Wrestling Finishes Fourth At ACC Championships

Sunday, March 6

Charlottesville, Va.

All Day

North Carolina

ACC Championships

Photo by: Jenna Miller/jennamillerphotos.com

March 6, 2022 | Wrestling

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. – The North Carolina wrestling team finished fourth at ACC Championships. Austin O'Connor (157), Clay Lautt (174), and Gavin Kane (184) posted runner-up finishes for the Tar Heels at John Paul Jones Arena on Sunday. In total, five Tar Heels earned NCAA automatic qualifier spots from Sunday's competition.

O'Connor cruised to a win over Duke's Wade Unger in the semifinals early in the day to set up a matchup against NC State's Ed Scott. The match was hard-fought throughout, with Scott taking a 3-1 lead into the final period. O'Connor used an escape to gain a point back, but he could complete the comeback as Scott won 3-2 to take the title.

Both Lautt and Kane won their semifinal matches before falling in the finals. Lautt knocked off Duke's Matt Finesilver to advance and ultimately punch his ticket to NCAAs. Kane also qualified for the national tournament after his semis match, a win over Virginia Tech's Hunter Bolen.

Zach Sherman (149) earned the bronze medal. Spencer Moore (125) and Joe Heilmann (133), who earned well-fought fourth-place finishes, wrestled tight matches to nearly earn the bronze medal. Moore narrowly lost to Patrick McCormick, while Heilmann was narrowly defeated by Kai Orine of NC State.

Though Kizhan Clarke (141), Sonny Santiago (165), Max Shaw (197), and Brandon Whitman (285) did not finish within the range needed to earn an automatic qualifier spot, all are still eligible to be selected as at-large entries to the NCAA tournament. These at-large selections are made on Mar. 9.

For more information, as the Tar Heels get closer to the 2022 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, follow the team on Twitter (@uncwrestling).

Results and more information on the tournament can be found here.