 | The Cavalier daily Tuesday, February 20, 1973 |  |
Grapplers Pin Down UNC
By FLETCHER THOMPSON
While Chapel Hill has never
been one of the most pleasant
places to visit for University
athletic teams, the varsity
wrestlers managed to make the
most of a weekend excursion
to the Tar Heel state and
flattened an out-manned UNC
squad, 42-3.
The match was the team's
final dual meet of the year and
brought its record to 9-4.
"We eliminated a lot of our
mistakes," commented Coach
George Edwards. "I think
we're ready for the ACC
tournament this weekend."
Especially pleasing to
Edwards was the team's strong
showing on its feet, perhaps
the most important area in
college wrestling. The statistics
show that his pleasure is
well-founded; the Cavs put the
Heels on the mat 18 times
while losing only two
take downs themselves.
Tom Byrum wasted no time
in starting the rout in his
118-pound match against Tony
Cornachione. In perhaps
Byrum's best performance of
his brief season, the transfer
from New York Maritime
shocked Cornachione with a
fall fourteen seconds into the
third period after rolling up a
14-2 lead.
Carolina mounted a brief
threat by recording a decision
in the 126-pound class, where
Edwards rested Dave Wendell
in favor of Jim Holland.
Holland, a 118-pounder by
trade, put up stiff resistance
against UNC's Mike Hall,
before falling, 4-3.
After that the Tar Heels did
little more than pretend to be a
wrestling team.
Mike McGonnigal blitzed
Bob Brinton, 11-4, in their
134-pound bout and then
142-pound grappler Denis
Bittenbender touched off a
string of three falls by
disposing of Charley Moose
early in the third period.
Don Drew at 150 and Tom
Derrickson at 158 bettered
Bittenbender's feat by walking
away with easy second-period
pins.
Captain Kevin Michaels
followed with a 9-4 decision
over Sam Evans, that really
wasn't that close. Two of
Evan's points came on
penalties against Michaels,
while the Cav 167-pounder ran
up five minutes of riding time.
After Jeff Curzi and Bill
Voliba contributed some
excitement to the run-away
with a pair of hard-earned
victories, heavyweight Ken
Mahon completed the
humiliation by pinning Joel
Wright in 1:15.
| The Cavalier daily Tuesday, February 20, 1973 | |