period at 149 before scoring a takedown in the final ten seconds and holding on for the win. Chris Mears pushed the Carolina lead to 12-7 with a wire-to-wire win over Chad Pyke at 157 before No. 15 Ethan Ramos bested No. 18 Max Rohskopf 3-1 at 165.
No. 19 John Michael Staudenmayer broke open a tight bout with No. 14 Pete Renda at 174 to win 8-2 and give the Tar Heels an 18-7 advantage. Staudenmayer led 3-2 after two periods and scored a pair of 2-point near falls and added the riding time point to finish a comprehensive victory.
Nicky Hall turned the tide in favor of NC State at 184 with his first-period pin of Scott Marmoll. Michael Boykin then held off Chip Ness 10-5 at 197 before Gwiazdowski completed the comeback with a pin of Abbondanza to give the Wolfpack a 22-18 victory.
Carolina had to dig out of an early hole against Drexel (6-9) to secure its first home win of the season.
Zack Fuentes and No. 16 Kevin Devoy Jr. gave the Dragons a 7-0 lead before Carolina won six of the final eight bouts.
Ward attacked from the outset against David Pearce at 141, just missing out on a tech fall when time expired with the redshirt sophomore leading 17-3. Barber tied the dual at 7 with his 5-4 win over Matthew Cimato, winning with a late takedown for the second time on the afternoon.
A pair of sudden victory wins at 157 and 184 would be all Drexel could muster the rest of the way.
Ramos gave Carolina the lead for good with a tech fall at 165. The redshirt freshman lead 4-1 after one and 12-1 after two, meaning the only drama would be the pursuit of bonus points. Ramos ended the match with his fourth takedown of the bout at 6:18, winning 18-3 to put UNC ahead to stay.
Staudenmayer's 10-2 major decision win over Stephen Loiseau at 174 made it 16-10. The redshirt junior combined more than four minutes of riding time with a takedown in the final 10 seconds to get his sixth major decision of the year.
Ness and Abbondanza added decisions in the final two bouts to complete the 22-13 victory. Abbondanza's win was especially exciting, as he reversed a 1-0 deficit with an escape in the third period before sealing the victory with a takedown at the buzzer.
Carolina is back in action Saturday, Feb. 7, when the Tar Heels host No. 12 Virginia at Carmichael Arena. Admission is free for the ACC dual, which is set to begin at 7 p.m.
NC State 22, North Carolina 18
125: Joe DeAngelo (ST) maj. dec. Alex Rinaldi (UNC), 15-5, NCSU leads 4-0
133: Troy Heilmann (UNC) fall Jamal Harris (ST), 6:39 - UNC leads 6-4
141: Sam Speno (ST) dec. #10 Joey Ward (UNC), 9-3 - NCSU leads 7-6
149: Christian Barber (UNC) dec. Sam Melikian (ST), 4-3 - UNC leads 9-7
157: Chris Mears (UNC) dec. Chad Pyke (ST), 5-3 - UNC leads 12-7
165: #15 Ethan Ramos (UNC) dec. #18 Max Rohskopf (ST), 3-1 - UNC leads 15-7
174: #19 John Michael Staudenmayer (UNC) dec. #14 Pete Renda (ST), 8-2 - UNC leads 18-7
184: Nicky Hall (ST) fall Scott Marmoll (UNC), 1:35 - UNC leads 18-13
197: Michael Boykin (ST) dec. Chip Ness (UNC), 10-5 - UNC leads 18-16
285: #1 Nick Gwiazdowski (ST) fall Frank Abbondanza, 3:48 - NCSU wins 22-18
North Carolina 22, Drexel 13
125: Zack Fuentes (D) dec. Alex Rinaldi (UNC), 5-2 - Drexel leads 3-0
133: #16 Kevin Devoy Jr. (D) maj. dec. Troy Heilmann (UNC), 11-0 - Drexel leads 7-0
141: #10 Joey Ward (UNC) maj. dec. David Pearce (D), 17-3 - Drexel leads 7-4
149: Christian Barber (UNC) dec. Matthew Cimato (D), 5-4 - Tied 7-7
157: Noel Blanco (D) dec. Chris Mears (UNC), 3-1 (SV-1) - Drexel leads 10-7
165: #15 Ethan Ramos (UNC) tech fall Michael Paccinoe (D), 18-3 (6:18) - UNC leads 12-10
174: John Michael Staudenmayer (UNC) maj. dec. Stephen Loiseau (D), 10-2 - UNC leads 16-10
184: Jason Fugiel (D) dec. Scott Marmoll (UNC), 5-3 (SV-1) - UNC leads 16-13
197: Chip Ness (UNC) dec. Brandon Litten (D), 7-3 - UNC leads 19-13
285: Frank Abbondanza (UNC) dec. Joey Goodhart (D), 4-1 - UNC wins 22-13
Players Mentioned
