Virginia Comes Up Short Against North Carolina

CHARLOTTESVILLE. Va. – The Cavaliers and Tar Heels each won five weight classes on Friday night (Feb. 16) but bonus-points were the difference as Virginia (7-5, 1-3 ACC) fell to North Carolina (10-7, 2-2 ACC) by a score of 18-16 at Memorial Gym.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The dual started at 184 pounds and North Carolina took the early lead with victories in the first two weight classes of the night, including a major decision at 184 pounds. Ryan Catka would get the Cavaliers on the board with a win at heavyweight, using a takedown and an escape point to grab the 4-2 decision over Cade Lautt.

North Carolina would add another bonus-point victory with a tech fall at 125 pounds, but Virginia would answer. Marlon Yarbrough put together a major decision at 133 pounds and Kyren Butler clawed his way to an 8-5 decision in sudden victory to pull the Cavaliers within two points at 12-10 in the dual.

The Tar Heels snagged back-to-back wins at 149 pounds and 157 pounds for an eight-point lead in the overall dual score. The Hoos won the final two weight classes with decisions from Nick Hamilton at 165 and Justin McCoy at 174, but the two early bonus-point wins gave North Carolina the edge it needed for the dual victory.

NOTES ON THE DUAL

• Justin McCoy improved to 16-3 on the season and is now 10-2 in dual action and 3-2 in ACC duals.
• Ryan Catka moved to 12-4 on the year and is also 10-2 in dual action with a 2-2 mark against ACC teams.
• Marlon Yarbrough grabbed his 12th win of the season and is now 6-2 in dual action this season.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND
“We split five and five and lost on bonus points. Those bonus points killed us tonight. Marlon Yarbrough looked amazing and I don’t understand why he’s not ranked higher. He looked amazing start to finish. Kyren Butler came back and got a dramatic victory in overtime for us. Nick Hamilton started slow but like Kyren – he’s a little banged up – but he came back and pulled it out at the end. Justin McCoy beat a really good nationally-ranked opponent. Ryan Catka gutted it out and found a way to get it done. The way you compete matters. That pillar of our program, to compete in such a way, that means something. There are some things the guys who lost tonight have to get victory over. That’s what we have to fix.”

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia will head out on the road next weekend to take on No. 22 Pittsburgh on Friday (Feb. 23) to close out the ACC slate.

NORTH CAROLINA 18, VIRGINIA 16
184:  Sabino Portella major dec. Hudson Stewart, 17-5 – UNC 4, UVA 0
197: No. 23 Max Shaw dec. Krystian Kinsey, 11-5 – UNC 7, UVA 0
285: Ryan Catka dec. Cade Lautt, 4-2 – UNC 7, UVA 3
125: No. 30 Spencer Moore tech fall Sammie Hayes, 19-4 (6:00) – UNC 12, UVA 3
133: No. 28 Marlon Yarbrough major dec. Derek Guanajuato, 16-4 – UNC 12, UVA 7
141: Kyren Butler dec Jace Palmer, 8-5 (sv-1)  UNC 12, UVA 10
149: Jayden Scott dec. Michael Gioffre, 4-1 (sv-1), UNC 15, UVA 10
157: No. 32 Sonny Santiago dec. Nick Sanko, 8-5 – UNC 18, UVA 10
165: Nick Hamilton dec. Isaias Estrada, 9-8 – UNC 18, UVA 13
174: No. 13 Justin McCoy dec. No. 17 Tyler Eischens, 6-4 – UNC 18, UVA 16