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The 2009-10 college wrestling season is upon us. While teams are gearing up for competition on the mat, TWM takes a look at some interesting tidbits and facts about teams on and off the mat in this new blog feature. In the most recent feature, we look at 10 things you need to know about the North Carolina Tar Heels. You will learn what famous rock musician one wrestler is named after, how one freshman once escaped a tornado - and much more in the article below
By Matt Krumrie
TWM Senior Editor
info@thewrestlingmall.com
Related: 11 Things You Need to Know About The History of Lehigh Wrestling
Related: 11 Things You Need to Know About Arizona State Wrestling
10 Things You Need to Know About North Carolina Wrestling
1. The Tar Heels return four NCAA qualifiers from last year in Dennis Drury, Mike Rappo, Thomas Scotton and Nick Stabile. All four enter this season ranked in the nation's top 20 in their respective weight classes.
2. NCAA qualifier Mike Rappo is expected to shift from 133 pounds to 141 for the upcoming season. He went 24-10 a year ago and will compete for the starting spot with junior Danny Lopes.
3. Sophomore 174-pounder Nick Tenpenny is coming off a redshirt season but earned All-America honors in the offseason with a fifth-place finish at University Men's Freestyle Nationals.
4. Senior Jeremy Shaw, who is in the mix to earn a starting spot at 133 pounds, was one of three Tar Heels to earn a spot on the Academic All-ACC Team a year ago. He is the younger brother of former Tar Heel Bobby Shaw.
5. North Carolina's assistant coaching staff of A.J. Grant, Jack Jensen and Trevor Chinn wrestled at the highest-level collegiately. Grant was a two-time All-America at Michigan (2001, 2003), while Jensen
was an All-America at Oklahoma State (2008). Chinn comes to Chapel Hill this season after qualifying for three NCAA Tournaments at Lehigh.
6. Carolina has won 17 Atlantic Coast Conference titles and has finished among the top three teams in the ACC 34 times in the last 36 years.
7. The Tar Heels have had 21 different wrestlers earn All-America honors a total of 38 times. Evan Sola is the most recent Carolina All-America (2005), and the Tar Heels have had at least one All-America
in 21 of the last 30 seasons.
8. Carolina has produced five individual national champions. In 1982, current head coach C.D. Mock went undefeated in 35 matches and won the NCAA title at 134 pounds.
9. North Carolina played host to the 1994 NCAA Wrestling Championships at the Dean E. Smith Center. More than 64,000 people attended the event's six sessions, including a championship crowd of 11,868.
10. Redshirt freshman Ky Corley once outran an Oklahoma twister on his horse, and classmate Tyler St. Louis is named after Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler.
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