March 28, 2003

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Wrestling head coach Bill Lam and sophomore Evan Sola (Wernersville, Pa.) were selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach and Wrestler of the Year this afternoon announced by the league office. Lam guided Carolina to its 15th ACC Championship in his final season behind the bench as he earned the honor for the 10th time in his career. Sola earned All-America honors at the NCAA Wrestling Championship and won his first ACC title this season.

Lam retires as the winningest coach in league history, ending his career with a record of 378-131-4; 136-35-1 ACC. He has coached 37 All-Americans at Carolina, 93 ACC champions and five NCAA champions. He led UNC to all 30 NCAA Tournaments in his career, placing in the Top 10 on four occasions and finishing in the Top 20 18 times, including a school best fifth place in 1982 where he was named NWCA Coach of the Year. Lam will continue to work in the Educational Foundation office helping raise money for the Olympic sports at North Carolina.

Sola led the Tar Heels with 36 wins this season, tied for sixth best in UNC history. The Wernersville, Pa., native finished seventh at the NCAA Wrestling Championship at 133 pounds earning his first All-America honor. At the NCAA Tournament, he upset fourth-seeded Witt Durdin (Oklahoma) and seventh-seeded Josh Moore (Penn State) en route to his first top eight finish. Sola finished conference competition with a perfect 5-0 record, going undefeated for the second straight season and defeated Virginia's Joe Alexander at the ACC Championship for his first league title at Carolina.