Feb. 17, 2005

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina All-America 133-pounder Evan Sola snapped a 13-13 tie with a pin in the ninth match of the evening as the Tar Heels defeated NC State 19-16 in Atlantic Coast Conference wrestling action at Carmichael Auditorium. North Carolina (6-9 overall, 4-2 in the ACC) overcame an early 13-0 deficit to record the victory and even the season series with the Pack at one match apiece. The Wolfpack (7-7, 3-1) defeated UNC 21-17 on January 28 at Reynolds Coliseum.

NC State ran off four straight wins to open the match and take the 13-0 advantage. Alex Hernandez posted a 7-3 decision over Chris Ramos at 149 in the first bout of the match, and Kody Hamrah followed with a 17-8 major decision over Greg Carr at 157. The Wolfpack ran the lead to 10-0 with Ryan Nowicki's sudden-victory 4-2 decision over UNC's Garrett Atkinson. Nowicki trailed 2-1 late in the third period, but tied the match with a late escape and then won in overtime with a takedown in the sudden victory period. Kevin Gabrielson then took an 8-5 decision over Alex Maciag at 174 to push the lead to 13-0. Maciag and Gabrielson traded reversals in the third period before Gabrielson had a takedown in the final 10 seconds of the bout to secure an 8-5 decision.

The Tar Heels began their comeback when Justin Dobies put an 8-2 decision on NC State's Jeremy Colbert at 184, and David Dashiell followed with a 3-2 decision over Zach Garren at 197 to cut the lead to 13-6. Heavyweight Spencer Nadolsky cut the deficit to three points at 13-9 with a 3-1 decision over NC State's Jainor Palma. Drew Forshey then tied the match with a 15-6 major decision over the Pack's Garrett Cummings at 125. Forshey opened with two takedowns in the first period to take a 7-3 lead, then added takedowns in both the second and third periods to secure the win.

That set the stage for Sola, who pinned redshirt-freshman Matt Spengler at the 2:43 mark of the first period of the 133-pound match. NC State¹s Jeff Breese posted a 7-4 win over Isaiah Britton at 141 in the final bout of the night to trim final margin to 19-16.

The Wolfpack returns to action again on Saturday vs. Virginia Tech at Reynolds Coliseum. The match will begin at 2 p.m.

North Carolina 19, NC State 16
149 - Alex Hernandez (NCS) dec. Chris Ramos, 7-3
157 - Kody Hamrah (NCS) major dec. Greg Carr17-8
165 - Ryan Nowicki (NCS) dec. Garrett Atkinson, 4-2 ot
174 - Kevin Gabrielson (NCS) dec. Alex Maciag, 8-5
184 - Justin Dobies (UNC) dec. Jeremy Colbert, 8-2
197 - David Dashiell (UNC) dec. Zach Garren, 3-2
Hwt - Spencer Nadolsky (UNC) dec. Jainor Palma, 3-1
125 - Drew Forshey (UNC) major dec. Garrett Cummings, 15-6
133 - #11 Evan Sola (UNC) pinned Matt Spengler, at 2:43
141 - Jeff Breese (NCS) dec. Isaiah Britton, 7-4