Tar Heels Fall To Wolfpack, 20-14

Friday, February 15

Chapel Hill, N.C.

6:30 p.m.

North Carolina

North Carolina State

Gary Wayne Harding dominated again Friday.

February 15, 2019 | Wrestling

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CHAPEL HILL --- The No. 13 North Carolina wrestling team suffered its first conference loss of the season, falling to No. 10 NC State 20-14 Friday night at Carmichael Arena. A couple of close matches that swung the wrong way gave the Wolfpack an early advantage that the Tar Heels were never able to overcome.

After the teams drew to start the match at 149 pounds, No. 4 Austin O'Connor was dominant again with another top-10 win to add to his résumé. Against No. 8 Justin Oliver, the redshirt freshman couldn't be slowed down. After a light start to the match, O'Connor quickly turned it on. He used a reversal and two takedowns in the third period to start Carolina (11-6, 3-1 ACC) off strong with a 9-4 decision.

After O'Connor kicked things off, NC State (15-2, 3-1 ACC) was able to pick up four straight wins from 157 to 184 pounds.

No. 4 Hayden Hidlay got things going for the Wolfpack at 157, picking up a major decision over No. 20 Josh McClure. After another decision at 165, NCSU collected its second major decision win as Thomas Bullard cruised to an 11-0 win over Devin Kane.

In another ranked match at 184 pounds, No. 14 Chip Ness lost a tight decision to No. 5 Nick Reenan. Ness kept things close for most of the match, but Reenan's third-period takedown proved to be enough, giving him a 6-4 win and NC State a 14-3 edge in the team score at the intermission.

In the first match out of the intermission, Brandon Whitman dropped a 3-1 decision to NC State's Malik McDonald at 197. The match was tied 1-1 in the third, but another late takedown was the difference.

Cory Daniel picked up the Tar Heels' first win since the opening match when he defeated Colin Lawler at 285. Daniel led 3-0 after two periods, and then really got going in the third. The redshirt senior scored six points and win via decision, 10-4, and brought the score to 17-6.

NC State then clinched the match at 125, as No. 11 Sean Fausz picked up a decision over Joe Heilman to give the Wolfpack a 20-6 lead with only two matches remaining.

Carolina's biggest win of the day came at 133, as Gary Wayne Harding dominated Zurich Storm and picked up an 18-1 technical fall early in the second period.

A.C. Headlee closed the dual on a strong note, as he picked up a 3-1 decision over Kellen Devlin at 141.

The dual was also Senior Night for seven Tar Heels - Daniel, Harding, Ness, James Szymanski, Grant Jefferson, Jack Clark and Alex Rinaldi.

UNC is back in action Saturday at 6 p.m. against No. 9 Cornell.

No. 10 NC State 20, No. 13 North Carolina 14
149: #4 Austin O'Connor (UNC) dec. #8 Justin Oliver (NCSU), 9-4 - UNC leads 3-0
157: #4 Hayden Hidlay (NCSU) maj. dec. #20 Josh McClure (UNC), 18-6 - NCSU leads 4-3
165: Thomas Bullard (NCSU) dec. Sawyer Davidson (UNC), 8-2 - NCSU leads 7-3
174: Daniel Bullard (NCSU) maj. dec. Devin Kane (UNC), 11-0 - NCSU leads 11-3
184: #5 Nick Reenan (NCSU) dec. #14 Chip Ness (UNC), 6-4 - NCSU leads 14-3
197: Malik McDonald (NCSU) dec. Brandon Whitman (UNC), 3-1 - NCSU leads 17-3
285: #20 Cory Daniel (UNC) dec. Colin Lawler (NCSU), 10-4 - NCSU leads 17-6
125: #11 Sean Fausz (NCSU) dec. Joe Heilmann (UNC), 7-2 - NCSU leads 20-6
133: #20 Gary Wayne Harding (UNC) tech fall Zurich Storm (NCSU), 18-1 (3:32) - NCSU leads 20-11
141: A.C. Headlee (UNC) dec. Kellen Devlin (NCSU), 3-1 - NCSU wins 20-14