Tar Heels Aim For Third Straight ACC Title Saturday
Past winners Sola, Forshey lead UNC into league championships.
Senior Evan Sola looks for his third ACC title at 133 pounds Saturday.

Senior Evan Sola looks for his third ACC title at 133 pounds Saturday.

March 2, 2007

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina's wrestling team will be in search of its third consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference title and its seventh in the last nine seasons when it heads to Reynolds Coliseum Saturday for the 2007 Mat Jam, which features the league championships for the ACC and Southern Conference. Action is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., with finals slated for 7 p.m.

The Tar Heels, who went 9-7 overall and 4-2 in the ACC in dual action, bring a trio of nationally-ranked wrestlers into the meet. Seniors Spencer Nadolsky and Evan Sola are ranked 10th at heavyweight and 133 pounds, respectively, while junior Keegan Mueller checks in at No. 16 at 165.

Sola, who is 12-3 on the year and 4-0 in the ACC, is a two-time ACC champion and two-time most outstanding wrestler at the league championships. He last captured the conference title at 133 in 2005 and redshirted last season with a shoulder injury.

Nadolsky was the league's runner-up at heavyweight a year ago and is 22-7 and 4-2 in the ACC this season, while Mueller will be making his debut at ACCs this weekend after transferring from Ohio State. He owns a team-best 27-6 overall record and is 5-1 against the ACC.

Junior Drew Forshey is the second past ACC champ set to take the mat for the Tar Heels Saturday at 125. He is 19-7 on the year and 6-0 in league duals. Forshey has won 12 of his last 13 bouts to rank as one of the hottest wrestlers in the league entering Mat Jam.

Sophomore Vincent Ramirez and senior Deon Barrett are the only other Tar Heels set to wrestle with ACC experience. Ramirez was the runner-up at 141 pounds a year ago, but will wrestle at 149 with a 13-8 record this season. Barrett, who wrestled at 157 a year ago, rejoined the team late in the season and will go at 174, where he is just 1-2 on the year.

Newcomers slated to wrestle for the Tar Heels Saturday include freshman Mike Rappo at 141, redshirt freshman Ben Fiacco at 157 and redshirt freshman Dennis Drury at 197. Rappo is 13-12 and 2-4 in the ACC, while Fiacco went 14-12 and 3-2 in the league after transferring from Old Dominion. Drury will get the nod at 197 after going 13-10 and 2-1 versus the ACC.

At 184, the Tar Heels will turn to either sophomore Daniel Llamas (4-8) or redshirt freshman Robert McCarthy (10-14).

Carolina has won 17 ACC titles since 1979, with fourth-year head coach C.D. Mock leading UNC to the last two.