Wrestling Dominates Overmatched Duke

Continuing its domination of the ACC, UNC beat Duke 33-6 even without three of its starters.

The Blue Devils (5-3, 0-1 in the ACC) struck first, with Luke Palmisano nipping Mike Booth 4-3 at 149 pounds.

But UNC 157-pounder James O'Connor quickly put the Tar Heels (11-2, 4-0 in the ACC) on top with a 12-1 major decision over Ben Balmages.

Chris DiGuiseppe, normally a 157-pounder for UNC, filled in at 165 for Jake Reynolds, out with an injured shoulder. But Duke's Mike Mitchell was too much in an 8-3 decision.

Mark Canty's 14-4 major decision at 174 pounds gave the Tar Heels the lead again, and backup Dusty Heist stepped up at 184 pounds to end the back-and-forth.

"I needed to get the team enthusiasm back up," Heist said after beating Frank Cornerly in an 18-8 major decision. "He battled at first, but eventually I started to break him, he started to stall, and then he pretty much couldn't stop me."

Austin Wall then edged Duke's 197-pounder Daegan Smith 9-5. Later, 125-pounder Chris Rodrigues beat Duke's Tommy Hoang 5-1, and 133-pounder Evan Sola pinned Stuart Holzer in 2:42.

UNC's Brad Byers beat fellow senior Harry Clarke at 141. Byers got three takedowns, a near fall, a reversal and an escape for an 11-4 decision to cap off the win.

But the most exciting match came with UNC up 15-6 when heavyweight Ryan Adams wrestled in his first home meet this year.

A minute into his match with Levi Karnehm, Adams drew blood with charging tackle of a double leg. In the second period he hit a similar move but finished powerfully by lifting Karnehm into the air, dropping him to his back and pinning him with seven seconds to go.

"A lot of guys are so much taller than me so it's easier for me to attack their legs," said Adams, who stood in for heavyweight Matt Kenny (broken finger). "High school football gave me that quick burst of speed to go straight through people, and a lot of people are not looking for that type of speed out of a heavyweight."

Said UNC coach Bill Lam, "I definitely hope to have Kenny back for the ACC Tournament, but in some ways the experience has been good for Ryan."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.