No. 13 Tar Heels Fall To No. 9 Cornell

Saturday, February 16

Chapel Hill, N.C.

6 p.m.

North Carolina

Cornell

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

February 16, 2019 | Wrestling

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CHAPEL HILL --- Austin O'Connor improved his record to 28-3 on the season with a tech fall win, but No. 9 Cornell proved to be too much for No. 13 North Carolina on Saturday, as the Tar Heels dropped a 29-5 match to the Big Red.

With the match starting at 149 pounds, Austin O'Connor got the action going quickly for the Tar Heels with a dominant tech fall win. He stormed out of the gate and opened up in the second period, picking up early team bonus points with a 23-8 tech fall win over Will Koll in 5:48.

After 149, Cornell was able to turn the tide and swing momentum, winning with 3-2 decisions in back-to-back bouts at 157 and 165. In another low-scoring match at 174 pounds, Devin Kane dropped a close 3-1 decision to No. 14 Brandon Womack, giving Cornell a 9-5 lead in the team score.

In a marquee matchup at 184 pounds, No. 14 Chip Ness dropped a heartbreaker to No. 13 Max Dean. With Ness leading 2-0 after a pair of points on stall calls, Dean secured a takedown late in the second to tie things up heading into the third. An early third-period escape made it 3-2, and another takedown led him to a 5-2 win over Ness.

After Cornell won at 197, Cory Daniel dropped a down-to-the-wire match in his final appearance at Carmichael Arena. Tied 4-4 in the third period with Cornell's Jeramy Sweany, Daniel surrendered a takedown with less than 20 seconds to go, giving the visitor a 6-4 decision.

The Big Red picked up a pair of wins with the next two matches – including a 17-4 major decision at 125 pounds for No. 8 Vitali Arujau over Joe Heilmann. In the final match of the night, defending national champion and No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis beat A.C. Headlee with a 9-2 decision, helping Cornell to a 29-5 win.

The Tar Heels will be back in action on Friday against Duke in Durham at 6 p.m. If Carolina wins, it will earn a share of the ACC dual meet title for the first time since 2002.

No. 9 Cornell 29, No. 13 North Carolina 5
149: #4 Austin O'Connor (UNC) tech fall Will Koll (C), 23-8 (5:48) – UNC leads 5-0
157: Adam Santoro (C) dec. #20 Josh McClure (UNC), 3-2 – UNC leads 5-3
165: Andrew Berreyesa (C) dec. Sawyer Davidson (UNC), 3-2 – Cornell leads 6-5
174: #14 Brandon Womack (C) dec. Devin Kane (UNC), 4-1 – Cornell leads 9-5
184: #13 Max Dean (C) dec. #14 Chip Ness (UNC), 5-2 – Cornell leads 12-5
197: #7 Ben Honis (C) maj. dec. Brandon Whitman (UNC), 13-5 – Cornell leads 16-5
285: Jeramy Sweany (C) dec. Cory Daniel (UNC), 6-4 – Cornell leads 19-5
125: #8 Vitali Arujau (C) maj. dec. Joe Heilmann (UNC), 17-4 – Cornell leads 23-5
133: #13 Chas Tucker (C) dec. Gary Wayne Harding (UNC), 7-5 – Cornell leads 26-5
141: #1 Yianni Diakomihalis (C) dec. A.C. Headlee (UNC), 9-2 – Cornell wins 29-5