The No. 14 North Carolina wrestling team fell to both No. 15 Rutgers and No. 19 Wisconsin in the Garden State Grapple this Saturday in the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
What happened?
After a few early match wins against Wisconsin, UNC ultimately lost the dual, 20-16, and struggled against Rutgers later in the night, dropping the second dual 28-9 to the Scarlet Knights.
The Garden State Grapple marks the first time the Tar Heels and the Badgers met on the mat since 2013, and the Badgers currently hold a 10-3-1 advantage against UNC after their victory this weekend.
Who stood out?
Early wins in Newark brought some big decisions in favor of the Tar Heels.
No. 2 redshirt senior Austin O’Connor picked up a major 13-5 decision against Wisconsin’s Garrett Model, and earned his second win of the night against Rutgers’ Robert Kanniard, 12-6. O’Connor came into the dual as the reigning national champion with a perfect 13-0 record, however he entered the dual coming off his first loss against Nebraska’s Peyton Robb last week, tarnishing his perfect record.
Graduate student Clay Lautt, ranked No. 22 in his division at the beginning of the tournament, also had an impressive showing, emerging victorious over Wisconsin’s No. 8 Andrew McNally, 6-1. Lautt held a significant lead against McNally, up 2-0 after the first three minutes of the match and 3-1 after the second period. He finished the night with a 4-0 decision over Rutgers’ Connor O’Neil after holding a 3-0 lead after the second period, and was moved up to No. 15 in the 174-pound weight class.
No. 10 Kizhan Clarke, who recently brought home the ACC Co-Wrestler of the Week award earlier this month, also had a good night against Wisconsin’s Joseph Zargo, emerging with a 9-5 decision in the match. However, Clarke did not compete in the Rutgers dual later in the night against No. 4 Sebastian Rivera, which forced a forfeit.
