Pitt (9-6, 1-3 ACC) opened the dual with wins at 125 and 133 pounds, including No. 17 Dom Forys' first-round pin of James Szymanski at 133. Facing a 9-0 deficit, Carolina turned to 11th-ranked Ward to turn the tide. Ward took command of a wild bout with a dominant third period to score a 9-4 decision over ninth-ranked Racciato to get the Tar Heels on the board.
Less than 90 seconds later, the dual was tied. Henderson, the nation's No. 5 149-pounder, scored his ninth pin of the year and the 45th of his career in 1:06 against Pitt's Robert Lee. Henderson now stands just five pins away from T.J. Jaworsky's school record of 50 career falls.
Fellow fifth-year senior Barber gave Carolina its first lead with a hard-nosed 2-1 decision over Ronnie Garbinsky at 157. Barber's classmate Staudenmayer then stretched the advantage to 15-9 with a 3-1 win over Cody Wiercioch at 165.
No. 2 Ethan Ramos improved to 19-2 on the year and 13-1 at 174 pounds with his 4-1 win over Te'Shan Campbell. Ramos and Campbell were even at 1 with one minute left, but Ramos was awarded a point for stalling and then scored the decisive takedown to seal the win.
No. 19 Utley put the dual away in emphatic fashion with his technical fall against Zach Bruce at 184. Utley led 6-1 after one period and then took off, cutting and attacking at will to score five team points with a 22-5 tech fall.
Chip Ness capped the seven-match run with a dramatic 3-2 win at 197. With the match tied at 1, Ness appeared to score a takedown against Nick Bonaccorsi with about 45 seconds left. Time ran out with the score still tied, but head coach Coleman Scott successfully employed a video challenge to get the takedown. Ness was hit with a stall in the waning moments but held on for a 3-2 victory.
Pitt's Ryan Solomon accounted for the final team points with his 9-5 decision over Cory Daniel at 285.
Carolina will return to the mat on Friday, Feb. 19, when the Tar Heels travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to face Scott's alma mater Oklahoma State.
Results:
125: Jake Gromacki (Pitt) dec. Anthony Bosco (UNC), 4-0 - Pittsburgh leads 3-0

133: #17 Dom Forys (Pitt) pinned James Szymanski, 2:40 - Pittsburgh leads 9-0

141: #11 Joey Ward (UNC) dec. #9 Mikey Racciato, 9-4 - Pittsburgh leads 9-3

149: #5 Evan Henderson (UNC) pinned Robert Lee, 1:06 - Match tied 9-9

157: Christian Barber (UNC) dec. Ronnie Garbinsky (Pitt), 2-1 - UNC leads 12-9

165: #9 John Michael Staudenmayer (UNC) dec. Cody Wiercioch (Pitt), 3-1 - UNC leads 15-9

174: #2 Ethan Ramos (UNC) dec. Te'Shan Campbell (Pitt), 4-1 - UNC leads 18-9

184: #19 Alex Utley (UNC) tech fall Zach Bruce (Pitt), 22-5 - UNC leads 23-9

197: Chip Ness (UNC) dec. Nick Bonaccorsi (Pitt), 3-2 - UNC leads 26-9

285: Ryan Solomon (Pitt) dec. Cory Daniel (UNC), 9-5 - UNC wins 26-12
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