Feb. 7, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - With five wrestlers ranked in the top-20 of their weight class, the North Carolina Tar Heels (12-7, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) took down Ohio (7-6-1, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) 26-12 in Eddie Smith Field House.
Redshirt junior Jacob Ison (Batavia, Ohio), sophomore Erik Schuth (Spencerport, N.Y.) and redshirt sophomore Quentin Keyes (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) won their bouts for the Bobcats. Ison and Schuth have now each won their last four matches and are 9-1 and 9-2 on the season, respectively, while Keyes improved his season mark to 13-10.
To begin the dual, junior Kevin Christensen (Fairborn, Ohio) lost to 15th-ranked Nick Stabile in the 149-pound match-up by a 5-0 decision. Stabile improved to 23-8 on the season, while Christensen fell to 3-11. Ohio's Clay Tucker (Martins Ferry, Ohio) then lost a close 3-2 decision to 19th-ranked Thomas Scotton at 157 pounds. Scotton is now 19-10 this year, and Tucker dropped to 16-13. Freshman Steve Wilson represented the Bobcats at 165 and was pinned by 17th-ranked Keegan Mueller in 4:02. Wilson is now 0-4, while Mueller moved to 29-6.
Ohio earned its first points of the day when Ison pinned Kevin Owen in 2:31 in the 174-pound bout. Schuth followed that with a 7-3 decision over Daniel Llamas to pull Ohio within three points of UNC. However, 17th-ranked Dennis Drury scored a major decision over sophomore Chris Iammarino (Lyndhurst, Ohio), 11-0, and Justin Dobies won the heavyweight match-up against Ohio's Justin Powell, 3-1, to put the Heels ahead 19-9.
Freshman Tim Silvers (Eaton, Ohio) dropped a major decision to Nick Shields, 8-0, at 125 pounds. The Bobcats got one more victory when Keyes pulled off an overtime win against Mike Robinson, 8-6, and 20th-ranked Vincent Ramirez earned a tight 2-0 decision over sophomore Germane Lindsey (Cincinnati, Ohio) in the final match of the dual.
The Bobcats will stay in ACC country to take on the Wolfpack of NC State (4-10-1, 0-3 ACC) Sunday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. ET in Reynolds Coliseum.
North Carolina 26, Ohio 12
149 - #15 Nick Stabile (UNC) dec. Kevin Christensen (OHIO), 5-0 (UNC 3-0)
157 - #19 Thomas Scotton (UNC) dec. Clay Tucker (OHIO), 3-2 (UNC 6-0)
165 - #17 Keegan Mueller (UNC) pins Steve Wilson (OHIO), 4:02 (UNC 12-0)
174 - Jacob Ison (OHIO) pins Kevin Owen (UNC), 2:31 (UNC 12-6)
184 - Erik Schuth (OHIO) dec. Daniel Llamas (UNC), 7-3 (UNC 12-9)
197 - #17 Dennis Drury (UNC) major dec. Chris Iammarino (OHIO), 11-0 (UNC 16-9)
HWT - Justin Dobies (UNC) dec. Justin Powell (OHIO), 3-1 (UNC 19-9)
125 - Nick Shields (UNC) major dec. Tim Silvers (OHIO), 8-0 (UNC 23-9)
133 - Quentin Keyes (OHIO) dec. Mike Robinson (UNC), 8-6 OT (UNC 23-12)
141 - #20 Vincent Ramirez (UNC) dec. Germane Lindsey (OHIO), 2-0 (UNC 26-12)
