Tar Heels Fall At Princeton

Friday, January 11

Princeton, N.J.

7 p.m.

North Carolina

Princeton

January 11, 2019 | Wrestling

PRINCETON, N.J. --- Sawyer Davidson picked up his first dual win as a Tar Heel and Cory Daniel finished the night with a major decision win, but No. 25 Princeton's two pins were enough to lead them to a 23-16 win over No. 15 North Carolina Friday night at Jadwin Gym.

After Princeton's No. 10 Patrick Glory picked up bonus points in his win over Joe Heilmann to start the night, Gary Wayne Harding responded with a 7-4 win to put the Tar Heels (7-5) on the board for the first time. The redshirt senior fell behind early, but was able to use a strong ride on top in the third period to close out his win and cut Princeton's lead to 4-3.

The swing match of the night came at 141 pounds, where Marshall Keller used a takedown and four back points in the second period to make the difference against No. 19 A.C. Headlee. Keller held on and picked up a 14-6 win, giving the Tigers (4-3) a strong early advantage.

In the most anticipated match of the night, No. 1 Matthew Kolodzik edged out No. 5 Austin O'Connor, 3-2. Both wrestled strong down to the wire, but Kolodzik's first-period takedown proved to be the difference, giving Princeton an 11-3 lead.

After Josh McClure won 7-3 over Quincy Monday at 157, Sawyer Davidson gave the UNC bench a boost in the 165-pound match. He and Dale Tiongson were tied at two going into the third period, but Davidson put him in danger, picked up the takedown and collected four back points. From there he closed out the match and closed out an 11-5 win to close the gap to 11-9.

After that, Princeton was able to ice the dual with a pair of pins in two of the next three bouts. Both Travis Stefanik at 174 and No. 3 Patrick Brucki at 197 picked up first-period wins via fall, bracketing No. 14 Chip Ness' win. That was enough to put away the team competition before Cory Daniel's 19-5 major decision capped off the night.

The Tar Heels will have a short break on the calendar before returning to action and kicking off the ACC schedule Saturday, January 26, at 6:30 p.m. against Virginia at Carmichael Arena.

No. 25 Princeton 23, No. 15 North Carolina 16
125: #10 Patrick Glory (PU) maj. dec. Joe Heilmann (UNC), 13-3 – Princeton leads, 4-0
133: Gary Wayne Harding (UNC) dec. Jonathan Gomez (PU), 7-4 – Princeton leads, 4-3
141: Marshall Keller (PU) maj. dec. #19 A.C. Headlee (UNC), 14-6 – Princeton leads, 8-3
149: #1 Matthew Kolodzik (PU) dec. #5 Austin O'Connor (UNC), 3-2 – Princeton leads, 11-3
157: Josh McClure (UNC) dec. Quincy Monday (PU), 7-3 – Princeton leads, 11-6
165: Sawyer Davidson (UNC) dec. Dale Tiongson (PU), 11-5 – Princeton leads, 11-9
174: Travis Stefanik (PU) pinned Devin Kane (UNC), 1:52 – Princeton leads, 17-9
184: Chip Ness (UNC) dec. Kevin Parker (PU), 7-5 – Princeton leads, 17-12
197: #3 Patrick Brucki (PU) pinned Chasen Blair (UNC), 2:13 – Princeton leads, 23-12
285: Cory Daniel (UNC) maj. dec. Kendall Elfstrum (PU), 19-5 – Princeton wins, 23-16