Takedown Report

TAR HEELS PICK UP 22-14 WIN OVER NO. 9 PITTSBURGH

CHAPEL HILL — Kennedy Monday’s upset of No. 12 Jake Wentzel helped lead No. 8 North Carolina to a 22-14 home victory over No. 9 Pittsburgh in Carmichael Arena on Friday night. No. 3 Austin O’Connor won his 20^th match of the year with a second-period pin to help UNC to another conference win.  
The Tar Heels (12-2, 3-1 ACC) gained early momentum courtesy of Joey Melendez at 125 pounds. The redshirt freshman was taken down early against Pittsburgh’s Louis Newell but capitalized late to take a 7-3 decision.
After Pittsburgh’s No. 6 Micky Phillippi notched a 3-0 decision over Jaime Hernandez, No. 11 Zach Sherman won a tight 3-2 match over Cole Matthews to help UNC take the lead in the team score, one it wouldn’t lose the rest of the night.
With a 2-0 lead, O’Connor turned Pittsburgh’s Dallas Bulsak in the second period and put him to his back for a fall, advancing UNC’s lead to 12-3. That moved O’Connor’s season dual meet record to 10-0.
After No. 16 A.C. Headlee earned an impressive 10-4 win over Taleb Rahmani, No. 15 Monday knocked off Wentzel in an on-paper upset to pile on more momentum for Carolina. At the end of the first period, he scored a takedown and put Wentzel to his back for four near-fall points to open up a 6-0 lead. Monday’s 12^th dual meet win of the year ended an 8-5 decision. …. rest of story & details at https://goheels.com/news/2020/2/14/wrestling-tar-heels-pick-up-22-14-win-over-no-9-pittsburgh.aspx

SEVEN TAR HEELS LISTED IN LATEST NCAA RANKINGS
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA released coaches’ panel rankings and ratings percentage index (RPI) rankings for the 2019-20 wrestling season today. The final rankings will be one of the criteria used as part of the selection process to determine qualifiers and seeding for the 2020 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Seven Tar Heels are listed in the coaches’ panel rankings: Jaime Hernandez (No. 32, 133), Zach Sherman (No. 12, 141), Austin O’Connor (No. 3, 149), A.C. Headlee (No. 14, 157), Kennedy Monday (No. 15, 165), Clay Lautt (No. 30, 174), Andrew Gunning (No. 29, 285). … rest of story and details at https://goheels.com/news/2020/2/13/wrestling-strong-contingent-of-tar-heels-listed-in-latest-ncaa-rankings.aspx

February 15, 2020 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment