2022-23 Wrestling Roster
Austin O'Connor
- Weight:
- 157
- Class:
- Graduate Student
- Hometown:
- Lockport, Ill.
- High School:
- St. Rita of Cascia
2022-23: Competed at 157 pounds during the season • Finished the year at a perfect 23-0 • Returned from injury defeating Appalachian State's Tommy Askey by decision to begin his season (12/15) • Collected a major decision against No. 31 Corbyn Munson of Central Michigan at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals in New Orleans (12/19) • Went 6-0 to claim the 157 pound title at the F&M Open (1/6) • Defeated No. 15 Anthony Artalona by major decision (1/7) • Earned a major decision over Harvard's Trevor Tarsi and pinned Brown's Sam McMonagle in the UNC doubleheader dual victories (1/14) • Began ACC action pinning Duke's Preston Decker in the opening period (1/20) • Collected back-to-back technical falls against Virginia's Jake Keating (1/27) and Pitt's Jared Keslar (2/3) • Claimed an 11-3 major decision against Virginia Tech's No. 5 Bryce Andonian • Closed the regular season with a 3-1 decision against No. 7 Ed Scott of NC State (2/17) • Named ACC Wrestler of the week twice • Earned the top-seed in 157 pounds at the 2023 ACC Wrestling Championships (3/5) • Went 2-0 at the ACC Championships to secure his third-career ACC Championship • Named the 2023 ACC Wrestler of the Year • Became the second UNC wrestler and seventh in conference history to earn ACC Wrestler of the Year multiple times • Earned the top overall seed for the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Tulsa, Okla. • Went 5-0 at the NCAA Championships to claim his second National Title in UNC career and the seventh individual National Title in program history • Outscored opponents 30-9 at the NCAA Championships • Defeated No. 2 Levi Haines of Penn State, 6-2, in the National Championship match • Became the second wrestler in program history to win multiple National Championships, joining T.J. Jaworsky • Became the program's first five-time All-America honoree • Helped UNC post multiple All-America wrestlers for the fifth-straight year • Named a finalist for the 2023 Dan Hodge Trophy • Named an NWCA Scholar All-America honoree • Named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll
2021-22: Compiled a 21-3 overall record and a 12-1 dual record a 157 pounds • Earned his first ranked win of the season over No. 28 Jake Keating of Virginia • Went 5-0 to take the 157 title at the Appalachian Open • His third win at the Appalachian Open marked his 100th career win • Collected wins over No. 21 Elijah Cleary from Pitt and No. 26 Connor Brady from Virginia Tech to end the regular season • Was a runner-up at ACC Championships • At NCAA Championships he fought through pain and adversity to finish eighth to clinch his fourth All-America honor • He is the second four-time All-America in program history • Named to the All-ACC Academic Team • Received NWCA Scholar All-America honors for the first time in his career • Named to the ACC All-Academic team and ACC Academic Honor Rolll
2020-21: Garnered a perfect 13-0 record for the Tar Heels at 149 pounds • With the second-fastest pin (0:47) of the season, he defeated Jacson Muldrew of Gardner-Webb on Jan. 10 • Notched three major decisions on the season, matching the most of any wrestler on the roster • Earned his first ranked win of the season on Jan. 30 over No. 12 Bryce Andonian of Virginia Tech • Successfully defended his conference title in the 149-pound weight class at the ACC Championships on Feb. 28. • Named ACC Wrestler of the Year and earned All-ACC honors • As the second seed, he earned the 3-2 win over No. 1 seed Sammy Sasso of Ohio State in the 149-pound final on Mar. 20 to secure UNC's first NCAA wrestling gold medal since 1995 and the 20th all-time by an ACC wrestler • Earned All-American honors
2019-20: Named NWCA First-Team All-American following cancelation of NCAA Championships due to COVID-19 crisis • Finished redshirt sophomore year with a 25-1 season record, good for a .961 winning percentage that ranks 5th all time in Carolina Wrestling history • Was set to be the No. 2 seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships before the event’s cancellation • Won the 2020 ACC Championships at 149 pounds • Was a perfect 13-0 in dual meets, including a 5-0 ACC dual record • Earned a runner-up finish at the 2019 Midlands Championships, losing to Iowa’s Pat Lugo • Won with bonus points in 15 of his 25 victories on the season • Led the team with seven pins • Earned ACC Wrestler of the Week honors on January 14 after pinning Princeton’s No. 15 Mike D’Angelo (1:14) • Champion at the Cleveland State Open on December 14, his first event of the year after missing the start of the season due to injury
2018-19: Earned All-America honors at 149 pounds with a third-place finish at the 2019 NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh • Became just the seventh freshman All-American in program history and the highest freshman placer at UNC • His third-place finish at nationals was the best by a Tar Heel since Justin Harty took second at heavyweight in 1996 • Helped lead UNC to a 19th-place team finish, the highest for the program in 24 years • Finished his first year in the lineup with a 34-6 overall mark that included a sparkling 17-2 record in duals • Went 4-1 in ACC duals and earned All-ACC honors with a runner-up finish at the ACC Championships • Had 16 bonus-point wins on the year - eight major decisions, one tech fall and a team-high seven pins • Wrestled 24 matches against NCAA qualifiers and posted an 18-6 record, including wins over No. 3 seed Mitch Finesilver of Duke, No. 4 Brock Mauller of Missouri, No. 9 Justin Oliver of NC State and No. 11 Josh Heil of Campbell • Beat Heil, Finesilver and Mauller at nationals before again besting Finesilver 7-5 in the third-place match • All six of his losses on the year came to All-Americans - two to Micah Jordan of Ohio State (runner-up), three to Finesilver (fourth place) and one to Matthew Kolodzik of Princeton (fifth place) • His 34 wins were the most by a Tar Heels since Evan Henderson went 37-8 at 141 pounds in 2013-14 • Took third at both the Hokie Open and the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational prior to the semester break.
2017-18: Went 15-3 at 149 pounds • Won the App State Open with five straight wins • Won via fall three times, including two under one minute • Won the UWW Junior Freestyle national championship at the 2018 U.S. Open • Won gold at 70 kg at the 2018 Junior Pan American Championships in Brazil.
| Year | Overall | Dual | ACC | MD | TF | Fall |
| 22-23 | 23-0 | 10-0 | 5-0 | 7 | 4 | 5 |
| 21-22 | 21-3 | 12-1 | 4-0 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| 20-21 | 13-0 | 6-0 | 5-0 | 4 | - | 2 |
| 19-20 | 25-1 | 13-0 | 5-0 | 6 | 2 | 7 |
| 18-19 | 34-6 | 17-2 | 4-1 | 8 | 1 | 7 |
| 17-18 | 15-3 | - | - | 4 | - | 3 |
| Career | 131-13 | 58-3 | 23-1 | 32 | 10 | 29 |
