Atkinson repeats as ACC champ

From staff reports

LEXINGTON, Va. — Led by three individual league champions and four runner-up finishers, North Carolina won its second consecutive — and 17th overall — ACC wrestling championship Saturday at MatJam 2006 at the Virginia Military Institute's Cameron Hall.

The Tar Heels scored 90.5 points to outdistance the field by 26.5 points and win its second league crown under third-year head coach C.D. Mock and third in the last four seasons.

 Runner-up NC State was second with 64 points, followed by Virginia with 61 points and Maryland with 48. Virginia Tech (44.5 points) and Duke (14) rounded out the standings. Winners of 11 of the 15 ACC championships since 1992, the Tar Heels have 17 all-time titles, which is second to Maryland's 20.

Former Watauga standout Garrett Atkinson (165), redshirt freshman Jared Royer (133), and sophomore Alex Maciag (174) each claimed individual titles and secured spots in the 2006 NCAA Championships March 16-18 in Oklahoma City, Okla. Select other ACC wrestlers will earn at-large entry into the nationals field.

 The defending champ at 165, Atkinson had a first-round bye and followed with a 6-4 victory over Virginia Tech’s Tucker Michels to move on the final against Virginia's Damian Johnson. Atkinson, who is 16-9 overall, 9-5 in dual meets, notched a second period takedown and tacked on a reversal and over two minutes of riding time to post a 5-1 win for his second career conference crown.

Atkinson won a state championship while wrestling at Watauga in 2002 and holds the school’s record with a career mark of 163-22.

Last Saturday’s was Atkinson’s second conference championship. In 2005 he beat Virginia’s Will Durkee 5-4 to win the 165-pound weight class and advance to the NCAA championships were he finished 1-2.

Bobby Shaw (125), Vincent Ramirez (141), David Dashiell (197) and Spencer Nadolsky each posted runner-up finishes and earned all-conference honors. The Tar Heels led all teams with seven grapplers in their respective weight class finals.

 Wrestling in place of All-America Evan Sola for much of the season, Royer opened with an upset over top-seeded Eric Albright of Virginia to reach the 133-pound final. The Cumberland, Pa., native then picked up a pair of first period takedowns and held on for a 6-3 win over Maryland's Brendan Byrne to claim his first-ever conference title. Royer is now 19-16 this season.

Seeded first at 174, Maciag followed a bye with a 7-5 decision over Duke’s Levi Craig to move on to the final against UVa's Mike Grogan. Maciag dominated Grogan to the tune of a 16-5 major decision to claim his first-ever conference title. Now 24-13, Maciag jumped out early with a first period takedown and three-point near fall and carried a 13-3 lead into the third period.

Ramirez advanced to the final with out allowing a single point, posting major decisions over NC State’s Jalil Dozier (12-0) and Virignia's Nick Alparone (8-0). The Durham, N.C., native faced Virginia Tech's David Hoffman in the final where the 17th-ranked Hoffman got retribution for Ramirez’s regular season win with a 10-6 victory in the ACC final. The loss snapped a 17-match winning streak for Ramirez, who now sports a 37-7 record.