North Carolina
NC State
Tar Heels Top Wolfpack, 24-18
February 8, 2008 | Wrestling
Feb. 8, 2008
RALEIGH, N.C. - ehind a pin from Keegan Mueller at 165 pounds and three straight major decisions, North Carolina dominated the first six individual bouts en route to a 24-18 victory over NC State Friday at Reynolds Coliseum. Over their six-match win streak to open the match, the Tar Heels (8-5, 3-2 ACC) posted a 22-1 advantage in takedowns over the Wolfpack (8-8-1, 1-2 ACC).
Carolina has now won two of its last three in Raleigh and has dropped just one of its last six meetings with NC State. The Tar Heels are 4-1-1 against the rival Wolfpack over this stretch.
The match started at 157 pounds, and redshirt freshman Thomas Scotton got the Tar Heels off to a quick start with an 8-2 decision against Colton Palmer. The Willingboro, N.J., native broke open a tight match with a pair of third-period takedowns and added a point for riding time. Scotton moves to 15-6 and 8-2 in duals.
Mueller, the reigning ACC Wrestler of the Week, followed with his second pin of the season and his 17th consecutive victory to push the UNC lead to 9-0. The 165-pounder pinned State's Jalil Dozier in 4:13 to run his record to 23-3 and a perfect 13-0 in dual action. Mueller also finishes his ACC regular season with a 5-0 record.
At 174, UNC freshman Kyle Kiss, who is now 15-12 in his rookie season, took control of Ray Ward in the first period with a pair of three-point near falls and never looked back, cruising to a 16-3 major decision. Classmate Nick Tenpenny followed with a major of his own at 184, logging a 19-5 victory over the Wolfpack's Dane Coffee. Tenpenny registered eight takedowns, including four in the third period, to improve to 12-10 on the year.
Sophomore Dennis Drury followed with a third straight major for Carolina at 197 to increase the Tar Heel lead to 21-0. The Jenkintown, Pa., product scored a takedown in each period and added the riding time point for the 8-0 major against Mark Jahad. Drury is now 15-10 and 8-3 in duals.
Nineteenth-ranked junior Justin Dobies assured the Tar Heels of no worse than a tie in the match with a 10-4 decision over State's Bobby Isola at heavyweight. His 23rd win of the season gave Carolina a 24-0 lead with just four bouts remaining. Now 23-6 and 12-1 in duals, Dobies notched four takedowns in the match.
With senior Drew Forshey nursing an injured ankle, Carolina forfeited at 125 to give State its first points on the night, which trimmed the lead to 24-6.
The Pack picked up its first victory on the mat at 133 when Darius Little used a takedown and a three-point near fall in the final seconds of the third period to grab a victory from UNC's Danny Lopes. State followed with its pair of top-10 wrestlers posting a decision at 141 by No. 6 Joe Caramanica and a pin from No. 9 Darrion Caldwell at 149 to close the match and cut the final score to 24-18.
The Tar Heels return to action next weekend with dual matches at Ohio University and Pittsburgh.
North Carolina 24, NC State 18 Wt. Result Score/Time 157 Thomas Scotton (UNC) dec. Colton Palmer (NCSU) 8-2 165 #13 Keegan Mueller (UNC) pins Jalil Dozier (NCSU) 4:13 174 Kyle Kiss (UNC) major dec. Ray Ward (NCSU) 16-3 184 Nick Tenpenny (UNC) major dec. Dane Coffee (NCSU) 19-5 197 Dennis Drury (UNC) major dec. Mark Jahad (NCSU) 8-0 HWT #19 Justin Dobies (UNC) dec. Bobby Isola (NCSU) 10-4 125 Taylor Cummings (NCSU) wins via forfeit FOR 133 Darius Little (NCSU) dec. Danny Lopes (UNC) 8-5 141 #6 Joe Caramanica (NCSU) dec. Nick Stabile (UNC) 6-2 149 #9 Darrion Caldwell (NCSU) pins Vincent Ramirez (UNC) 2:09
Players Mentioned
