The No. 24 North Carolina wrestling team fell to No. 6 N.C. State Wolfpack, 26-7, in Raleigh on Friday night.
The Wolfpack are now 14-1 and 4-0 in the ACC. And although the Tar Heels stand at 8-10 and 2-2 in the ACC, their strength of schedule has a lot to do with their subpar record. UNC has faced off against 11 of the current top 25 teams this season.
Head coach Coleman Scott believes that the only way for this team to be ready for the ACC and NCAA tournaments is to take on the best teams, the same teams the Tar Heels will face in these tournaments at the end of the year. This dual was just that.
The Tar Heels won two matches on the night — No. 16 Ethan Ramos in the second match of the night and No. 9 Troy Heilmann in the penultimate match. In between those two wins was a stretch of six Wolfpack wins, highlighted by No. 5 Sean Fausz’s 16-2 major decision over James Szymanski in the 125-pound bout.
Despite this string of losses, the Tar Heels did leave with impressive wins from two of their most reliable wrestlers. Ramos, a redshirt senior, had a 17-8 major decision win over Daniel Bullard in the 174 match, giving the Tar Heels a bit of momentum and an early 4-3 lead.
But it was redshirt senior Heilmann who really stood out, taking down No. 13 Beau Donahue, 5-1, in the 149 match. This win makes the South Plainfield, N.J., native’s twenty-fifth win on the year and eighth win against a ranked opponent.
NC State had eight top-20 ranked wrestlers on Friday, with seven of them winning their match against the Tar Heels. These are going to be the same wrestlers that UNC will face in the ACC and NCAA tournaments next month. If Scott’s tactic of facing the best proves effective, the Tar Heels could be well prepared for the end of the year.
UNC will close out its stretch of ACC play next Wednesday against Duke, which will also be Senior Night for the team.
