The Tar Heel were led by pins by two wrestlers who were national qualifiers a season ago: 141-pounder Mike Rappo and 197-pounder Dennis Drury. Jeremy Shaw, (133), No. 10 Thomas Scotton (157), Kyle Kiss (165) and Ziad Haddad (heavyweight) also earned victories for the Tar Heels.
Edinboro jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead when eighth-ranked 125-pounder Eric Morrill grabbed an 18-4 major decision victory over Carolina's Brian Bokoski. Shaw, however, responded and put the Tar Heels on the scoreboard by defeating Kyle Fluke 9-6. The win was the senior's sixth in dual competition this year, which marks a career high.
Rappo kept the momentum on the Tar Heels' side when he pinned Joel Webster with only two seconds remaining in the second period. The result improved Rappo's record to 10-8 and the pin was his second on the season. At 149 pounds, Edinboro bounced back with a Torsten Gillespie 6-0 victory over UNC's Jon Burns, which trimmed Carolina's lead to 9-7.
Carolina answered with two victories in the middle weight classes to extend its lead to 15-7. First, Scotton defeated Johnny Gresheimer 4-3 to boost his record to 24-5. With his 24th victory, Scotton has bested his career high of 23 set during his sophomore campaign. Kiss followed that up with a 7-3 victory at 165 pounds over Chris Hrunka, who was filling in for injured defending national champion Jarrod King.
Two consecutive wins by the Fighting Scots cut the Tar Heel lead to just one. 174-pounder Thomas Ferguson was defeated by Phil Moricone 12-4 and Nick Tenpenny dropped a 5-2 decision to Edinboro's Pat Bradshaw.
However, the Tar Heel big guys finished strong to ensure the Tar Heels claimed victory. Drury, a senior from Jenkintown, Pa., registered his seventh pin by dispatching of Shawn Fendone in 6:14 to put UNC up 21-14 and clinch the victory. Haddad then capped the night by upsetting No. 18 Chris Birchler 3-2 at heavyweight.
Results:
125 lbs. #8 Eric Morrill (EU) maj. dec. Brian Bokoski (UNC), 18-4 4-0
133 lbs. Jeremy Shaw (UNC) dec. Kyle Fluke (EU), 9-6 4-3
141 lbs. Mike Rappo (UNC) fall over Joel Webster (EU), 4:58 4-9
149 lbs. Torsten Gillespie (EU) dec. Jon Burns (UNC), 6-0 7-9
157 lbs. #10 Thomas Scotton (UNC) dec. Johnny Gresheimer (EU), 4-3 7-12
165 lbs. Kyle Kiss (UNC) dec. Chris Hrunka (EU), 7-3 7-15
174 lbs. Phil Moricone (EU) maj. dec. Thomas Ferguson (UNC), 12-4 11-15
184 lbs. Pat Bradshaw (EU) dec. Nick Tenpenny (UNC), 5-2 14-15
197 lbs. Denny Drury (UNC) fall over Shawn Fendone (EU), 6:14 14-21
Hwt. Ziad Haddad (UNC) dec. #18 Chris Birchler (EU), 3-2 14-24
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