North Carolina
Maryland
Tar Heels Edged by Maryland, 20-18
January 29, 2011 | Wrestling
Jan. 29, 2011
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Antonio Giorgio and Zac Bennett registered pins to spark a late rally, but for the second consecutive night North Carolina fell in the final match as Maryland defeated the Tar Heels, 20-18, Saturday night at the Comcast Pavilion. Carolina now stands 6-8-1 overall and is 1-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference action.
Carolina's other two victories came from two of its captains: 125-pounder Nick Shields and 149-pounder Nick Stabile. Four top-20 wrestlers led the way for Maryland, who improves their record to 11-4 and 1-1 in the conference.
Carolina took an early lead as Shields defeated Shane Gentry, 13-6, in the opening bout. The redshirt sophomore took control with two first-period takedowns and recorded six in the match to give Carolina a 3-0 lead.
Maryland answered back with two narrow victories to take a 6-3 advantage. At 133 pounds, Lou Roland defeated UNC freshman Pat Owens 6-4. No. 17 Jon Kohler put the Terrapins ahead as he took a 6-3 decision over Mike Rappo in the 141-pound weight class.
Stabile knotted the match back up with a 5-2 overtime victory over Ben Dorsay at 149 pounds. All of the regulation scoring occurred in the second period as Stabile registered two escapes but was taken down once. Neither wrestler scored in either the sudden victory or first tie-breaker, but Stabile's reversal in the second tiebreaker period gave him the victory.
Maryland responded with three straight victories to take a 16-6 lead. For the second straight night, Carolina freshman Corey Mock was defeated by a highly ranked wrestler at 157 pounds as No. 12 Kyle John captured a 5-1 decision.
At 165 pounds, senior Thomas Scotton took the lead with an early takedown of No. 3 Josh Asper, but Asper quickly answered to take a 5-2 decision. In the 174-pound match, No. 17 Mike Letts notched a major decision victory as he defeated Andre Petroski 14-3.
Carolina then surged ahead 18-16 due to the pins from Giorgio and Bennett at 184 and 197 pounds. A night after defeating No. 11 Luke Rebertus of Navy, Giorgio ended a back-and-forth affair with Corey Peltier when he pinned the Maryland junior with 0:06 remaining in the third period. Giorgio led 7-6 at the time, but Peltier had earned three-point near falls against the Carolina freshman twice in the match.
Bennett gave the Tar Heels the lead when he quickly took care of Christian Boley at 197 pounds. Bennett took down Boley 54 seconds into the match and then ended the bout with a fall at 2:10. The pin was the second in a row for the Carolina redshirt freshman.
The dual came down to the final bout, where Maryland's Spencer Myers took command early and notched and 12-0 victory over UNC's Ben Brooks. The major decision gave Maryland a 20-18 win as Carolina dropped its second straight heartbreaker after losing 21-19 to Navy Friday night.
The Tar Heels will return to action Friday night when they take on in-state rival NC State at 7 p.m. at Carmichael Arena.
Maryland 20, North Carolina 18
125- Nick Shields (UNC) dec. Shane Gentry, 13-6, UNC 3-0
133- Lou Ruland (MD) dec. Pat Owens, 6-4, Tied 3-3
141- #17 Jon Kohler (MD) dec. Mike Rappo, 6-3, UNC 6-3
149- Nick Stabile (UNC) dec. Ben Dorsay, 5-2 TB2, Tied 6-6
157- #13 Kyle John (MD) dec. Corey Mock, 5-1, UMD 9-6
165- #3 Josh Asper (MD) dec. Thomas Scotton, 5-2, UMD 12-6
174- #17 Mike Letts (MD) major dec. Andre Petroski, 14-3, UMD 16-6
184- Antonio Giorgio (UNC) fall over Corey Peltier, 6:54, UMD 16-12
197- Zac Bennett (UNC) fall over Christian Boley , 2:10, UNC 18-16
HWT- Spencer Myers (MD) major dec. Ben Brooks, 12-0, UMD 20-18
Players Mentioned
