|
A nine-time Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the year, UNC head coach Bill Lam begins his 30th and last season as Carolina's head coach. In the last 11 years, Lam has made the Tar Heels one of the most feared teams in the ACC. Carolina has won eight ACC Tournament titles, finished atop the conference regular-season standings 10 times, gathered seven national Top-25, four Top-20 and two Top-10 finishes, earned 15 All-America honors and had the first individual three-time national champion in the history of the ACC. In his 29 years in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels have become the premier program in the ACC and one of the most respected in the entire country. He has won a total of 14 ACC tournament titles and finished in first place 16 times in the regular season. As a result, Lam coached the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star team in 1996. He has guided the Tar Heels to a 367-126-4 overall record and a very impressive .741 winning percentage. Lam has guided UNC to 22 of the last 24 NCAA Championship, 18 straight, and had five top 10 finishes, the last one coming in 1995. Carolina wrestlers have won at least two weight classes at the ACC meet in 26 of 27 seasons and had at least one All-America in 18 of the last 22 years. In 2001-02, Lam led the Tar Heels to his 29th consecutive winning season as Carolina finished 14-5. UNC tied with in-state foe NC State in the regular season with a 4-1 mark in the ACC. The Tar Heels took second at the ACC Tournament in Raleigh, N.C., tallying 72.5 points. Four-time All-ACC performer, and recent graduate, Matt Kenny, was the only ACC champion, winning the heavyweight division for the fourth straight time. Four UNC wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championship in Albany, N.Y. Returning sophomore All-American Chris Rodrigues (125 lbs.) finished eighth, while teammates Mark Canty (174 lbs.), Kenny (Hwt.) and Evan Sola (133 lbs.) collected a total of 10 points, as the Tar Heels finished 37th. Carolina won four straight ACC Tournaments from 1997-2000 and collected its 14th in 2000 under Lam’s direction. The Tar Heels made four consecutive appearances in the NCAA Championship, having their best finish in 1997, 24th. Carolina went 50-23 for a.685 winning-percentage. In 1996, UNC ended the regular season with a 14-3-1 record, 5-0 in the ACC, but fell short at the ACC Tournament placing second. Carolina finished in 21st place at the NCAA Championship, its highest since 1993. In 1995, five Tar Heels won individual weight classes at the ACC Tournament and went on to an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championship. T.J. Jaworsky completed a dream season and storied career by winning his third straight NCAA title at 134 pounds. Jaworsky won all 38 of his collegiate matches in 1995 and captured virtually all of the major awards, including the Dan Hodge Award given to the National Wrestler of the Year, the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler, the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the National Duals, the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the ACC Tournament and the ACC Wrestler of the Year awards. UNC had a tremendous season in 1994, hosting the NCAA Championship and finishing sixth in the nation. Carolina amassed a remarkable 107 team points, won five of the 10 weight classes and outdistanced the field by a staggering 58 points in winning the 1994 ACC title. Eight Tar Heels reached the finals, thereby automatically qualifying them for a trip to the NCAA Championships. Two additional wrestlers then earned wild card bids to the national tournament. Carolina was the only school in the nation to qualify a wrestler in each of the 10 weight classes at the 1994 NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Championship was held in the Dean E. Smith Center in March 1994. More than 64,000 fans were in attendance over six sessions, including a wildly enthusiastic crowd of nearly 12,000 for the championship finals. The fact that the NCAA brought the tournament to the South for just the second time and to North Carolina for the first time ever is true testament to the hard work and dedication Lam has shown in helping put collegiate wrestling on the map in the Tar Heel state. In 1994, paced by Jaworsky's repeat national title and All-America performances by Stan Banks (eighth at 167), Shane Camera (sixth at 177) and Justin Harty (eighth at heavyweight), the Tar Heels placed sixth at the NCAAs with 39 points. It was the second-highest national finish ever by a Carolina team. Lam has led the Tar Heels to 14 ACC championships and finished in the national Top 20 on 14 occasions, including Top-20 finishes in 10 of the last 18 seasons. Lam has been named the ACC Coach of the Year nine times, in 1986, 1987, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. He was named the National Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association and Man of the Year by Amateur Wrestling News in 1982. That year he led the Tar Heels to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Tournament. Lam is the winningest dual meet coach in ACC history, in terms of both wins and winning percentage. Carolina has posted a 367-126-4 record under Lam since he took over the program in 1973-74, a winning percentage of .742. Carolina has won an even greater percentage of its matches within the ACC as Lam's teams have a 132-34-1 record against the rest of the conference. That is a percentage of .793, the best of any coach in league history. The Tar Heels have won ACC championships under Lam in 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. He is one of only three coaches in league history to have won more than three titles. A total of 54 different Carolina wrestlers have won individual ACC weight class titles a total of 88 times under Lam. Lam has coached three Tar Heels to five NCAA championships, including C.D. Mock (134) in 1982, Rob Koll (158) in 1987 and Jaworsky (134) in 1993, 1994 and 1995. Jaworsky is the only Tar Heel male athlete to ever repeat an NCAA individual championship. Four other Carolina wrestlers, Dave Cooke (126) in '81, Al Palacio (118) in 1986, Doug Wyland (118) in 1989 and Justin Harty (Hwt.) in 1996 have been NCAA runner-ups. Under Lam, 20 Carolina wrestlers have earned 36 All-America honors. Lam took over a program which went 2-11 the year before he became head coach and promptly guided UNC to a 11-2-1 season. At the time, the 11 wins were a school record. Subsequently, Lam's team have broken the record for wins in a season five other times, including an all-time high of 18 wins in 1987 and 1989. In 1979, Lam led the Tar Heels to their first-ever national Top-20 finish as they placed 17th. After a 13th-place showing in 1981, Carolina soared to fifth in 1982. That is the highest an ACC team has ever finished at the national championships. UNC also was sixth at the NCAA meet in 1986 and 1994, seventh in 1987 and eighth in 1995. Lam was born on May 18, 1943, in Mayor Island, Calif., and grew up in Boulder, Colo. He earned high school All-American honors and accepted a scholarship to wrestle at the University of Oklahoma under legendary head coach Tommy Evans. Lam earned All-America honors at 157 lbs. in 1964 and 1965, finishing third and second in the country, respectively. As a senior in 1966, Lam was undefeated and ranked number one in the nation. However, he suffered broken ribs at the Big 8 Championship and was unable to compete at the NCAA Championship. He posted a 54-11-1 record and set the Sooners' record for career victories. A special education major, he received his bachelor's degree from OU in 1966 and also earned his master's degree at OU in counseling and guidance. Lam began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater and then became the head coach at Norman (Okla.) High School, where he coached from 1967-72. Norman won six league titles, two regional championships and finished second in the state on three occasions with Lam as coach. Lam coached the East team in the 1982 All-Star Matches and was the head coach of the United States AAU team which competed in the 1982 Struga Perl Tournament in Struga, Yugoslavia. A year later he coached an NCAA all-star team which competed in Romania. He was the wrestling commissioner at the 1987 United States Olympic Festival. He is a former member of the NCAA Wrestling Executive Committee, the NCAA Rules Committee and the NWCA. Lam has two sons, Travis and Kurt. Travis wrestled at UNC and now is a restaurant manager for South End Brewery. Kurt wrestled for the Tar Heels from 1993-96 and sells corporate real estate in Atlanta.
|
|||||||||||||||
 |
