The Atlantic Coast Conference continues to grow as a wrestling entity and the North Carolina Tar Heels are a big part of it. I predict as many as 9 national qualifiers, 5 of which are All American caliber and 2 that could possibly win individual NCAA titles.
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| 125 Joey Melendez Sophomore Record: 34-13 |
Melendez has yet to make it to the NCAA tournament but he has a list of wins that highly suggest that he will qualify this season. Joey Prata of Oklahoma, Liam Cronin of Nebraska, Kobin Meink of Campell and Malik Heinselman among his notable victories. Within the ACC with Sam Latona of Virginia Tech, Jakob Camacho of North Carolina State & Gage Curry of Pittsburgh, I think 4th is where he sits. The depth of the weight, this should be an automatic allocation.
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| 133 Jamie Hernandez or Joe Heilman Record: 35-20 OR 39-29 NCAA: 20'NQ OR ACC: 20'2nd OR MIDLANDS: 20'R12 OR 20'8th |
Hernandez has already defeated Heilman 7-3, so I'm going to give him the nod in this wrestle off. He'll be another NCAA qualifier for the Tar Heels. Like Melendez I don't see him making the ACC finals with Korbin Myers of Virginia Tech and Mickey Phillippi of Pittsburgh at the weight, but I do think he's in the battle for third place. An 8-5 victory over Louie Hayes of Virginia & a 5-3 victory over Brian Courtney of Virginia doesn't guarantee anything, but it defines the odds.
Heilman in his own right is also NCAA qualifier material. He himself owns a 2-0 victory over Hayes.
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| 141 Zach Sherman Junior Record: 68-33 NCAA: 18'NQ, 20'NQ, 21'7th ACC: 18'5th, 20'1st, 21'2nd CKLV: 18'8th MIDLANDS: 19'3rd, 20'3rd |
What concerns me here most is an 11-3 major decision loss to Nick Lee of Penn State. Even with that said, I still consider Sherman to have an outsider's shot at the NCAA title. A 2-1 tiebreaker victory over Dom Demas of Oklahoma and then taking Chad Red of Nebraska into the tiebreakers helps to illustrate why. If anything, I know he can outdo his 7th place finish from 2021. He's already defeated 5th place Dylan Duncan of Illinois twice by scores of 8-5 and 3-2. I say at the Midlands is when we'll get a real test of where exactly Sherman sits this year. He's finished 3rd twice thus far & if things go right it'll give him a chance to face Iowa's Jaydin Eierman, a forerunner for the NCAA title this season.
ACC wise, I don't see anyone challenging Sherman. He should win his second ACC title and add one for the Carolina blue and white.
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| 149 Kizhan Clarke Senior Record: 112-45 NCAA: 20'NQ EIWA: 20'4th Midlands: 20'5th |
It's hard to believe with some of the credentials that Clarke has within his resume that he has only been to the NCAA tournament once. A transfer from American, Clarke is a much welcomed addition to the Tar Heel line up. His most impressive victory, a 7-2 decision over All American Jaden Abas of Stanford, Clarke has also defeated NCAA qualifiers Require Van Der Merwe of Stanford, Patrick Ogunsanya of Army and Kanen Storr of Michigan. I do think that Clarke has potential to be an All American, but he'll have a tough enough time within the ACC. I suppose I could possibly see him upsetting Bryce Andonian of Virginia, in order to face Tariq Wilson of North Carolina State in the finals, but I'm thinking that Clarke will most likely be in a three way battle with Josh Finesilver of Duke and Jarod Verkleeren of Virginia for 3rd. An illustration of the depth that the ACC has become.
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| 157 Austin O'Connor Junior Record: 92-10 NCAA: 19'3rd, 20'NQ*, 21'1st ACC: 19'2nd, 20'1st, 21'1st Midlands: 18'7th, 20'2nd CKLV: 19'3rd |
O'Connor won the NCAA title at 149 lbs last season, but this season he moves up to 157 lbs, where he isn't the only Orca in the sea. David Carr of Iowa State was the champion at 157 last season, and by year's end, there's only enough room on the top of that stand for one of them. If that isn't challenge enough, O'Connor also has Ryan Deakin of Northwestern to contend with as well. I look for this to be a three way race, with a few other horses making their dark presence possibly known. As the ACC? Can't see him being challenged in route for his third title.
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| 165 Kennedy Monday Senior Record: 78-43 NCAA: 18'R12, 20'NQ, 21'NQ ACC: 18'3rd, 20'5th, 21'4th SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 17'R12 CKLV: 19'6th MIDLANDS: 20'7th |
I heard that Monday might be transferring, but so far I haven't seen or heard anything about it. So for right now, I'm gonna write about him as if he's still competing for the Tar Heels. I realize that injuries are a part of it, but I'm still surprised that Monday hasn't made All American status yet. I'm also surprised that he hasn't won an ACC title yet or at least made the finals.
I think he stands a good shot at both this season. I don't see him being an NCAA champion or even an NCAA finalist. He's capable of big wins, he more than proved that with an 8-5 victory over NCAA finalist Jake Wentzel of Pittsburgh and a technical fall over three time All American David McFadden of Virginia Tech... BUT I don't know if he's capable of big wins in succession. A big 2nd round win, followed by a big Quarterfinal win, followed by a big Semi-final win. That's something he's gonna have to show me throughout in-season tournaments he's capable of before I start thinking he's a title contender. As of now I'm thinking somewhere in the 5th-8th range
Now as to an ACC title, I don't see why not. Thomas Bullard of North Carolina and Justin McCoy are both worthy challenges but neither one is unbeatable.
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| 174 Clay Lautt Junior Record: 58-35 NCAA: 20'NQ, 21'R12 ACC: 20'1st, 21'2nd |
Ironically enough I think Lautt will do better in the NCAA than he ever has before, but not as good as he has in the ACC. With Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech and Haydin Hidlay of North Carolina State in the bracket, I think Lautt battles it out with Matt Finesilver of Duke for 3rd place. With that noted, Lautt is a top 8 wrestler if he wrestles well. I can see him as good as 6th, 7th or 8th.
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| 197 Max Shaw Freshman Record: 20-12 NCAA: 21'NQ ACC: 21'3rd |
197 looks to be a bit tougher than it was last season in the ACC, but I still think Shaw should finish 4th or 5th and contend for NCAA qualification. He already owns a win over Nick Reenan of North Carolina State.
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| HWT Brandon Whitman Junior Record: 34-33 NCAA: 19'NQ ACC: 19'4th MIDLANDS: 20'R12 |
All of Whitman's success was down at 197 lbs and it was two seasons ago, but I still think Whitman should wrestle well enough this season to be an NCAA qualifier for the Tar Heels. I look for him to finish 4th at the ACC's and probably go 0-2 or 1-2 at the NCAA's.
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125 - NQ
133 - NQ
141 - Champion
149 - All American
157- Champion
165 - All American
174 - All American
184 - DNQ
197 - NQ
HWT - NQ
For a university Hell bent on referring to itself as a "basketball school," North Carolina has one Hell of a wrestling team. 9 Qualifiers? I think that's a very real possibility. Honestly the only real question I see is HWT. I'm not completely sold there. 5 All Americans? I don't see why not. As to the two champions? That's a bit more of a stretch but it isn't outside of the realms of possibility.
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