The wins push Clarion's record to 7-8 overall, and the victory over CSU gives the Golden Eagles a 3-2 record in the EWL.
The North Carolina match started at 174 and the Tar Heels jumped out to a 20-6 lead after six bouts. Clarion's rally to win stirred the 1,100 Eagle faithful to a frenzy with standing ovations and memories of past huge wins in Tippin Gym history.
The rally started at 141-pounds when Greg Lewis won by injury default at 3:53 over Mike Rappo narrowing UNC's lead to 20-12.
Fantastic freshman James Fleming was dominant in posting a 16-1 technical fall at 7:00 over Jon Burns. Fleming led 13-0 at the end of the first with a takedown and four, near falls. A two point near fall and riding time provided the margin.
Hadley Harrison brought the crowd to its feet as the #17 ranked wrestler in the nation not only upset #10 ranked Thomas Scotten, but he pinned the Tar Heel junior at 2:17. Harrison was in the middle of notching a takedown when Harrison caught Scotten on his back and slapped on a half nelson and pinned Scotten to give Clarion its first lead at 23-20.
The match came down to 165-pounds and Clarion's Nick Milano's big third period gave him a 5-2 win over Kyle Kiss and the Eagles a 25-19 win. With no score in the second period and Milano riding, Milano used a bar arm to turn Kiss to his back. The official whistled a potentially dangerous call before the near fall points were registered. UNC Coach C.D. Mock sprinted onto the center of the mat, and Clarion coach Teague Moore followed. Both benches were penalized a team point - pushing the team score back to 22-19. Kiss later escaped in the second, but Milano had enough riding time (1:12) to account for a tying point, so he chose neutral to start the third. Milano scored a takedown with about one minute left for a 2-1 lead, Kiss escaped, and Milano scored a counter takedown with 15-seconds remaining, giving him a big 5-2 win and the Eagle crowd on its feet cheering an unbelieveable comeback win.
"I'm so proud of our guys, never giving up and fighting to the end for this win," said fourth year head coach Teague Moore. "The comeback was really exciting, and great for our fans. This was a great win for our program and our team. North Carolina just beat Edinboro Friday night 24-14, so you can see how big a win it was," added Moore.
Also getting a big win for the Eagles was 125-pounder Joe Waltko, who pinned Brian Bokoski at 2:47 to get the Eagles on the board.
Clint Podish, Clarion's sophomore 184-pounder, was injured against Cleveland State and forfeited his match against UNC. He is expected to be okay.
In Clarion's 49-0 win over Cleveland State it was all Golden Eagles as Clarion won all 10 bouts. Clarion had 5 pins against the Vikings including Joe Waltko over Ron Butler at 6:34 at 125; Greg Lewis at 1:44 over Mike Mencini at 141; Hadley Harrison at 2:50 over Corey Carlo at 157, Quintas McCorkle at 4:38 over Chris Weber at heavyweight, and Alex Thomas at 16-seconds over Gahad Suleiman at 197. the 16-second fall was the second fastest fall in Clarion's long wrestling tradition. The quickest fall in Eagle history was by Jack Campbell as a freshman in 1977 - 13-seconds.
CLARION NOTES: Harrison now has 95 career wins at Clarion is currently 22nd on the all-time Clarion win list ... Randy Miller (96-26-2; 78-81) is next up for Harrison... His win over #10 ranked Scotten is his first win in his career over a top 10 wrestler ... Clarion returns home for Senior Day next Friday (Feb. 19th) when the Golden Eagles host Lock Haven at Tippin gym... Match time is 7pm.
CLARION 25 NORTH CAROLINA 19
174- Thomas Ferguson (NC) tech. fall Steven Cressley (CL) 6:59; 18-2
184- Nick Tenpenny (NC) forfeit
197- Dennis Drury (NC) dec. Alex Thomas (CL) 5-0
HWT- Ziad Haddad (NC) dec. Quintas McCorkle (CL) 8-2
125- Joe Waltko (CL) wbf Brian Bokowski (NC) 2:47
133- Jeremy Shaw (NC) dec. Jay Ivanco (CL) 6-4
141- Greg Lewis (CL) inj. def. Mike Rappo (NC) 3:53
149- #18 James Fleming (CL) tech. fall Jon Burns (NC) 7:00; 16-1
157- #17 Hadley Harrison (CL) wbf #10 Thomas Scotton (NC) 2:17
165- Nick Milano (CL) dec. Kyle Kiss (NC) 5-2*
* - One team point deducted from both team scores during 165 for bench conduct
CLARION 49 CLEVELAND STATE 0
174- Steven Cressley (CL) dec. Marcus Effner (CS) 8-2
184- Clint Podish (CL) dec. Dan Michaels (CS) 10-3
197- Alex Thomas (CL) wbf Gahad Suleiman (CS) 0:16
HWT- Quintas McCorkle (CL) wbf Chris Weber (CS) 4:38
125- Joe Waltko (CL) wbf Ron Butler (CS) 6:34
133- Jay Ivanco (CL) tech. fall Zach Huff (CS) 6:34; 19-3
141- Greg Lewis (CL) wbf Mike Mencini (CS) 1:44
149- James Fleming (CL) tech. fall Dan Castillo (CS) 4:33; 16-0
157- Hadley Harrison (CL) wbf Corey Carlo (CS) 2:50
165- Nick Milano (CL) dec. Rob Michaels (CS) 8-5
NORTH CAROLINA 40 CLEVELAND STATE 0
174- Thomas Ferguson (NC) dec. Marcus Effner (CS) 10-6
184- Nick Tenpenny (NC) dec. Dan Michaels (CS) 8-6
197- Dennis Drury (NC) wbf Gahad Suleiman (CS) 2:45
HWT- Ziad Haddad (NC) maj. dec. Chris Weber (CS) 14-3
125- Brian Bokowski (NC) maj. dec. Ronald Butler (CS) 13-2
133- Jeremy Shaw (NC) wbf Zach Huff (CS) 6:21
141- Mike Rappo (NC) dec. Mike Mencini (CS) 13-9
149- Jon Burns (NC) tech. fall Dan Castillo (CS) 21-5; 5:55
157- #10 Thomas Scotton (NC) dec. Corey Carlo (CS) 12-9
165- Kyle Kiss (NC) dec. Rob Michaels (CS) 3-1
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