Heels Hold Devils Down In Wrestling, Extend Carlyle Cup Lead

Wednesday, January 31

Chapel Hill, N.C. (Chapel Hill H.S.)

7:30 p.m.

Duke University

North Carolina

Heels Hold Devils Down In Wrestling, Extend Carlyle Cup Lead

1/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? North Carolina (7-6, 4-1 ACC) bested Duke (7-6, 0-3 ACC), 30-12 on Wednesday night in wrestling action at Chapel Hill High School. The meet had been postponed from Tues., Jan. 30 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and was the last home ACC contest for the Blue Devils this season.

The meet began at the heavyweight class, in a match between redshirt freshman Mike Tunick and 11th ranked Spencer Nadolsky. Nadolsky dominated throughout the match and scored a 21-5 technical fall at 6:22.

Junior Kellan McKeon returned to his high school alma mater to wrestle for Duke at the 125 pound weight class. McKeon faced Drew Forshey and lost a major decision, 13-4.

At 133 pounds, freshman Chris Thumen made his dual meet debut at Duke, and did so against the 10th ranked Evan Sola. Thumen was promptly pinned 1:32 into the match.

The Tar Heels would make it four in a row at 141 pounds, as Mike Rappo would score a major decision over junior Wes Kuser, 14-5. North Carolina lead 19-0 after scoring 19 of a possible 24 maximum points in the first four matches. The Heels would never look back.

Senior Dan Shvartsman made it six straight victories in a row for himself at 149 pounds when he scored a 5-4 decision over Vincent Ramirez. Shvartsman is now 10-6 on the season and 7-2 in dual matches. Shvartsman continues to move up on the Blue Devils' all-time wins list. He currently ranks 10th with 82 career victories. Shvartsman is three wins behind Jake Cecere in 9th place, and 23 wins behind all-time leader Bradd Weber. Redshirt junior Bryan Gibson ranks 15th with 63 victories.

Freshman Voris Tejada wrestled for the first time this season at 157 pounds, and for the first time overall since Jan. 6. Tejada scored a 3-1 sudden death overtime decision over Keenan Duffie. His team-best record now stands at 19-8, with a 4-1 mark in duals. Duke had cut the North Carolina lead to 19-6.

Even though it resulted in a loss, redshirt sophomore Aaron Glover gave one of the gutsiest performances of the evening at 165 pounds. Going up against No. 14 Keegan Mueller, Glover fought his way to a 0-0 tie at the end of the first period and was down only 3-0 at the end of the second. Glover closed the gap to 4-2 late in the third, but was unable to score again and dropped the match 6-2. It snapped his seven match win streak, and Mueller went to 24-6 overall and 10-2 in dual matchups.

Redshirt freshman John Barone gave the most dominating Blue Devil showing of the meet at 174 pounds. Barone was leading 18-4 late in the third period and looking to score a technical fall when North Carolina coach C.D. Mock stepped in and defaulted the match for Jake Forestiere. That result put the Tar Heels on top only 22-12, but the Blue Devils would not be able to get any closer.

Freshman Matthew Koelling and redshirt junior Patrick Keenum would both drop their matches at 184 and 197 pounds, respectively. Koelling fell behind early and came up short in a comeback against Daniel Llamas, losing a decision 11-7. Keenum would be outmatched by David Dashiell, and lost by technical fall, 20-4 at 5:39. The meet was over with a North Carolina victory, 30-12.

North Carolina gained one Carlyle Cup point with its wrestling victory on Wednesday and now holds a 6.5-4.5 lead in the current standings. The Carlyle Cup is an all-sport competition between Duke and North Carolina and is in its seventh year of existence. Carlyle & Company, the Greensboro, N.C.-based jeweler, is the title sponsor of this head-to-head all-sports competition. The two schools have split the first six Cups, with Duke claiming the title in 2001, 2003 and 2004. The next Carlyle Cup competition will be the first of two men's basketball meetings, on Wed., Feb. 7, at 9 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke will next travel to Virginia and Virginia Tech on Sat., Feb. 10. They will face the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va. at 1 p.m. before heading to Blacksburg, Va. to take on the Hokies at 8 p.m. The Blue Devils will return home to Cameron Indoor Stadium for their final regular season meet of the 2006-07 season on Sat., Feb. 17, against UNC-Greensboro at 7 p.m.

North Carolina 30, Duke 12
January 31, 2007 / Chapel Hill High School
125: Drew Forshey (UNC) maj. dec. Kellan McKeon (Duke), 13-4
133: Evan Sola (UNC) pins Chris Thumen (Duke), 1:32
141: Mike Rappo (UNC) maj. dec. Wes Kuser (Duke), 14-5
149: Daniel Shvartsman (Duke) dec. Vincent Ramirez (UNC), 5-4
157: Voris Tejada (Duke) dec. Keenan Duffie (UNC), 3-1 (OT)
165: Keegan Mueller (UNC) dec. Aaron Glover (Duke), 6-2
174: John Barone (Duke) wins by default over Jake Forestiere (UNC) (up 18-4 in third period when called off)
184: Daniel Llamas (UNC) dec. Matthew Koelling (Duke), 11-7
197: David Dashiell (UNC) tech. fall Patrick Keenum (Duke), 20-4 (5:39)
HWT: Spencer Nadolsky (UNC) tech. fall Mike Tunick (Duke), 21-5 (6:22)