Not many sports give teams a chance to win bonus points based on how they performed, but in wrestling, extra points are crucial in order to win meets. The No. 17 North Carolina wrestling team used that to its full advantage, piling up the bonus points in a 22-13 win against No. 25 Virginia on Saturday night in Carmichael Arena.
When a wrestler wins by a normal decision, three points are added to the team score, but winning by what is called a major decision, meaning a margin of more than eight points, adds four points to the team’s score. Head coach Coleman Scott stressed the importance of earning that bonus point following the victory.
“Before we went out, I said, ‘We are the ones that score bonus points. We don’t give it up, we score it,’” Scott said.
The Tar Heels (8-5, 1-0 ACC) took Scott's words to heart, winning four bouts by major decision. Those bonus points were crucial in ending the match early, when a Virginia (11-7, 0-1 ACC) comeback became impossible.
An early victory meant that the lighter Tar Heels were getting the job done to open the match. After first-year Joe Heilmann lost via major decision to Virginia’s No. 5 Jack Mueller in the 125-pound bout, UNC rattled off three straight major decision victories of its own, the first of which coming from redshirt senior Gary Wayne Harding in the 133-pound bout.
“Following a tough loss at 125, it helps to get the ball rolling again,” Harding said. "Jaime followed it up, then Austin and it gets everybody back on track.”
As Harding said, redshirt first-years Jaime Hernandez and No. 4 Austin O’Connor followed his performance with major decision wins in the 141- and 149-pound bouts, respectively. Hernandez was also one point away from adding yet another point to the team score and winning via technical fall, which is when a wrestler wins his bout by more than 14 points.
“They always tell me to go out there and let it rip,” Hernandez said. “My main focus is scoring as many points as I can throughout the whole match, and I started off kind of late, but once I start going it is hard to stop me.”
Following O’Connor's major decision victory, the Tar Heels led by a score of 12-4 after four bouts. With a sizable lead now in hand, UNC was able to cruise to victory against the Cavaliers, never looking back after that string of bonus point victories.
