Wrestling Knocks Off North Carolina, 18-13
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The Virginia wrestling team opened ACC play with an 18-13 victory over North Carolina Friday night in front of an overflow crowd at Memorial Gymnasium. The Cavaliers won each of the first four classes to take a 12-0 lead and never trailed as they improved to 14-3 on the season and 1-0 in the ACC.
UVa won six of the 10 weight classes all by decision against the Tar Heels (5-4, 1-2). Ross Gitomer (So., Flemington, N.J.) opened the match with a 4-3 victory over UNC’s Drew Forshey at 125 pounds as he improved to 29-8 on the year. No. 20 Eric Albright (Jr., York, Pa.) followed with a 6-1 decision against Danny Lopes.
Nick Nelson (Fr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) scored UVa’s most exciting win of the night with a 2-1 decision at 141 over Nick Stabile. Trailing 1-0 through most of the last two periods, Nelson notched a takedown with just under 20 seconds remaining to earn his 23rd win of the season.
Shawn Harris (Fr., Cleveland, Ohio) scored an impressive win at 149 pounds with a 7-1 decision over reigning ACC Co-Wrestler of the Week Vincent Ramirez to give UVa a 12-0 advantage. The Tar Heels then cut the lead to 12-7 with Thomas Scotton’s 5-3 decision over Drew DiPasquale (Jr., Bloomsburg, Pa.) at 157 and No. 12 Keegan Mueller’s major decision over Michael Chaires (Fr., Scotia, N.Y.) at 165.
Chris Henrich (Fr., Lansdale, Pa.) put UVa back in the winning column with a 7-6 decision at 174 over Kyle Kiss. The win marks Henrich’s 10th-consecutive victory as he improves to 18-6 this year. Ninth-ranked Rocco Caponi (Jr., Uniontown, Ohio) followed with a dominating 6-0 win over Nick Tenpenny at 184 while amassing 2:33 of riding time. Caponi pushed his record to 30-1 this season.
North Carolina won the final two weight classes by decision to bring the final score to 18-13. No. 15 Brent Jones (So., Burke, Va.) and Jack Danilkowicz (So., Green Oaks, Ill.) each dropped 7-2 decisions to Dennis Drury and No. 20 Justin Dobies at 197 and heavyweight, respectively.
Virginia continues ACC play at 1 p.m. Sunday, traveling to Richmond for a dual with Virginia Tech at Deep Run High School.
Virginia 18, North Carolina 13
125: Ross Gitomer (UVa) dec. Drew Forshey (UNC), 4-3; UVa 3, UNC 0
133: No. 20 Eric Albright (UVa) dec. Danny Lopes (UNC), 6-1; UVa 6, UNC 0
141: Nick Nelson (UVa) dec. Nick Stabile (UNC), 2-1; UVa 9, UNC 0
149: Shawn Harris (UVa) dec. Vincent Ramirez (UNC), 7-1; UVa 12, UNC 0
157: Thomas Scotton (UNC) dec. Drew DiPasquale (UVa), 5-3; UVa 12, UNC 3
165: No. 12 Keegan Mueller (UNC) major dec. Michael Chaires (UVa), 11-1; UVa 12, UNC 7
174: Chris Henrich (UVa) dec. Kyle Kiss (UNC), 7-6; UVa 15, UNC 7
184: No. 9 Rocco Caponi (UVa) dec. Nick Tenpenny (UNC), 6-0; UVa 18, UNC 7
197: Dennis Drury (UNC) dec. No. 15 Brent Jones (UVa), 7-2; UVa 18, UNC 10
285: No. 18 Justin Dobies (UNC) dec. Jack Danilkowicz (UVa), 7-2; UVa 18, UNC 13
Attendance: 710