Senior Vincent Ramirez and junior Dennis Drury keyed UNC's effort with wins over nationally-ranked opponents. The 18th-ranked Ramirez scored a 9-3 win over No. 19 Nick Nelson at 141 pounds, while Drury, ranked 17th, secured the team victory with a 10-1 major decision over No. 20 Brent Jones at 197.
The Tar Heels have won seven of their last eight duals since falling to No. 11 Oklahoma at the Lone Star Duals earlier this month.
In the first match of the night, freshman 125-pounder Nick Shields won his third straight to claim the first of four bouts for Carolina to open the match. He scored all the points he would need on a first period takedown and added a point for riding time for a 3-0 decision over Wyatt Anderson.
At 133, sophomore Mike Rappo earned his second consecutive major to ACC action to boost the UNC lead to 7-0. He notched three takedowns and a pair of two-point near falls to score a 14-2 victory over Matt Bonson. The win was the 20th of the season for Rappo, who sports a 20-8 mark.
In the first of two meetings of top-20 wrestlers on the night, Ramirez rallied from a three-point deficit with a takedown and a three-point near fall in the second period. The Durham product took over from there to cruise to a 9-3 decision over Nelson. Ramirez improved to 24-6 on the year with his second victory over a ranked opponent.
No. 15 Nick Stabile continued the run for the Tar Heels with a 7-1 decision over Peter Ferrara at 141. Stabile, who also earned his 20th win of the season, sandwiched a pair of takedowns around a reversal and picked up the riding time point for the six-point victory.
Trailing 13-0, Virginia got on the board with an overtime win by No. 20 Jedd Moore over Thomas Scotton at 157. The score was knotted at four after regulation before Moore scored a sudden-victory takedown to earn the decision.
No. 16 Keegan Mueller put the Tar Heels back in the win column with a 4-1 decision over Mike Sewell at 165. Holding a 2-0 lead, Mueller put the match away with a third-period takedown to claim his sixth straight victory and improve to a team-best 25-6 this season.
Virginia got back in the match with back-to-back victories at 174 and 184 to trim the UNC lead to 16-9. No. 10 Chris Henrich topped Ben Fiacco for an 8-3 decision at 174, and No. 17 Rocco Caponi edged Daniel Llamas 3-1 at 184.
Drury then secured the match for the Tar Heels with his major decision over Jones at 197. The Jenkintown, Pa., native racked up three takedowns to grab a 7-1 lead before closing the match with a fourth takedown late in third to wrap up the major and give Carolina an 11-point lead with just one bout to go. Drury moved to 21-6 with the win, which was his fourth over a ranked foe and 13th in his last 15 matches.
Heavyweight Justin Dobies closed the match with a 9-4 decision over Calvin Cardillo for the 23-9 final margin. Dobies scored three takedowns and a reversal to move to 21-7 on the season with his eighth win in a row.
Carolina is back in action against Navy Saturday at East Wake High School at 1 p.m.
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