University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Southern Scuffle
Five Tar Heels Advance To Southern Scuffle Quarters
January 2, 2016 | Wrestling
CHATTANOOGA --- North Carolina stands fifth in the team competition after sending five wrestlers to the quarterfinals on day one of the 2016 Defense Soap & Flips Wrestling Southern Scuffle at McKenzie Arena. Championship bracket competition resumes Saturday at 9 a.m. as Joey Ward, Evan Henderson, John Michael Staudenmayer, Ethan Ramos and Alex Utley continue their pursuit of a title.
Ward opened his day at 141 pounds with a 12-3 major decision over Anthony McHugh of the Air Force Academy. Ward then used a six-point opening period to knock off No. 6 seed Randy Cruz of Lehigh 6-5 in the round of 16. The redshirt freshman from Cincinnati will face freshman phenom Joey McKenna of Stanford in Saturday's quarterfinals.
Wrestling at 149 pounds for the first time in his career, Henderson wasted no time in his opening round win, pinning Appalachian State's Matthew Zovistoski in just 50 seconds. The pin was the 39th of Henderson's career, moving him into sole possession of fourth place all-time at UNC. He then dealt West Virginia's Zachary Moore a 17-0 tech fall before blanking T.J. Miller of Virginia 6-0 in the round of 16. Henderson will face Matthew Frisch of The Citadel for a spot in the semifinals.
Staudenmayer and Ramos also debuted at new weight classes Friday with great success. Staudenmayer pinned Daniel Smith of The Citadel in his first bout at 165 before knocking off No. 4 seed Casey Fuller of Edinboro with a 10-1 major. Ramos had no issues at 174, scoring major decisions against Zen Ikehara of Air Force and Chattanooga's Bryce Carr.
Fifth-year senior Utley made it a Tar Heel in half of the weights with his trio of wins at 184. Utley opened the day with back-to-back majors before edging Virginia's Tyler Askey in the round of 16 by a 3-2 decision.
Four other Carolina wrestlers are still alive in the wrestlebacks. Robert Henderson (157), Jack Clark (157), Chip Ness (197) and Cory Daniel (285) are all still in contention for a spot on the podium and valuable team points. In addition, Troy Heilmann is in the consolation bracket at 149 competition unattached during his redshirt year.
UNC sits in fifth place in the team competition after one day. The Tar Heels have 32.5 points and rank behind powerhouse programs Penn State, Oklahoma State, Cornell and Lehigh.
Players Mentioned
