By The Numbers: A Review of the 2019-20 UNC Wrestling Season

In 2019-20, Carolina Wrestling posted one of its top seasons in program history. Below, read through the 2020 year "by the numbers".

0 – The Tar Heels had zero losses in ACC duals from both Austin O'Connor and Kennedy Monday. The two combined for a 9-0 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference, leading the way for UNC to finish 4-1 in the ACC for the second-consecutive season.

1 – Austin O'Connor was ranked the preseason No. 1 at 149 pounds – the first preseason top-ranked honor for Carolina in the Coleman Scott era. The Tar Heel redshirt freshman finished the year ranked No. 2 at the weight.

2 – Kennedy Monday had two ACC tech fall victories in the span of a week to end the month of January. He posted a tech fall win over Virginia Tech's No. 3 David McFadden on Jan. 24 before returning to Carmichael and posting a 24-5 tech fall over Duke's Ben Anderson on Jan. 31.

3 – Carolina had three ACC champions at the 2020 ACC Wrestling Championships – Zach Sherman (141), Austin O'Connor (149) and Clay Lautt (174).

BONUS: Brandon Whitman (197) knocked off No. 3 Ben Darmstadt of Cornell, 6-2, in the team's win in Ithaca.

4 – North Carolina had four wrestlers place at the 2019 Midlands Championships in December (Austin O'Connor, 2^nd; Zach Sherman, 3^rd; Kennedy Monday, 7^th; Joe Heilmann, 8^th)

5 – Josh McClure and Sawyer Davidson combined to win five open tournament championships this season. Both also received dual meet starts for Carolina this year.

6 – The Tar Heels knocked off six ranked dual meet teams over the course of the 2019-20 season (No. 19 Michigan, No. 21 Army, No. 12 Princeton, No. 3 Virginia Tech, No. 9 Pittsburgh, No. 17 Cornell)

7 – Carolina was ranked No. 7 in the final NWCA coaches poll this year. Four ACC teams were ranked within the top-10.

BONUS: UNC had seven NCAA qualifiers this season (Jaime Hernandez, Zach Sherman, Austin O'Connor, A.C. Headlee, Kennedy Monday, Clay Lautt, Andrew Gunning).

8 – The start of UNC's strong year began on November 8 in Ann Arbor, when the Tar Heels completed a 19-17 victory over No. 19 Michigan. A.C. Headlee led the way with a 5-2 upset over No. 10 Will Lewan.

9 – Zach Sherman won via major decision nine times this year, a mark that led the team.

10 – Carolina won 10 duals in a row from November 24 to February 1. Over that span, the team picked up three wins over ranked teams.

11 – Zach Sherman earned the No. 11 seed at 141 pounds ahead of NCAA Championships. He posted six wins over NCAA qualifiers on the season.

12 – Joey Melendez (125 pounds) won the team's award for "fastest pin" of the 2019-20 season. At the Appalachian State Open, he pinned Carson Smith (Appalachian State) in just 12 seconds.

BONUS: UNC pinned 12 opponents in dual meets this season. The team had three against Duke, while Austin O'Connor won via fall four times in duals.

13 – Clay Lautt posted 13 dual meet wins this season for the Tar Heels. He finished the year with a 21-7 record and an ACC title at 174 pounds.

14 – Coleman Scott's Tar Heels finished the year 14-3, good for a .823 winning percentage. That mark is the highest percentage the team has posted since 1997.

15 – Jaime Hernandez finished the year 15-9 at 133 pounds en route to qualifying for the NCAA Championships for the first time in his career.

16 – The Tar Heels had 16 different wrestlers start in dual meets this season.

17 – As a team, Carolina was ranked No. 17 to begin the 2019-20 season. It finished No. 7 in the final dual meet rankings of the year.

18 – Against Virginia Tech in January, the Tar Heels posted two wins over wrestlers with a No. 18 ranking (No. 12 Zach Sherman dec. No. 18 Mitch Moore at 141 pounds, No. 19 A.C. Headlee dec. No. 18 B.C. LaPrade at 157 pounds).

19 – Joey Mazzara, the team's starter at 184 pounds, scored 19 points (a season-high) in his January win against Duke's Kai Blake. The 19-6 major decision win helped the Tar Heels to a 44-3 win over the Blue Devils.

20 – The 2019-20 season marked many firsts for Carolina – and for many wrestlers, continued careers that look primed to be among the best that Chapel Hill has seen. Here's to seeing what 2020-21 has in store!

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Sawyer Davidson

Andrew Gunning

A.C. Headlee

Joe Heilmann

Jaime Hernandez

Clay Lautt

Joey Mazzara

Josh McClure

Joey Melendez

Kennedy Monday

Austin O'Connor

Zach Sherman

Brandon Whitman

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