Wrestling: Wrestlers makes it six straight

Vincent Ramirez was in deep trouble.

Down 0-3 in the second period of Friday's matchup with Virginia's Nick Nelson Ramirez looked as though he might give up another takedown and fall further behind.

But Ramirez ranked No. 18 in the 141-pound weight class writhed out of Nelson's grasp as the Cavalier tried to edge away" playing perfectly into the move that Ramirez had already cued up.

""Whenever I'm in that tie-up" I'm looking for it Ramirez said. And he backed right up out of bounds" which was what I was waiting for.""

Boom — Nelson hit the deck for a takedown and a near fall. Just like that" a 5-point swing" and Ramirez was on his way to a 9-3 victory.

That win set the tone for the grapplers from North Carolina to cruise to its fifth straight dual-match win and third straight ACC win.

""Virginia's one of the tougher teams in the ACC"" coach C.D. Mock said. And I think we did what we were supposed to do today.""

Only a day later" North Carolina racked up yet another win with an overwhelming 25-9 decision against Navy at East Wake High School.

Ramirez's win on Friday was the first of two ranked matchups for the Tar Heels. At the 197-pound weight class" No. 17 Dennis Drury easily dispatched Virginia's No. 20 Brent Jones with a 10-1 major decision.

""Drury has never had a problem with Brent"" Mock said. And Jones is a good wrestler. Jones beats some really good kids … but Drury just pounds him every time. It's a style thing. Drury just beats him every time — badly.""

Drury's result effectively sealed the win for UNC.

The conference rivalry was evident as the match frequently turned chippy with several heated exchanges.

During Keegan Mueller's match" Mueller twisted out of a leghold and inadvertently roundhouse-kicked Virginia's Mike Sewell in the face drawing protests from Sewell and the Cavalier bench.

Both benches received warnings during the match" and Ramirez said the intensity from the sidelines revved up the competition on the mats.

""Our coaches are always fired up" always yelling at the refs and getting into it with the other coaches Ramirez said. It gets us going too" so it's definitely a good thing.""

Against Navy on Saturday" UNC's Mike Rappo broke the match open with a technical fall decision to give UNC an 11-6 lead.

Rappo's win was his fifth straight and puts his record at 21-8 for the season.

Following Rappo's technical fall decision the Tar Heels reeled off four straight wins including major decisions from Nick Stabile and Mueller to hold off the Midshipmen on Navy.

The Tar Heels now look to build momentum as they face five consecutive home matches. The biggest match is the tilt with No. 4 Nebraska on Feb. 14.



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.