By ANDY DILLON
It is not an uncommon occurrence for a Duke team to travel down the road to face a highly-ranked North Carolina team.
The women's soccer team and the men's basketball teams have already done it this year. Tonight, the wrestling team will have its opportunity to tangle with the Tar Heels in UNC's Carmichael Auditorium.
The fifth-ranked Tar Heels, 13-3 on the year, will be looking to complete their sweep of Atlantic Coast Conference teams this season with a victory over Duke. The Tar Heels are riding the momentum of their last two ACC matches in which they easily defeated their opponents, outscoring Maryland and N.C. State by a combined score of 68-5.
The Blue Devils (6-3, 0-2) are a greatly improved team because of the performances in the 126, 134 and 142-lb weight classes. Freshman Chris Heckel, sophomore Scott Frinzi, and freshman Dan Covatta will have their hands full if they are to upset the highly-touted Tar Heels. The three wrestlers, who have been the most consistent part of the Blue Devil attack, are a combined 55-14 so far this season.
"We are a better team this year, but they are a lot better team than they have been," head coach Bill Harvey said. "They've beaten some pretty good teams. They might be as good as I've seen them."
What makes North Carolina so strong is its depth at every weight class. Where most teams feature a handful of solid wrestlers, the Tar Heels are tough from top to bottom.
"I think they've got good balance up and down the line," Harvey said. "They've got three guys coming back off of redshirts (for their fifth season.) You know they wrestled last year so they can possibly be in the national tournament this year."
The Tar Heels will field a team with six nationally-ranked wrestlers, including T.J. Jaworsky, who won the national championship at the 134-lb weight class last year. This season, Jaworsky is 26-4 and remains one of the elite wrestlers in his weight class despite dropping four matches this year.
Frinzi, who at 21-5 has the best individual record of all Blue Devil wrestlers, is not intimidated by his opponent's accomplishments.
"[Wrestling a defending national champion] definitely means more," Frinzi said. "It will show me how I'm doing and it will be a good experience for me. I'm just going to go out there and wrestle the best match I can. I can't go out there respecting him. But, whatever happens, happens."
Harvey is confident in the abilities of his young wrestlers in spite of their relative lack of experience compared to the well-seasoned Tar Heels.
"I think at 126, even at 134 where they've got Jaworsky, and 142, I think we are going to give them good matches," Harvey said. "I don't know what the outcomes are going to be, but I think they are going to be good matches . . . how the points are going to come out, I don't know."
In addition to Jaworsky, North Carolina's ranked wrestlers will be preforming at the 126, 150, 167, 177 and heavyweight divisions.
Despite the obstacle before them, the Blue Devils are approaching this match as they would any other ACC team, ignoring the level of respect the Tar Heel team is held with throughout the nation's wrestling community.
"I think we have to look at it as another match," Harvey said. "I don't think we can put them up on a pedestal, or anything like that. We are just going to go after them. We are prepared, we're ready to wrestle as tough as we can and we will wrestle as well as we can and however it comes out, it comes out. I mean, that is what it is all about, so we'll see."
Duke junior John Kays will wrestle against national title contender Shane Camera, who is 29-0 at the 177 pounds. Kays, too, sees the match as yet another conference contest.
"I don't think we're preparing differently," Kays said. "They're number five for a reason, but I don't think we are going to wrestle differently. I don't think any of us are intimidated -- we'll respect them, but we won't back down. We've all wrestled people who have been ranked nationally before, it is just that this team is so good in every weight class.
"Maybe we'll do better -- there is no real pressure on us to win -- so we'll be that much more motivated."
NOTE: Last week in the Blue Devils' dual-meet at UNC-Greensboro against UNC-G and Georgia State, Harvey reached his 200th career win. Harvey has coached at Duke for all 28 of his years as a head coach. Harvey downplayed the significance of the milestone, accrediting the honor to the hours of practice and match performance of his athletes.
"Over the years, it has been the wrestlers who have gotten the wins, so you can look at it that way," Harvey said. "The coach gets the numbers, but the kids do the work. I think it is more of a tribute to the kids who have been in the program over the many years that have gotten the 200 wins, more than the coach.
"I'm just happy I've been lucky enough to have been around that long."
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