UNC is the surprise with 5 finalists. NC State with 6, as expected; Pitt with 4; VT with 3; UVA with 2. Duke will go home with 2 points I believe. Is that the lowest score ever?
Positive surprises: Wentzel and Talib. Negative: Harvey. This is a guy who never looks tired and is always strong in the 3rd period. But, he blew a lead and, as others have noted, looked gassed. Stoudt, who wrestled so well in his last 7 matches, came out and put in a minimum effort.
Of the 6 losses, 4 were close matches. Harvey and Nino lost in OT. Newell lost with 4 seconds to go. Matthews list on riding time. I thought for sure Matthews was going to get the pin. For a match that ended 9-8, there were a lot of stalling calls. Not sure if the stalling points ended up balancing. Micky just doesn’t have much offense. Any hope that he was saving it for the tournament disappeared.
I would think Nino and Harvey are in. Matthews might get a bid. We could get 7.
To me, the most disappointing thing was losing all those close matches: Two in OT. One in riding time and one with 4 seconds left. When you are wrestling at home and with the crowd supporting you, you expect to win those.
UNC is having a great tournament. Coleman Scott is doing an amazing job there. They lost 2 upsets (both to us) and still put 5 into the finals.
I haven’t seen the team scores. I imagine we are third, since we have gotten a few bonus points. Whether we finish second, third or fourth will depend on how we and UNC and VT do tonight.
