Nov. 27, 2004

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Junior Evan Sola finished second at 133 pounds to lead the North Carolina wrestling team to a ninth-place finish at the 2004 Mat Town USA Invitational Saturday at Lock Haven University's Thomas Field House. The Tar Heels tallied 55.5 points, while Minnesota won the team competition with 154 points. Penn State was second with 146.5 points.

Sola, who is now 6-1 on the season and is currently ranked No. 6 nationally at 133 pounds, opened with a 9-0 major decision over Minnesota's Manuel Rivera before pinning Maryland's Sean Carr in just 1:47 and downing B.J. Compton, 8-1, to reach the final. The Golden Gophers' Mack Reiter posted a 7-5 sudden victory win over Sola in the final. Sola was also the runner-up at last weekend's Missouri Open.

At 197, redshirt sophomore David Dashiell took fourth for the Tar Heels. After dropping his opening round bout, Dashiell ran off four consecutive victories, including a pin of Minnesota's Matt Koz to reach the third-place match, where Penn State's Phil Davis edged Dashiell, 5-4.

Freshman Isaiah Britton, the reigning Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week, finished seventh at 141 pounds with a pin of Maryland's Andrew Schlaffer in the seventh-place bout, while redshirt sophomore Spencer Nadolsky, who was 2-3 on the day, finished eighth in the heavyweight division.

The Tar Heels topped their only other ACC competition in the meet, as Maryland finished 13th with 23.5 points.

Carolina opens its home schedule with the Irwin-Carolina open, set for December 4 at Carmichael Auditorium.