North Carolina
Rider
Tar Heels Split Pair At Virginia Duals
January 13, 2012 | Wrestling
Jan. 13, 2012
HAMPTON, Va. - The North Carolina wrestling team split a pair of duals at the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va. on Friday with an 18-15 win over Rider in the first round before falling to No. 9 Edinboro 22-14. The Tar Heels will take on The Citadel at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
The Tar Heels opened with an 18-15 win over Rider that was aided by a pin from Corey Mock at 157 pounds to swing the dual. Brian Bokoski and Brock LiVorio dropped the first two bouts of the day as Bokoski fell to Chuck Zeisloft by an 11-8 margin, before Jimmy Morris downed LiVorio, 5-4.
Evan Henderson got the Tar Heels on the board with an 8-4 decision over Jimmy Kirchner to cut the deficit to 6-3 before Conor Brennan of Rider made it 9-3 with a 13-8 decision over Jon Burns.
Mock earned a pin in 2:48 to knot the dual at 9-9 as he took down Patrick Sabatini in the dying moments of the opening period. Kyle Kiss carried the momentum into his bout at 165 pounds with an 8-5 decision over James Brundage to make it 12-9.
No. 13 Jim Resnick answered with a 9-4 decision against Alex Utley to tie things back up at 12-12 before the duo of Thomas Ferguson and Zac Bennett put the Tar Heels back in front.
Ferguson rolled to an 11-4 decision over Clint Morrison before Bennett downed Donald McNeil with a 6-1 decision. Frank Abbondanza fell by a 2-1 margin to Evan Craig at heavyweight to provide the final 18-15 total.
The win improved Carolina to 2-7 on the year and a match up against No. 9 Edinboro in the second round.
Sophomore Brian Bokoski earned a narrow 3-2 decision over Kory Mines to get the Tar Heels off to a 3-0 advantage but Edinboro bounced back with an 11-0 major decision by No. 6 A.J. Schopp over LiVorio to go ahead 4-3.
No. 20 Mitchell Port added to Edinboro's lead with an upset win over No. 14 Evan Henderson with an 8-5 decision to make the Tar Heel deficit 7-3.
Jon Burns battled No. 6 Dave Habat to the bitter end before falling, 7-6, in overtime to give Edinboro the 10-3 lead.
Corey Mock and Kyle Kiss answered for the Tar Heels with impressive performances at 157 and 165 pounds. Mock claimed an 11-1 major decision over Casey Fuller to make the score 10-7 before Kiss put the Tar Heels in front at 11-10 with a major decision of his own. Kiss posted a 12-4 major decision against Jesse Swink.
Freshman Alex Utley dropped an 8-2 decision to Edinboro's Chris Hrunka to put the Tar Heels behind 13-11 but Thomas Ferguson answered with a 4-3 decision over Vic Avery to make it 14-13 in favor of UNC with two bouts remaining.
Zac Bennett went up against undefeated and second-ranked Chris Honeycutt at 197 pounds and dropped a 16-1 technical fall as Edinboro regained the lead at 18-14 before Ernest James earned a 9-0 major decision against Frank Abbondanza at heavyweight. The pair of wins gave Edinboro the 22-14 win and dropped Carolina to Saturday's consolation dual against The Citadel.
The Tar Heels will meet The Citadel at 10 a.m. on Saturday and will face either Arizona State or North Dakota State at 4 p.m. with a win.
North Carolina 18, Rider 15
125 - Chuck Zeisloft (Rider) over Brian Bokoski (UNC) Dec 11-8; 3-0 Rider
133 - Jimmy Morris (Rider) over Brock LiVorio (UNC) Dec 5-4; 6-0 Rider
141 - #14 Evan Henderson (UNC) over Jimmy Kirchner (Rider) Dec 8-4; 6-3 Rider
149 - Conor Brennan (Rider) over Jon Burns (UNC) Dec 13-8; 9-3 Rider
157 - # 19 Corey Mock (UNC) over Patrick Sabatini (Rider) Pin 2:48; Tied 9-9
165 - Kyle Kiss (UNC) over James Brundage (Rider) Dec 8-5; 12-9 UNC
174 - #13 Jim Resnick (Rider) over Alex Utley (UNC) Dec 9-4; Tied 12-12
184 - Thomas Ferguson (UNC) over Clint Morrison (Rider) Dec 11-4; 15-12 UNC
197 - Zac Bennett (UNC) over Donald McNeil (Rider) Dec 6-1; 18-12 UNC
HWT - Evan Craig (Rider) over Frank Abbondanza (UNC) Dec 2-1; 18-15 UNC
No. 9 Edinboro 22, North Carolina 14
125 - Brian Bokoski (UNC) over Kory Mines (Edinboro) Dec 3-2; 3-0 UNC
133 - #6 AJ Schopp (Edinboro) over Brock LiVorio (UNC) Maj 11-0 4-3 Edinboro
141 - #20 Mitchell Port (Edinboro) over #14 Evan Henderson (UNC) Dec 8-5; 7-3 Edinboro
149 - #6 Dave Habat (Edinboro) over Jon Burns (UNC) OT 7-6; 10-3 Edinboro
157 - Corey Mock (UNC) over Casey Fuller (Edinboro) Maj 11-1; 10-7 Edinboro
165 - Kyle Kiss (UNC) over Jesse Swink (Edinboro) Maj 12-4; 11-10 UNC
174 - Chris Hrunka (Edinboro) over Alex Utley (UNC) Dec 8-2; 13-11 Edinboro
184 - Thomas Ferguson (UNC) over Vic Avery (Edinboro) Dec 4-3; 14-13 UNC
197 - #2 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) over Zac Bennett (UNC) TF 16-1; 18-14 Edinboro
HWT - Ernest James (Edinboro) over Frank Abbondanza (UNC) Maj 9-0; 22-14 Edinboro
Players Mentioned
