North Carolina
NCAA Championships
Ward Earns All-America Status Friday At MSG
March 19, 2016 | Wrestling
NEW YORK --- North Carolina's Joey Ward knocked off NC State's Kevin Jack to become an All-American at 141 pounds on day two of the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships Friday at Madison Square Garden. Ward, the No. 8 seed, beat third-seeded Jack in the round of 12 to give Carolina an All-American for the fourth consecutive season.
It was the first career All-America honor for Ward, who was making his third appearance at the NCAA Championships. The Cincinnati, Ohio, redshirt junior won a pair of matches Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals before falling to top-seeded Dean Heil of Oklahoma State Friday morning. Ward then took on Jack in the blood round for a spot on the podium.
Jack won the regular season meeting 5-3 in Raleigh, needing overtime to knock off Ward. The NC State sophomore also defeated Ward in last year's round of 16 as an unseeded wrestler. But the Tar Heel took control of Friday's showdown early, scoring a takedown inside the first minute of the bout. After an escape made it 2-1, Ward started the second period on top and rode Jack long enough to bank 1:02 of riding time. That proved to be the difference, with Ward keeping Jack at bay in the final period to win 3-2.
Ward then met Old Dominion's Chris Mecate in the consolation semifinal, where he dropped a 4-2 decision in sudden victory overtime. Ward will face Lehigh's Randy Cruz, the No. 16 seed, Saturday morning for seventh place.
Three other Tar Heels were in action Friday. John Michael Staudenmayer opened the day with a 7-1 win over fifth-seeded Max Rohskopf of NC State. Staudenmayer trailed 1-0 in the dying seconds of the match, but got a takedown and a four-point near fall to avenge a pair of 1-0 losses from earlier in the year. Staudenmayer finished one round shy of the 165 blood round with a 3-2 loss to Stanford's Jim Wilson.
Alex Utley (184) and Chip Ness (197) each lost their first match of the day and were eliminated in the second consolation round.
Carolina stands in a tie for 35th place entering Saturday with nine team points. Penn State holds a commanding lead in the race for the team title with 114 points, well ahead of Oklahoma State (79.5) and Iowa (77.5).
