Following a recent run of success that has included a national championship for wrestler Austin O'Connor in 2021, the sixth-year senior said he believes the UNC wrestling team has earned a new practice room.
"We have already done things this program hasn't seen in over 20 years, so I think we are finally getting recognized," he said.
In the fall of 2019, UNC began plans for a new wrestling facility that were unfortunately halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the university began to return to normalcy, the program was looking to upgrade its current wrestling facility. At the end of the Tar Heels' 2021-2022 season, the coaching staff went to UNC administration to highlight the safety issues in their practice space.
The mats the team had been practicing on were aging and becoming soft. Their foam started to break down, get torn up and form divots in sparse areas causing more injuries — particularly ankle problems — for the team. It was a want but also a need, and the administration answered.
After receiving the new mats the week of Sept. 25, the UNC wrestling squad came together to move them into the soon-to-be upgraded space.
"It became a team bonding activity for the guys with a simple reward," head coach Coleman Scott said. "Do the manual labor and, in return, have an improved practice space."
They began to roll out the mats last Tuesday, and while waiting for them to fully settle into shape, the team practiced in Woollen Gym's combat room during their final week of preseason — a displacement that is familiar to them.
"It was easy to work around," associate head coach Tony Ramos said. "When you are coming off of COVID, where we were out of our facilities for basically a whole year, it's easy for a week and a half."
