The Carolina wrestling team defeated No. 8 Virginia Tech 20-17 at Carmichael Arena in its opening ACC match on Friday night. It’s the Tar Heels’ first win against the Hokies since the 2019-20 season and the first win in Chapel Hill since the 2018-19 season.

Five Tar Heel wrestlers won their respective matches, including Spencer Moore upsetting fourth-ranked Eddie Ventresca in overtime in the 125-pound match. Joshua Ogunsaya also secured an upset in the 174-pound bout, defeating Virginia Tech’s 13th-ranked Lennox Wolak. Ethan Oakley (133 pounds), Lachlan McNeil (149 pounds) and Gavin Kane (184 pounds) each also won their matches.

The Tar Heels are 5-4 overall and 1-0 in ACC competition in their second season under head coach Rob Koll. Koll, a national champion wrestler at Carolina in 1988, joined the program as head coach in August of 2023 after stints at both Cornell and Stanford. He has coached 16 individual national champions and led Stanford to a top-10 finish at the 2022 NCAA Championships.

Carolina will be back in action when it visits Duke on Friday, January 17 at 7 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Anthony Sorbellini

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