North Carolina’s associate wrestling coach Cary Kolat said the team had a specific mindset going into last weekend’s dual matches against Virginia Tech and Stanford — win.
After losing 29-3 to the Hokies and 28-12 to Stanford, it was clear that the Tar Heels had not met their goals.
“We’re capable of beating both teams, but you have to show up to do that.” Kolat said. “We had some goals also included in the duals that we were looking for and we didn’t accomplish any of them. It was a bad weekend for UNC wrestling.”
If there was a bright spot for UNC, it was 141-pound junior Evan Henderson, who improved his season record to 25-3 . Henderson was the lone UNC wrestler to win both of his weekend matches, earning a 1-0 victory in the Virginia Tech match and pinning his Stanford foe in just 55 seconds.
“I didn’t do my job the way I should’ve,” Henderson said. “We’ve been working all year on getting more takedowns and that kind of stuff, but when it falls into your lap, you take it.”
Despite Henderson’s continued success, the Tar Heels have struggled in dual matches, their record falling below .500. Though head coach C.D. Mock has said that his team isn’t necessarily built to win dual matches, Kolat couldn’t hide his disappointment in the team’s performance this weekend.
“It was probably some carryover from Virginia Tech because it was a similar situation,” Kolat said. “But in the end that guy has to pull himself out of it and they didn’t pull themselves out of it.”
Though only Henderson won on Friday, two other Tar Heels recorded victories against Stanford. Sophomore Christian Barber recorded a 4-1 victory at 149 pounds, and junior Alex Utley won 5-2 at 184 pounds. And despite losing five of the first seven matches against Stanford, UNC was still within reach of a victory with two matches to go.
“We were down 12-16 with two guys left,” Henderson said. “Say a few more things go our way in the match that’s it.
