The 12th-ranked UNC wrestling team went into Blacksburg on Friday night and came away with its most impressive win of the season to date, cruising to an unexpected 23-10 victory over the No. 3 Virginia Tech Hokies.

This marks the eighth consecutive dual match victory for the Tar Heels, who are now 9-1 this season and 1-0 against ACC competition. Virginia Tech, meanwhile, fell to 8-1 overall after suffering its first dual loss of the season.

Perhaps the two most important match wins of the night for UNC on Friday came by way of Jaime Hernandez and Kennedy Monday.

With the dual beginning with the 125-pound bout, the unranked Hernandez pulled off a surprise 8-7 victory over No. 11 Joey Prata to give UNC an early 3-0 lead in the team score.

From there, Zach Sherman, Austin O’Connor and A.C. Headlee gave the Tar Heels three of the next four victories–all by decision–before Monday put together a shocking 21-6 technical fault victory over No. 3 David McFadden at 165 pounds.

Following Monday’s big win, the Tar Heels led 17-3 in the team score with only four matches remaining.

UNC split those final four matches with the Hokies in order to hang on for the upset.

Up Next:

The Tar Heels return home to Carmichael Arena next Friday to host the rival Duke Blue Devils at 7 p.m.

 

 

Photo via UNC Athletics

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