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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy wrestling team (3-3) jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in its match against North Carolina (5-3) Saturday evening at Alumni Hall, however, the Tar Heels would counter by winning the next nine matches, six of them by three points or less, to deal the Midshipmen a 27-6 loss on Senior Night.

Prior to the start of the match, 12 members of Navy's senior class and their families were honored for their contributions to the program over the last four years. Those young men honored were managers Jake Featherstone and Colton Van't Hof, along with heavyweight Colynn Cook (Murrysville, Pa.), 133-pound Ryan Hedgcorth (Jacksonville, N.C.), heavyweight Brendan Kahle (Abingdon, Md.), 184-pound James Maxwell (Columbus, N.C.), 149-pound Josh Miller (Big Rapids, Mich.), 141-pound Patrick Prada (Laurel, Md.), 197-pound Paul Rands (Cary, Ill.), 133-pound Colton Rasche (Plano, Ill.), 157-pound Albert Schultz (Vienna, Va.) and team captain 165-pound Peyton Walsh (Glen Allen, Va.).

"It is always a privilege to be part of the Senior Night recognition when you know the hard work every one of these young men has committed to their team and the Academy," said first-year Navy head coach Joel Sharratt. "These are such great young men and they are going to be prepared to take their commission and serve proudly in our Navy and Marine Corps, but we have a lot to accomplish before they walk across that stage.

"As a team, these guys have been working hard in the right areas to improve but we did not execute tonight," added Sharratt. "Navy wrestling competes line to line and whistle to whistle. This attitude and effort is something every athlete who puts on a singlet can control and tonight we failed to execute in the hustle and commitment part. Skills and tactics we can improve on, but we have to be willing to set the pace and tempo of our matches to maximize the effort we put in to the training plan during the week."

Making just his second dual meet appearance of the season, Navy rookie 125-pound Cam Timok (Glen Allen, Va.) fell behind in his match against UNC freshman Alex Rinaldi, 3-0. Timok, however, owned a 5-3 advantage by the end of the second period after earning a reversal and a three-point near fall in the final 19 seconds. Timok chose the down position to begin the final period and in his quest to get out of the grasp of Rinaldi, he was able to not only to make the quick move to get the reversal, he was able to pin Rinaldi in less than five seconds.

Timok, who improved to 5-1 on the year including 2-0 in dual action, got the fans on their feet with the pin and all the momentum appeared to be in the Mids' corner.

Next onto the mat was the first of four Navy seniors to perform on the night , 133-pound Rasche who squared off against UNC sophomore Troy Heilmann. Rasche had control of the match entering the third period, but an escape followed by a takedown gave Heilmann a 3-2 advantage with just under 40 seconds remaining in the match. Rasche knotted the score at 3-3 after getting to his feet with 30 seconds left, but Heilmann had built up riding time in the second period to get the extra point in a 4-3 decision.

"Timok came out and wrestled well, giving us six-point lead to start off," said Sharratt. "Rasche improved and has been doing things right everyday to get where he needs to be. He is just a half a step off, but I see it coming. He need to stay the course and keep his nose to the grindstone in training and the results will come."

North Carolina, meanwhile, won the next two matches including a 7-3 victory by junior Christian Barber over Navy freshman Corey Wilding (Pittsburgh, Pa.) to take its first lead in the match at 9-6.

The Tar Heels won the final six matches of the evening, including an upset victory over 13th-ranked Peyton Walsh. Walsh, who had won 11 straight dual matches over the last two years, found himself in an early 6-1 deficit and was never able to recover as North Carolina freshman Ethan Ramos improved to 19-6 on the year (7-1 in duals) and Walsh dropped just his eighth match of the season (30-8, 5-1).

Navy struggled throughout the match to get off the mat and in eight of the nine losses the Mids surrendered a point for riding time.

"Our guys have been training hard and tonight was a wake-up call about how hard you have to compete at this level to earn the results we are capable of," said Sharratt. "This is a group of dedicated and motivated young men who are wounded tonight, but will be preparing for the fight tomorrow when the sun comes up on the Chesapeake."

The Mids return to action next Saturday when they travel to New Jersey to battle Rutgers. Action is set for 2:00 pm.


North Carolina 27, Navy 6
125 - Cam Timok (N) fall Alex Rinaldi (NC) 5:50
133 - Troy Heilmann (NC) dec Colton Rasche (N) 4-3
141 - #15 Joey Ward (NC) dec Patrick Prada (N) 8-1
149 - Christian Barber (NC) dec Corey Wilding (N) 7-3
157 - Chris Mears (NC) dec Drew Daniels (N) 6-5
165 - Ethan Ramos (NC) dec #13 Peyton Walsh (N) 12-5
174 - John Michael Staudenmayer (NC) dec Jadaen Bernstein (N) 5-3
184 - Scott Marmoll (NC) dec Michael Woulfe (N) 4-2
197 - Chip Ness (NC) dec Steban Cervantes (N) 4-1
285 - Frank Abbondanza (NC) dec Colynn Cook (N) 4-2


### Go Navy ###