March 20, 2005

ST. LOUIS - Led by junior Evan Sola's second career All-America finish, North Carolina tallied its best finish at nationals since 1997 with 23 points and a 24th-place showing at the 2005 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Savvis Center. Oklahoma State captured the team title with five individual champions.

Sola placed sixth at 133 pounds for the best showing by a Tar Heel individual since Justin Harty took sixth at heavyweight in 1997. Sola's 2005 honor is the 38th All-America citation for the Tar Heels, who have now had at least one All-America in 21 of the last 26 years.

Sola also finished seventh in 2003 and is the first two-time All-America at Carolina since Harty earned All-America honors from 1994-97. Earlier this month, Sola won his second ACC title and was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the conference championships.

The top-25 finish at NCAAs caps a comeback season for the Tar Heels, who won their first ACC championship under second-year head coach C.D. Mock and had their best NCAA showing in eight seasons.

A year ago, Carolina placed fourth at the ACC Championships and failed to win a match at nationals.

The Tar Heels also went 6-9 in dual matches this season, with six losses coming to nationally-ranked opponents. Carolina was 4-2 in conference dual matches to finish second in the regular season ACC standings. The Tar Heels were the top conference team at the NCAA Championships with their 24th-place finish. Virginia Tech was next in line in 42nd place.

Carolina is poised for continued success next season as all four NCAA qualifiers - Sola, David Dashiell, Garrett Atkinson and Drew Forshey - all have eligibility remaining, as does the entire regular starting lineup from this season. The Tar Heels started four freshman on a regular basis, including 141-pounder Isaiah Britton, who captured All-ACC honors with a runner-up finish at the conference championships.