goheels1812

As a fan (and alumni) that deeply cares about the wrestling program, it’s been brutal the last few years. The individual success is incredible. Rooting for O’Connor through 3 (and soon to be 4) NCAA tournaments is a highlight of UNC wrestling. But it’s almost cancelled out at this point when I watch the team get beat by 20+ points every year by NCSU and VT. There are a handful of weight classes that wouldn’t be able to find a win against the D2 school down the road from my house. It seems to be a problem with recruiting and then development at certain weights. In my opinion some type of consistency and competitiveness needs to be found in the next couple years or it’s time to revaluate the coaching staff.

I’m going to hijack this thread for just a second. I used to post more and have time to talk about UNC wrestling as that’s “my team.” I’m really disappointed with where the program is right now from a team standpoint. A few years back UNC started to break through and finished tied for first in the ACC with NC State. That year was highlighted by a thrilling win over Virginia Tech that was unexpected. I thought that was the year the proverbial corner was being turned and UNC would enter that top ACC tier with NC State and VT, but boy was I wrong. It’s been a slow spiral downhill ever since. The team isn’t even competitive with VT and NCSU anymore (which sucks because NC State is the rival school). They also got throttled by Pitt this year, which doesn’t usually happen. The one saving grace for UNC has been the individual accolades in the NCAA tournament. 2 years in a row of an NCAA finalist with O’Conner 2 years ago and then Clarke last year. This year very well could be 3 years in a row with O’Connor looking great, but after this year it could be even bigger trouble. The only guys that look like they will be nationally competitive moving forward are Lachlan McNeil and Gavin Kane. I really like Coleman Scott and what he’s done with the program. But from a team standpoint it’s a tough look to not be competitive in the ACC. That certainly seems like an achievable goal. In my opinion, Virginia is going through something similar. They should be a better team than they are right now. Oh well, onwards and upwards to the ACC tournament and then the NCAA tournament.

This happened to me as well. I was good in high school and then walked on in college. I was one of a few practice dummies for a guy that bounced around being ranked 6th-10th in the country. Those practices were long, hard days of being reminded there’s always a bigger fish. I wouldn’t trade one second of it for anything though.

Scott did the best job of anyone all season at countering O’Conners front headlock. He was ready for it and created some crafty scrambles. I thought it would be a bigger win than 3-1. I doubt they meet again because now Scott will catch Andonian first in the ACC semifinals.

Took me a second to figure out where this board moved to (been busy with new baby and life), but just wanted to say WOW about Carr. That’s an absolute master class in neutralizing O’Toole’s elite scrambling. He stuck O’Toole’s hips to the mat and never gave him much of a chance to get funky. Using that leg for constant leverage was great stuff. Kudos to Dresser for getting him coached up and kudos to Carr for executing the gameplan to perfection. I need to see this one again in March.