University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
NCAA Championships
Sola Secures All-America Honors
March 18, 2005 | Wrestling
March 18, 2005
ST. LOUIS - North Carolina junior Evan Sola assured himself of All-America honors for the second time in his career with four wins in the 133-pound consolation bracket Friday at the 2005 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Savvis Center. Sola is assured of no worse than sixth place in his weight class and will face Wisconsin's Tom Clum, who is seeded fifth, in his first bout Saturday. The Tar Heels are tied for 22nd in the team standings with 23 points.
The tournament's 11th seed at 133, Sola opened Friday with a 4-2 win over Virginia Tech's David Hoffman in the third round of the consolation bracket. Sola improved to 3-1 this season against Hoffman, including a win in the ACC title match. Sola followed with a pin of Iowa State's Jesse Sundell in just 1:12 in the fourth round of consolations and then won a 4-0 decision of seventh-seeded Nathan Morgan of Oklahoma State in the fifth round. Sola then followed with a pin No. 4-seeded Matt Jayne of Illinois in 1:27. The pin of Jayne was Sola's third of the nationals and his 13th of the season, which is tied for sixth on the Tar Heels' single-season list. He is now 5-1 at the NCAA Championships to run his season mark to 36-4. The 36 victories equal Sola's career best and rank 10th all-time on Carolina's single-season list.
Sola's finish will mark the Tar Heels' best since Justin Harty took sixth at heavyweight in 1997.
Earlier in the day sophomores David Dashiell and Drew Forshey were eliminated. After picking up a win in the third round of the consolation bracket on a medical forfeit by Air Force's Brandon Strong, Foshey was eliminated with an 8-2 loss to No. 11-seed John Velez of Northwestern. He finished 2-2 at nationals and concludes his sophomore season with a 21-9 overall record.
Dashiell was also eliminated in the consolation bracket in Friday's first session. Sixth-seeded J.D. Bergman of Ohio State posted an 11-0 major decision over Dashiell, who concluded his season with a 1-2 mark at nationals and a 24-16 overall record.
Drew Forshey - 125 POUNDS
Round One: Forshey Dec Collin Cudd (Wisconsin), 11-5
Round Two: #3 Kyle Ott (Illinois) Dec Forshey, 8-5
Consolation Round Three: Forshey M FOR Brandon Strong (Air Force)
Consolation Round Four: #11 John Velez (Northwestern) Dec Forshey, 8-2
Evan Sola - 133 POUNDS
Round One: Chad Mendes (Cal Poly) Fall Sola, 1:30
Consolation Round Two: Sola Fall Charles Griffin (Hofstra), 3:32
Consolation Round Three: Sola Dec David Hoffman (Virginia Tech), 4-2
Consolation Round Four: Sola Fall Jesse Sundell (Iowa State) 1:12
Consolation Round Five: Sola Dec #7 Nathan Morgan (Oklahoma State), 4-0
Consolation Round Six: Sola Fall #4 Matt Jayne (Illinois), 1:27
Garrett Atkinson - 165 POUNDS
Round One: Matt Ellis (Oregon State) Dec Atkinson, 7-3
Consolation Round One: Atkinson Dec Johnny Galloway (N. Illinois), 4-2
Consolation Round Two: Gary Dack (Wyoming) Dec Atkinson, 6-2
David Dashiell - 197 POUNDS
Round One: Dashiell Dec Jared Ricotta (Duquesne), 8-2
Round Two: #1 Jon Trange (Lehigh) MD Dashiell, 11-3
Consolation Round Three: #6 J.D. Bergman (Ohio State) MD Dashiell, 11-0
