1998-99 Tar Heel Wrestling Outlook

UNC returns a trio of ACC Champions.

October 7, 1998

A trio of returning Atlantic Coast Conference champions, including 1998 ACC Wrestler of the Year Chuckie Connor, hope to lead the University of North Carolina wrestling team to its seventh conference championship in the last eight years in 1998-99.

Connor (118 lbs.), Corey Bell (177 lbs.) and JohnMark Bentley (142 lbs.) all won individual ACC titles last year and return to a Tar Heel squad that features just two seniors who will contend for starting roles. With Connor a junior, Bell a redshirt sophomore and Bentley a true sophomore, Carolina's lineup is long on talent and short on veterans this season.

"We have a group that is talented but very young," head coach Bill Lam says. "My biggest concern is leadership because the leaders we have are still young and aren't really sure of how to be a leader yet. Talent-wise, I think we'll be very competitive, although I am a little concerned about a couple of weights where we don't have much depth."

Carolina has won 12 ACC titles in the last 20 years under Lam and finished among the top 20 teams at the NCAA Championships 14 times.

As the Tar Heels look to continue their impressive run at the top of the ACC, they will have to replace four graduated starters, two of whom won ACC won conference titles last year. Scott Stay was a three-time NCAA qualifier who won the conference crown at 190 lbs. in both 1997 and '98. Team leader and two-time national qualifier CC Fisher was the MVP of the ACC Tournament in 1998. Robert Lord and Joe Hummel each were valuable veterans of the ACC and national mat wars. Stay, Fisher, Lord and Hummel have all graduated, leaving an experience void in the Tar Heel lineup.

"We lost a lot from last year," Lam says. "Our goal entering the year is to win the ACC, but that's not going to be easy. N.C. State and Virginia have most of their lineups back. We have young, talented kids, and by the end of the year we'll be in contention.

"To be where we want to be, Chuckie Connor, JohnMark Bentley and Corey Bell need to have great years and we need a couple of other guys to emerge as national qualifiers."

The Tar Heels are in year two of a multi-year blueprint to get the program back into the national top 10 and national title contention.

"We've got a four- or five-year plan that began last year to get us back into being a top-10 or top-five team," Lam says. "We had an excellent recruiting year and had a good class the year before. If we get another top class this year and everyone stays healthy, then we'll have the pieces in place to contend for a national championship in two or three years."

Carolina's top returning wrestler this season is Connor, who nearly earned All-America honors last year despite wrestling with a broken hand at the NCAA Championships. Already among UNC's leaders in career falls and winning percentage, Connor went 36-4 last year with 15 wins by fall. He was named the ACC's Wrestler of the Year in a vote of the conference's coaches.

"Chuckie should be able to finish in the top four and be a national title contender at 125 pounds," Lam says. "He was right there on the verge of being an All-America last year with a broken hand. With his experience, he can be there."

Bentley earned freshman All-America honors after a 29-7 season with eight wins by fall.

"JohnMark had a great year as a true freshman and he can be a lot better," says Lam. "His confidence is already higher. His weight class is one of the toughest in the country and he learned a lot last year and should help him this year."

Bell won an ACC title as a redshirt freshman and earned freshman All-America honors after a 23-12 season.

"Corey has improved a lot, has worked hard in the weight room and is more confident," Lam says. "He was a little small last year, but he's gotten bigger."

Schedule
Carolina faces its most challenging schedule in several seasons in 1998-99, including home dates with national powers Oklahoma State and Nebraska and matchups with improved ACC foes N.C. State and Virginia.

"This is the toughest home schedule we've ever had here and one of the most difficult schedules we've had overall," Lam says. "We could get beat soundly by a team like Oklahoma State that might be the best team in the country, but we need to see that kind of competition before we go to Nationals."

Weight-by-Weight Outlook

  • 125 lbs. -- Chuckie Connor should anchor the Tar Heel lineup after winning his second straight ACC title and being named the ACC Wrestler of the Year last season. Top recruit Skylar Holman might redshirt this season but has a very bright future.

  • 133 lbs. -- With the graduation of ACC champ CC Fisher, redshirt freshmen Brad Byers and Clay Reynolds will battle to fill Fisher's spot in the lineup. With Byers coming off arthroscopic knee surgery and Reynolds slowed by mononucleosis in the summer of 1998, this job is up for grabs.

  • 141 lbs. -- Josh Cowley was thrust into the lineup at 134 lbs. at midseason last year and struggled early while continuing to recover from knee surgery in the 1996-97 season. He improved as the year progressed, however, and his experience as a starter should make him even better this year.

  • 149 lbs. -- JohnMark Bentley's return after a stellar effort as a true freshman should ensure that this weight class will be a Tar Heel strength all season long. Bentley won the ACC title at 142 lbs. last year and was named a freshman All-America. Now he tries to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Tournament. Aaron Gilson, a transfer from UNC Greensboro, provides depth.

  • 157 lbs. -- Three-year starter Robert Lord has graduated, and redshirt freshman Steve Echeverri and true freshman Pat Cadwallader will vie to replace him. Echeverri has a year's experience in the Carolina system, while Cadwallader is a former junior national freestyle champion.

  • 165 lbs. -- When Tom Bogan suffered a neck injury toward the end of last season, Dan Calhoun took over as a starter and placed third at the ACC Tournament. Now that the injury has ended Bogan's competitive career, Calhoun looks to improve further this year. True freshman Quintin Bell, the #2 recruit in the nation at his weight class, will challenge Calhoun.

  • 174 lbs. -- Jamie Groudle was the ACC runnerup at 158 lbs. and qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year. He has grown and now moves up to 174 lbs. As Groudle continues to improve, he could be one of the ACC's top wrestlers by the end of the season.

  • 184 lbs. -- Freshman All-America Corey Bell returns to hold down the starting job at 184 lbs. Bell won the ACC title at 177 last year and has gotten bigger in the weight room in his quest to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.

  • 197 lbs. -- No one can immediately replace everything two-time ACC champ Scott Stay meant to the Carolina wrestling program. Now that Stay is a graduate assistant on Bill Lam's staff, however, senior Ty Roofner and redshirt freshman Daniel Hammons will try to duplicate Stay's success. A former transfer from Purdue, Roofner went 9-8 at 190 lbs. last year. Hammons was a three-time state champion in Florida.

  • Hwt. -- With the graduation of Joe Hummel, the heavyweight job will be up for grabs between a pair of freshmen. Matt Perryman missed all of his redshirt year with mononucleosis but has returned. Meanwhile, true freshman and two-time prep national champion Matt Kenny arrives in Chapel Hill from the vaunted wrestling program at Blair Academy in New Jersey.

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