Jan. 8, 2005

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The University of North Carolina wrestling team (1-0, 1-0 ACC) captured nine of a possible 10 bouts and cruised to a 36-3 victory over Maryland (2-4, 0-1 ACC) in its Atlantic Coast Conference opener Saturday at Carmichael Auditorium. The Tar Heels have now won five straight matches versus the Terps.

Junior All-America Evan Sola, now 14-3 on the season, opened the match with a 30-second pin of Sean Carr at 133 pounds and the Tar Heels never looked back. Following an 11-8 decision by Carolina freshman Isaiah Britton at 141, and an 11-0 major decision win by Chris Ramos at 149, Maryland cut the lead to 13-3 with a 7-6 decision by Adam James over UNC's Kyle Shelton at 157.

Junior Garrett Atkinson got the Tar Heels back on track at 165 pounds, posting a 3-1 victory over the Terps' Jason Kiessling, who entered the match with a 20-7 record. Atkinson improved to 11-10 on the season. Tar Heel Freshman Alex Maciag then posted an 11-7 decision at 174 pounds, and classmate Justin Dobies added a 4-1 decision at 184 before David Dashiell recorded Carolina's first major decision win on the afternoon, a 10-2 win over Maryland's Jerry Afari that pushed the lead to 26-3.

Maryland then forfeited to Carolina's Spencer Nadolsky at heavyweight before Bobby Shaw recorded a 10-2 major decision of Kevin Vinh at 125 pounds to end the match and wrap up the 36-3 Tar Heel victory.

The Tar Heels return to action at next weekend's Virginia Duals, set for January 14-15 in Hampton, Va.

NORTH CAROLINA 36, MARYLAND 3
Weight Matchup Result Score/Time Match Score
133 Evan Sola (UNC) Fall Sean Carr (MD) 0:30 UNC 6-0
141 Isaiah Britton (UNC) Dec Charlie Pinto (MD) 11-8 UNC 9-0
149 Chris Ramos (UNC) MD Andrew Schlaffer (MD) 11-0 UNC 13-0
157 Adam James (MD) Dec Kyle Shelton (UNC) 7-6 UNC 13-3
165 Garrett Atkinson (UNC) Dec Jason Kiessling (MD) 3-1 UNC 16-3
174 Alex Maciag (UNC) Dec Luke Stauffer (MD) 11-7 UNC 19-3
184 Justin Dobies (UNC) Dec Mark Eberstein (MD) 4-1 UNC 22-3
197 David Dashiell (UNC) MD Jerry Afari (MD) 10-2 UNC 26-3
HWT Spencer Nadolsky (UNC) Forfeit UNC 32-3
125 Bobby Shaw (UNC) MD Kevin Vinh (MD) 10-2 UNC 36-3