This past weekend the last qualifier for the Olympic Trials took place in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and a group from the UNC Olympic Regional Training Center participated. UNC Wrestling Assistant Coach Cary Kolat won his weight class as did NCRTC member Drew Headlee. Both qualify for the Olympic Trials in three weeks in Iowa City. NCRTC member Ryan Tomei finished third in his weight but only the first two qualify.
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Dear Carolina Wrestling Alumni & Friends,
We just got back from NCAA’s and it has been a very crazy week here in the Triangle. This is really the first chance I have had to get something to you in writing.
We were obviously very disappointed with our results at the ACC Tournament. We basically performed as we were ranked in almost every weight class. This was a disappointment because we fully expected to outperform the expectations, but that did not happen.
I think we can take some good things out of our dual meet season this year, under the circumstances. We wrestled a very tough schedule; in hindsight, too tough for the team we were able to put together this year. We were encouraged by the end of the year to be able to take Northwestern down to heavyweight and decisively beat Citadel who had beaten us early in the season.
All three guys wrestled well at the NCAA tournament. Thomas Ferguson went the furthest and finished his career going 2 – 2 at Nationals. Evan Henderson got a tough seed and Corey Mock beat a tough Missouri opponent who had beaten him earlier in the year; both of them went 1 – 2, gaining valuable experience.
Our RTC guys are off to Iowa this weekend to attend the last qualifier for the Olympic Trials. Coach Kolat will be traveling with them. The UNC team has been training in freestyle with them and a group will compete in Wisconsin at FILA Nationals next month.
We are obviously excited about moving on to next year and getting some more horses in the stalls. I am not yet permitted to talk specifically about our incoming group, but I did want to give some idea as to our line-up for next year. Although the freshmen are not mentioned, we definitely expect several of them to invade our starting team.
125: We have a top ranked freshmen coming in who will compete for this spot along with returning starter Brian Bokoski, Jake Corrill coming off redshirt year, and Josh Craig. Freshman redshirt Cam Throckmorton could also compete for the spot at 125 or 133.
133: Another top ranked freshman will definitely compete for this spot along with either Pat Owens or Cam Throckmorton.
141: Evan Henderson will be back at this weight with Nick Heilmann and Troy Silver.
149: We expect to see redshirts Christian Barber and Robert Henderson compete at this weight along with a few incoming freshmen.
157: Corey Mock will be back at 157 as a junior. Other prospects will be Derek Golner, Aaron Smith and redshirt John Guzzo.
165: John Michael Staudenmayer had an extremely successful redshirt year and should be our starter.
174: Frank Abbondanza will be back next year along with several incoming top ranked freshmen who will definitely compete for the position.
184: Very strong weight for us next year with Alex Utley and Antonio Giorgio coming off redshirt. Andrew Barksdale will float between 184 and 197 as needed.
197: Zac Bennett back as a junior and healthy for the whole year.
Hwt: Jake Barnhart will finally be healthy and ready to go next Fall. We also have a top ranked heavyweight freshman coming in at this weight.
We continue to build depth and eliminate or reduce injuries considerably which we know will produce better results. As I have said several times in the past year, we are very excited about the next couple years and fully expect to be back at the top of the ACC.
Please feel free to contact me at the phone numbers or email below if you have any questions or comments, or if we can do anything for you.
Regards,
C.D. Mock
UNC Head Wrestling Coach
W: 919-962-5212
C: 919-475-3272
Continue Reading »UNC wrestling alum Bobby Shriner continues to impact the local community in NC as teacher and wrestling coach. Bobby has been a great mentor to his students and wrestlers and stands as an example of wrestlers who are shining leaders in the community. http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/19/1867473/coach-pinned-to-impacting-lives.html#storylink=misearch
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