Wrestling Begins ACC Dual Action Friday Night

DURHAM, N.C. - The No. 28 North Carolina wrestling program begins ACC duals tomorrow evening, traveling down the road to Duke to kickstart conference action.

Dual Information
Date/Time: Friday, Jan. 20 - 7 PM
Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium - Durham, N.C.
Watch: ACC Network Extra

Last Time Out
North Carolina completed the New England sweep last Saturday afternoon, defeating Harvard (22-12) and Brown (36-4), to close out the non conference portion of the 2022-23 schedule.

Against the Crimson, the Tar Heels collected six victories in the matchup. UNC would jump out to an early lead in the team score, with wins from Jace Palmer (133) and Lachlan McNeil (141). North Carolina would finish the first matchup of the day on the winning side courtesy of Austin O'Connor (157), Gavin Kane (184), Max Shaw (197), and Jack Wagner (125).

Heading down the road to Providence, R.I., the Tar Heels would close the day just hours later, winning nine of 10 matchups against the Bears. Jace Palmer (133), Zach Sherman (149) and Aydin Guttridge (285) picked up decisions for the Heels. Jack Wagner (125), Lachlan McNeil (141), Joey Mazzara (165) and Cade Lautt (197) were on the winning side by major decision. Gavin Kane (184) was victorious by technical fall, and Austin O'Connor (157) was the highlight of the matchup winning by fall.

Scouting the Blue Devils
Duke returns in dual action Thursday evening, welcoming Central Michigan to Durham. Thursday evening against the Chippewas serves as the home opener for Duke in the 2022-23 campaign. The last time out for Duke, the Blue Devils traveled to the Southern Scuffle, finishing tied for 18th out of 21 teams.

Thursday night is the first dual action for Duke in nearly a month, as the Blue Devils defeated Presbyterian, 23-19, before falling to George Mason, 35-3, back on Dec. 21.

Tar Heels In The Polls
Entering Saturday's matchup, the team features six wrestlers ranked in this week's InterMat Wrestling rankings:

125 - Jack Wagner - No. 22
141 - Lachlan McNeil - No. 13
149 - Zach Sherman - No. 25
157 - Austin O'Connor - No. 4
174 - Clay Lautt - No. 9
184 - Gavin Kane - No. 14

North Carolina Probables
125: No. 22 Jack Wagner
133: Joey Melendez or Jace Palmer
141: No. 13 Lachlan McNeil
149: No. 25 Zach Sherman or Wil Guida
157: No. 4 Austin O'Connor
165: Joey Mazzara or Gino Esposito
174: No. 9 Clay Lautt or Michael Goldfeder
184: No. 14 Gavin Kane
197: Max Shaw or Cade Lautt
285: Aydin Guttridge or Brandon Whitman

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Gino Esposito

Michael Goldfeder

Wil Guida

Aydin Guttridge

Gavin Kane

Cade Lautt

Clay Lautt

Joey Mazzara

Lachlan McNeil

Joey Melendez

Austin O'Connor

Jace Palmer

Max Shaw

Zach Sherman

Jack Wagner

Brandon Whitman