Jan. 7, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -
Buoyed by several strong showings over the past month, seven of North Carolina's 10 starting wrestlers earned a national ranking this week from at least one website or publication.
The Tar Heels completed the open tournament portion of their schedule with nine place-winners at the Southern Scuffle last week and then won two of three matches at last weekend's Lone Star Duals.
Carolina opens its dual slate in earnest this weekend at American Saturday before travelling to Maryland for the Atlantic Coast Conference opener Sunday. A webcast of the dual between the Tar Heels and Terps will be available live an on-demand through ACCSelect.com.
Seniors Vincent Ramirez and Keegan Mueller and junior Dennis Drury lead the Tar Heels after earning consensus top-20 rankings this week. Drury, 18-5 at 197 pounds, posted three wins over ranked opponents last week and is rated 16th by InterMat and Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine (W.I.N.) and 15th by WrestlingReport.com.
Ramirez checks in with a team-best 22-4 record at 141 and is ranked 20th by InterMat, 16th by WrestlingReport.com and 19th by W.I.N. , while Mueller is 21-6 at 165 pounds to earn a No. 17 ranking from InterMat, the No. 18 spot from W.I.N. and a No. 22 rating from WrestlingReport.com.
Sophomore Nick Stabile is 18-8 at 149 with seven losses top ranked opponents. He is ranked 15th by both WrestlingReport.com and W.I.N.
No. 23 Mike Rappo (17-7 at 141), No. 23 Thomas Scotton (14-7 at 157) and No. 26 Justin Dobies (15-7 at heavyweight) each earned rankings from WrestlingReport.com.
