A pair of Tar Heel seniors claimed first place in Saturday’s ACC Wrestling Championships, as they put a perfect finishing touch on their careers at Carmichael Arena.

Ethan Ramos won the title at 174 pounds while Troy Heilmann took home the 149-pound crown after a hard-fought day of wrestling in Chapel Hill.

Ramos defeated Duke’s Matt Finesilver and Virginia Tech’s Hunter Bolen on the way to his second career ACC title.

Meanwhile, wins over Virginia’s Sam Krivus and Virginia Tech’s Ryan Blees earned Heilmann his first such honor in his final collegiate season.

A takedown with less than 10 seconds remaining gave Heilmann a thrilling 3-1 victory in the final over Blees.

As a team, UNC finished third in the six-team event and a total of seven Tar Heel grapplers punched their ticket to the 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships.

Virginia Tech came out on top with 81 team points, followed by NC State with 73 points and UNC with 52.5.

In addition to Ramos and Heilmann, Zach Sherman (133 pounds), Kennedy Monday (157), Chip Ness (184), Danny Chaid (197) and Cory Daniel (heavyweight) will also be heading to Cleveland for a shot at a national title.

Daniel came up just short in the 265-pound final against Duke’s Jakob Kasper, losing 8-4 to the nation’s No. 3 ranked heavyweight.

Monday, Ness and Chaid each climbed their way to a third-place finish via their consolation brackets, while Sherman fought off two losses to eventually earn the fifth, and final, bid at 133 pounds.

The 2018 NCAA Championships will begin on March 15.

 

 

 

Photo via UNC Athletics

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