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Carolina Prevails Over Virginia, 21-11
January 26, 2007 | Wrestling
Jan. 26, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina picked up its second ACC victory over Virginia Friday night at Carmichael Auditorium as freshman Mike Rappo won a pivotal overtime decision, 4-2, that gave Carolina a 12-11 lead and essentially the victory. Vincent Ramirez followed with a 4-1 win at 141 to expand Carolina's lead , while redshirt freshman Ben Fiacco sealed the Tar Heel win with a come-from-behind victory in the third. The win improved the Tar Heels to 5-6 and 2-1 in the ACC. Virginia fell to 4-6 overall and 0-1 in the ACC.
After battling to a 2-2 draw, Rappo was able to manage a takedown on Kellon Balum in overtime to take the decision, 4-2. With the 12-11 lead, Ramirez came on for Carolina and defeated Drew DiPasquale, 4-1, at 149 to give Carolina a 15-11 advantage. Fiacco was then able to capture the victory with a 3-1 decision over Mike Sewell at 157. Into the third, Fiacco was trailing 1-0, but managed an escape and a takedown to come away with the decision.
Virginia got off to a fast start as senior Mike Grogan took the opening match over Daniel Llamas at 174, 10-1. 18TH -ranked Rocco Caponi then followed with another major decision for Virginia as he defeated Robert McCarthy, 8-0, at 184 pounds.
With the Tar Heels down 8-0, Dennis Drury and Spencer Nadolsky earned the next two decisions for Carolina to bring the score to 8-6. At 197 pounds, Drury came away with a 4-0 decision over Virginia's Kyle Narkiewicz and moved to 10-10 on the season. 10th-ranked Nadolsky followed with his 2-0 decision over Scott Smith in the heavyweight match. Nadolsky earned one point for an escape in the second and added a point for riding time to pick up the win.
Junior Drew Forshey, this week's ACC Wrestler of the Week, gave Carolina its first lead of the night with a come-from-behind victory over Ross Gitomer in the third. Trailing 1-0 entering the third, Forshey managed a takedown and an escape to edge Gitomer, 3-2, at 125. The lead would not last though as 12th-ranked Eric Albright recorded an 8-1 win over Bobby Shaw at 133 to give the Cavaliers an 11-9 advantage- its last lead of the night.
15th-ranked Keegan Mueller picked up the final win of the night for the Tar Heels at 165 with a 5-2 decision against Damian Johnson. Mueller improved his record to 22-6 on the season- the best mark of any Tar Heel.
Carolina closes out its home schedule at Carmichael Saturday against Virginia Tech at 1 p.m.
NORTH CAROLINA 21, VIRGINIA 11174 Mike Grogan (UVA) major dec. Daniel Llamas (UNC), 10-1 UVA 4-0 184 #18 Rocco Caponi (UVA) major dec. Robert McCarthy (UNC), 8-0 UVA 8-0 197 Dennis Drury (UNC) dec. Kyle Narkiewicz (UVA), 4-0 UVA 8-3 HWT #10 Spencer Nadolsky (UNC) dec. Scott Smith (UVA), 2-0 UVA 8-6 125 Drew Forshey (UNC) dec. Ross Gitomer (UVA), 3-2 UNC 9-8 133 #12 Eric Albright (UVA) dec. Bobby Shaw (UNC), 8-1 UVA 11-9 141 Mike Rappo (UNC) dec. Kellon Balum (UVA), 4-2 OT UNC 12-11 149 Vincent Ramirez (UNC) dec. Drew DiPasquale (UVA), 4-1 UNC 15-11 157 Ben Fiacco (UNC) dec. Mike Sewell (UVA), 3-1 UNC 18-11 165 #15 Keegan Mueller (UNC) dec. Damian Johnson (UVA), 5-2 UNC 21-11
Players Mentioned
