Jan. 25, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Virginia captured the first four bouts and held off a late a North Carolina to claim an 18-13 victory in Atlantic Coast Conference wrestling action Friday at Memorial Gymnasium. The Tar Heels dropped to 5-4 and 1-2 in the ACC with the loss, while the Cavaliers move to 14-3 and 1-0 in the league.

Carolina's four individual victories were highlighted by a major decision at 165 pounds by No. 12-ranked Keegan Mueller, who scored an 11-1 win over Michael Chaires. Mueller has outscored his last four opponents by a 54-2 margin and has three majors and a technical fall over this stretch. The Dallas native is now 19-3 overall, including a 9-0 mark in duals and a 3-0 ACC record. Mueller has won 17 of his last 18 bouts.

After the Wahoos jumped out to a 12-0 lead on four straight decisions, Carolina got on the board with a decision from redshirt freshman Thomas Scotton at 157 pounds. His 5-3 victory over Drew DiPasquale moved his record to 13-4 and an unbeaten 6-0 in dual action.

Mueller followed with his major decision to trim the lead to 10-7, but Virginia rebounded with victories at 174 and 184 to extend its advantage to 18-7 through eight bouts.

The Tar Heels closed with wins by Dennis Drury at 197 and No. 18 Justin Dobies at heavyweight for the 18-13 final margin. Drury scored a 7-2 upset decision over 15th-ranked Brent Jones to move to 12-9 and 5-2 in duals, while Dobies also registered a 7-2 win over Jack Danilkowicz for his seventh straight victory. Dobies is 20-5, 9-0 in duals and 3-0 versus the ACC.

Carolina returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m. against Virginia Tech.

Virginia 18, North Carolina 13
Wt.	Result	                                                  Score
125	Ross Gitomer (UVa) dec. Drew Forshey (UNC)	          4-3
133	#20 Eric Albright (UVa) dec. Danny Lopes (UNC) 	          6-1
141	Nick Nelson (UVa) dec. Nick Stabile (UNC)	          2-1
149	Shawn Harris (UVa) dec. Vincent Ramirez (UNC)	          7-1
157	Thomas Scotton (UNC) dec. Drew DiPasquale (UVa)	          5-3
165	#12 Keegan Mueller (UNC) major dec. Michael Chaires (UVa) 11-1
174	Chris Henrich (UVa) dec. Kyle Kiss (UNC)	          7-6
184	#9 Rocco Caponi (UVa) dec. Nick Tenpenny (UNC)	          6-0
197	Dennis Drury (UNC) dec. #15 Brent Jones (UVa)	          7-2
HWT	#18 Justin Dobies (UNC) dec. Jack Danilkowicz (UVa)	  7-2