Three Tar Heels Win ACC Titles, UNC Finishes 3rd at ACC Championships

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Three Tar Heels Win ACC Titles, UNC Finishes 3rd at ACC Championships

March 8, 2020 | Wrestling

By: UNC Athletic Communications

PITTSBURGH --- For the first time since 2006, UNC crowned three ACC wrestling champions on Sunday at the 2020 ACC Wrestling Championships at the Petersen Events Center. UNC finished third as a team, with Zach Sherman (141), Austin O'Connor (149) and Clay Lautt (174) winning conference titles.

Three other Tar Heels placed at the tournament: Jaime Hernandez (2^nd, 133), Brandon Whitman (2^nd, 197) and A.C. Headlee (3^rd, 157).

Sherman's day of wrestling action did not begin until the finals due to an early bye and a medical forfeit from Virginia Tech's Mitch Moore in the semifinals. In the first-place match, Sherman avenged his February loss to N.C. State's Tariq Wilson to take home the title at 141. Wilson scored the match's first takedown, but Sherman scored a takedown in the third period and stayed on top for the final 53 seconds to win, 5-4.

O'Connor defeated Virginia's Denton Spencer with a 5-0 decision in the semifinals to advance to the finals against Virginia Tech's Bryce Andonian. In the championship, O'Connor and Andonian went back and forth for seven minutes in a high-scoring match. Andonion was within a point to begin the third period, but the Tar Heel redshirt sophomore finished off an 11-7 decision to win his first career conference title.

Lautt's day was dominant from the start, winning three matches en route to a title at 174 pounds. After opening his day with a first-round win over Virginia Tech's Cody Hughes, Lautt pulled off an upset in the semis over Pittsburgh's top-ranked Gregg Harvey. The match went to extra time and then ride outs, where Lautt stayed on top for 30 seconds and then escaped late to win, 5-4.

In the finals against N.C. State's Daniel Bullard, Lautt fired out of the gate and never looked back. The redshirt sophomore scored twice in the first period and wrestled a tough seven minutes. Lautt held on for the title, the team's third of the night.

In total on the day, UNC earned six automatic qualifier spots for the 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships: Hernandez, Sherman, O'Connor, Headlee, Lautt and Andrew Gunning (285).

The final team scores are listed below:

N.C. State (81)
Pittsburgh (77)
North Carolina (67.5)
Virginia (60.5)
Virginia Tech (52)
Duke (2)

Photo: Barry Reeger, the ACC