Feb. 20, 2009

Tar Heels Close Dual Slate With South Carolina Split
North Carolina's Vincent Ramirez, Nick Stabile and Thomas Scotton each won twice Thursday as the Tar Heels split their final two duals of the season at Newberry College's Eleazer Arena. With several backups in the lineup, Carolina (13-9) posted a 43-0 win over Anderson University before suffering a 24-14 setback to Newberry, the nation's No. 2-ranked Division II squad.

With a grueling duel slate - which included nine matches since Jan. 17 - under their belts and the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA championships quickly approaching, the Tar Heels rested at least four of their 10 normal starters in Thursday's final two duals.

In addition to the pair of wins from Ramirez at 141 pounds, Stabile at 149 and Scotton at 157, Carolina senior heavyweight Justin Dobies moved into a tie for ninth on the Tar Heels' career victory list with a pin in the win over Anderson for his 107th career victory.

Hokies fall to No. 20 Monarchs on the mat
In a battle between two top-20 teams, Old Dominion downed the Virginia Tech wrestling squad 19-15 Thursday night at the Ted Constant Center in front of a record 1,461 fans. ODU, ranked 20th in the nation, moves to 16-6 while the 14th-ranked Hokies finish the regular season at 20-2.

The match began at 125 pounds, where sixth-ranked James Nicholson of ODU beat 14th-ranked Jarrod Garnett 5-4. Kyle Hutter picked up a 13-5 major decision over Brock LiVorio at 133 pounds to make it 7-0. LiVorio managed to keep it within just decision range for about 6:55, but in the last five seconds, Hutter got a takedown on the edge and put him on his back for the two point nearfall. At 141 pounds, 17th-ranked Chris Diaz of Tech suffered a 3-2 setback to sixth-ranked Ryan Williams. The Hokies finally got on the board at 149 pounds when freshman Pete Yates picked up an 8-4 win over ODU’s Joey Metzler. The true freshman heads into the postseason with a 30-7 record.

At 157 pounds, 20th-ranked Jesse Dong of Tech continued his recent hot streak with a 6-2 win over Kaylen Baxter. Matt Epperly dropped an 11-5 decsion to No. 10 Chris Brown at 165 pounds and then former Hokie Eric Decker picked up a 3-1 sudden victory over Anthony Trongone at 174 pounds.