University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
NCAA Championships
Wards Leads Carolina On Day One At MSG
March 18, 2016 | Wrestling
NEW YORK --- No. 8 seed Joey Ward won twice to advance to the quarterfinals at 141 pounds to lead North Carolina on day one of the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships Thursday at Madison Square Garden. Ward opened the event with a technical fall over Northwestern's Jameson Oster before outlasting No. 9 seed Rick Durso of Franklin and Marshall.
John Michael Staudenmayer, Alex Utley and Chip Ness each won consolation matches to stay alive and advance to Friday's competition. Three Tar Heels - returning All-Americans Evan Henderson and Ethan Ramos as well as Robert Henderson - went 0-2 and were eliminated.
Ward was dominant from the start against Oster in the opening round. He led 12-1 after the opening period and extended the lead to 15-1 in the second as Oster was hit with four stall warnings. Ward escaped early in the third to end the bout with a 16-1 technical fall, his fourth of the season.
The Tar Heel redshirt junior jumped out to an early lead in his round of 16 match with Durso, the event's No. 9 seed. Ward scored the first takedown of the bout in the opening period, but Durso quickly equalized with a reversal. Ward escaped late to lead 3-2 after one and added a final escape in the third to finish a 4-3 decision and earn a spot in Friday's quarterfinals. He'll face No. 1 Dean Heil of Oklahoma State in what figures to be one of the spotlight matches of the round. Ward has beaten Heil in each of the last two seasons, including a 3-1 sudden victory win on Feb. 19 in Stillwater.
Staudenmayer bounced back from an opening round loss to Gino Morelli of Penn State with a 7-2 decision over Cornell's George Pickett. He'll get a third crack at NC State's Max Rohskopf, who beat Staudenmayer twice in 2016 by 1-0 scores.
Utley dropped a tough 8-5 decision to No. 8 Nolan Boyd of Oklahoma State before besting Binghamton's Steven Schneider in the wrestlebacks. The redshirt senior will take on 10th-seeded Nate Brown of Lehigh on Friday.
In his first NCAA Championships, Ness dropped a 3-1 sudden victory decision to NC State's Michael Boykin in the opening round. The Duluth, Georgia, sophomore knocked off Pitt's Nick Bonaccorsi in the wrestlebacks and will face Virginia Tech's Jaret Haught on Friday.
Evan Henderson had his All-America career come to an end after a pair of losses to Bryant Clagon of Rider and Clayton Ream of North Dakota State. Henderson finishes with 125 career victories and 45 career pins, both among the top totals in school history. His 125 wins rank third all-time at UNC, while his 45 pins are fourth-most for a Tar Heel.
Competition resumes Friday at 11 a.m. with quarterfinals and wrestlebacks.
Joey Ward - 141 pounds
Champ. Round 1 - Joey Ward (North Carolina) 21-4 won by tech fall over Jameson Oster (Northwestern) 12-8 (TF-1.5 5:21 (16-1))
Champ. Round 2 - Joey Ward (North Carolina) 21-4 won by decision over Rick Durso (Frank. & Marsh.) 38-9 (Dec 4-3)
Evan Henderson - 149 pounds
Champ. Round 1 - Bryant Clagon (Rider) 20-11 won by decision over Evan Henderson (North Carolina) 22-7 (Dec 3-1)
Cons. Round 1 - Clayton Ream (North Dakota St.) 22-17 won by tech fall over Evan Henderson (North Carolina) 22-7 (TF-1.5 7:00 (17-2))
Robert Henderson - 157 pounds
Champ. Round 1 - Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) 29-1 won by tech fall over Robert Henderson (North Carolina) 11-14 (TF-1.5 4:16 (16-0))
Cons. Round 1 - Chris Castillo (Boise State) 20-11 won by decision over Robert Henderson (North Carolina) 11-14 (Dec 6-2)
John Michael Staudenmayer - 165 pounds
Champ. Round 1 - Geno Morelli (Penn State) 20-11 won by decision over John Staudenmayer (North Carolina) 22-11 (Dec 5-3)
Cons. Round 1 - John Staudenmayer (North Carolina) 22-11 won by decision over George Pickett (Cornell) 26-11 (Dec 7-2)
Ethan Ramos - 174 pounds
Champ. Round 1 - Jadaen Bernstein (Navy) 34-11 won by decision over Ethan Ramos (North Carolina) 22-5 (Dec 13-8)
Cons. Round 1 - Alex Meyer (Iowa) 24-5 won by decision over Ethan Ramos (North Carolina) 22-5 (Dec 6-2)
Alex Utley - 184 pounds
Champ. Round 1 - Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma St.) 30-6 won by decision over Alex Utley (North Carolina) 26-9 (Dec 8-5)
Cons. Round 1 - Alex Utley (North Carolina) 26-9 won by decision over Steven Schneider (Binghamton) 30-11 (Dec 5-2)
Chip Ness - 197 pounds
Champ. Round 1 - Michael Boykin (NC State) 18-10 won in sudden victory - 1 over Chip Ness (North Carolina) 19-13 (SV-1 3-1)
Cons. Round 1 - Chip Ness (North Carolina) 19-13 won by decision over Nick Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) 15-15 (Dec 6-0)
Players Mentioned
