During the 2025-2026 season, the UNC Wrestling Team was ranked in the teens as a dual meet team for most of the season. The peak was at #10, just prior to losing the third returning ncaa qualifier for the season in January. The preseason expectation for the ncaa tournament was basically a top 50 finish, based on no expected AAs level rankings for the team. As we now know Hepner finished strong and did make AA, leading the team to a #31 finish at the ncaat. In the end we finished higher than expectations both as a dual team and in the ncaat. Not too bad for a young team that lost 3 experienced ncaa qualifiers.
From the 2025-2026 team we lose Terukina, Oakley, Darracott, Fea, Martin, and the Tenold twins to graduation/expiration of eligibility. In the transfer portal we lost Scott (Lehigh), Dailey (state), Hickey (state), and Sipes (WVU). That’s 2 ncaat qualifiers, and 2 young wrestlers that may, or may not turn out to be costly losses. Depending on how you count it, that is at least 4 starters level wrestlers lost (Terukina, Oakley, Scott, and Dailey), and potentially several more if you count Darracott/Fea who have been starters or the potential for Hickey and Sipes to have earned a starting spot at some point. It is also personally offensive that 2 of these wrestlers transferred to state, but that is their prerogative and there were apparent reasons for both transfers.
So what did we add? First of all we add 2 ncaa qualifiers that should be returning from injury (Ogunsanya and Neves). That could be huge, as both have a significant upside if they can take a step forward from where they were when they were last healthy. WrestleStat (WS) ranks them 15 and 23 respectively at their weights, and that may be lower than expected based on their absence this past season (all of our wrestlers that did not make any appearances after the early part of the season seem to have dropped in the rankings simply because other wrestlers were winning matches and they were not.
Perhaps the most significant new additions were McCrone and Hansen from the transfer portal. McCrone is the likely starter at 125, and if anything he may be a slight upgrade from what we have had in Moore and Terukina. Note that both were excellent wrestlers for Carolina, but McCrone (WS #8) could be our first AA at this weight for several years. Not a guarantee, but there is the possibility. Hansen is the replacement for Dailey, and based on ranking this is slightly better than a dead even swap (WS #16 vs Dailey at #23). Again there is potential for a higher outcome in the short term, as Hansen has upset a top wrestler, but the major difference is that Dailey is still young with more years to improve.
Note that I will list the recruiting class in a separate post, and discuss any potential they may have for earning a starting spot. My presumption for this post is that they will not be a primary factor in the starting rotation year 1. I will also remind folks that I use the WrestleStat (WS) rankings because they include everyone. They are not necessarily the best rankings, but many rankings only list starters and/or top 33 (predicted ncaat qualifiers). I will also note that they start freshmen out low in the rankings regardless of talent, based on no college wrestling experience (typically below 150). My personal observation is that they typically drop wrestlers in the rankings when they are out with an injury. Because they include every wrestler an AA who is redshirting will bump everyone below them down a spot, making it difficult to know where the cutoff is for ncaat qualifiers. Currently WS has Carolina ranked as the #10 dual meet team and the #20 tournament team. This is a substantial jump over prior year. Below are the available wrestlers and their WS rankings. I will list the predicted starter first, noting that some starters are easy to predict, and a few weights may have multiple wrestlers competing for the starting spot.
125 – Branden McCrone (8), Cam Stinson (81), and Dunia Sibomana (16). McCrone was clearly brought in to start, and it is likely the reason Hickey transferred to improve his chances of starting after this addition. Stinson is the likely backup, unless Sibomana is able to beat him out as a true freshman.
133 – Matt Botello (19), Derek Guanajuato (28), Marco Tocci (119), and Lukas Littleton-Mascaro (192 at 141). I would love to be able to watch the wrestle-off for this spot, as I believe both Botello and Guanajuato are very good wrestlers at this weight. Botello is currently ranked about where Guanajuato was ranked at his peak, before his absence from any wrestling events last season began to drop his ranking. Tocci is probably better than a 119 ranked wrestler, but likely not a significant challenger to start. Littleton-Mascaro is ranked by WS at 141, but as he finished high school wrestling 126 I think they are off here. He will likely wrestle this year as a 133 pounder, unless something happens to McCrone and there is a possibility to challenge for a starting spot.
141 – Luke Simcox (16), Nick O’Neill (13), and Elias Navida (53). Although O’Neill has the higher WS ranking currently, Simcox clearly won the spot last season. My personal hope is that O’Neill will put on some weight and challenge for the 149 spot, as Navida and Botello/Guanajuato could easily provide an appropriate level of backup for this weight.
149 – Nate Askew (85) and Mitchell Younger (264). If memory serves me correctly Askew beat Younger by a single point early in the season last fall, and did not wrestle much after that. This suggests that the gap between their rankings is largely based on recorded matches for Askew that were not there for Younger. Regardless, I expect these 2 along with O’Neill and Navida to compete for this spot. Note that the traditional thinking would be to redshirt Askew this year if the competition is close for this spot. That may, or may not be impacted by the potential adoption of the 5 for 5 rule (depending on grandfathering, etc.).
157 – Laird Root (31), Joey Showalter (33), and Cullen Kane (136). Coming off a solid redshirt freshman season, Root seem likely to be the starter again. Showalter is a quality wrestler, however, and his ranking suggests that he could potentially challenge for the starting spot.
165 – Bryce Hepner (10), Collin Nugent (119), and Nadav Nafshi (170 at 174). Coming off an AA finish, there is little doubt that Hepner is the odd on favorite to be the starter here. Nugent would likely fall behind Showalter as a back up option for this weight. Not sure if Alvarez, Carrigan, or any of the others that bumped up looking to chase a starting spot last year could make it back down to this weight, but if a backup is needed at least 1 or 2 of them would likely consider dropping. Nafshi wrestled his senior season in high school at 175, and may not attempt to drop back down, but I am guessing he could still make this weight (started the 2025-2026 season at 165 I believe).
174 – Joshua Ogunsanya (15), Collin Carrigan (34), Marcus Murabito (83), Sabino Potella (90), Omaury Alvarez (110), Brody Kelly (157 at 184), and Ronin Gault (170). Carolina will welcome the return of Ogunsanya if he is healthy, though Carrigan finished really strong at the weight last year. Murabito appeared to have won the spot before getting hurt, so if he is healthy he could compete here. Kelly is an intriguing freshman here, though WS has him listed at 184 (up from his high school weight of 175).
184 – Christian Hansen (16), Nolan O’Boyle (92 at 174), and Aiden Schlett (133). Hansen was clearly brought in to start as a replacement for Dailey when he transferred. He is ranked a few spots ahead of Dailey, though this might be an interesting match to watch next January. The big difference, however, is that Dailey has 3 more years of eligibility left. O’Boyle did not wrestle at all this year, as far as I can tell, and his ranking is down as a result. If we need a backup here, it has already been proven that several 174 pounders will also jump up to compete.
197 – Robert Platt (29), Michael Calcagno (38), and Lincoln Jipp (157 at 184). Platt would seem to have this spot, based on the past season, but Calcagno is ranked very similarly and could compete here. Jipp bumped up to wrestle 215 in high school, and WS has him listed at 184. I expect him to wrestle 197 this year. After that we will see what he does.
285 – Nolan Neves (23), Jacob Levy (43), and Cristian Alvarez (159). Getting a healthy Neves back could be huge for the team, as Levy is still developing. Adding Alvarez (after football season) will be a great addition to the wrestling room. It remains to be seen what this arrangement will look like and how much wrestling Alvarez will be able to do, but having a 3rd workout partner that is a legitimate heavyweight can only help.
In the above listing we have 2 top 10 wrestlers. There are 6 more wrestlers that are ranked between 10 and 20. An additional 6 wrestlers are in the top 35, and therefore likely capable of being ncaat qualifiers. One other wrestler is ranked 38, so just outside of this group. That is a total of 14 wrestlers that are currently ranked to be likely ncaat qualifiers, meaning that we have a good shot of sending at least 8 back to the ncaat again next season. With the addition of Jipp and Alvarez to 197 and heavyweight respectively, we have at least 3 wrestlers at each weight which strengthens the workout room. There are no guarantees, but we have a team that is built to compete, with young wrestlers positioned to step in and compete at a high level should there be injuries. Where there were obvious holes in the lineup, we upgraded through the transfer portal. The fact that we did not bring in a transfer at 149 leads me to believe either we are set there, or we ran out of money (there are still options in the portal to take ncaat qualifiers from Cornell and Columbia).
From the 2025-2026 team we lose Terukina, Oakley, Darracott, Fea, Martin, and the Tenold twins to graduation/expiration of eligibility. In the transfer portal we lost Scott (Lehigh), Dailey (state), Hickey (state), and Sipes (WVU). That’s 2 ncaat qualifiers, and 2 young wrestlers that may, or may not turn out to be costly losses. Depending on how you count it, that is at least 4 starters level wrestlers lost (Terukina, Oakley, Scott, and Dailey), and potentially several more if you count Darracott/Fea who have been starters or the potential for Hickey and Sipes to have earned a starting spot at some point. It is also personally offensive that 2 of these wrestlers transferred to state, but that is their prerogative and there were apparent reasons for both transfers.
So what did we add? First of all we add 2 ncaa qualifiers that should be returning from injury (Ogunsanya and Neves). That could be huge, as both have a significant upside if they can take a step forward from where they were when they were last healthy. WrestleStat (WS) ranks them 15 and 23 respectively at their weights, and that may be lower than expected based on their absence this past season (all of our wrestlers that did not make any appearances after the early part of the season seem to have dropped in the rankings simply because other wrestlers were winning matches and they were not.
Perhaps the most significant new additions were McCrone and Hansen from the transfer portal. McCrone is the likely starter at 125, and if anything he may be a slight upgrade from what we have had in Moore and Terukina. Note that both were excellent wrestlers for Carolina, but McCrone (WS #8) could be our first AA at this weight for several years. Not a guarantee, but there is the possibility. Hansen is the replacement for Dailey, and based on ranking this is slightly better than a dead even swap (WS #16 vs Dailey at #23). Again there is potential for a higher outcome in the short term, as Hansen has upset a top wrestler, but the major difference is that Dailey is still young with more years to improve.
Note that I will list the recruiting class in a separate post, and discuss any potential they may have for earning a starting spot. My presumption for this post is that they will not be a primary factor in the starting rotation year 1. I will also remind folks that I use the WrestleStat (WS) rankings because they include everyone. They are not necessarily the best rankings, but many rankings only list starters and/or top 33 (predicted ncaat qualifiers). I will also note that they start freshmen out low in the rankings regardless of talent, based on no college wrestling experience (typically below 150). My personal observation is that they typically drop wrestlers in the rankings when they are out with an injury. Because they include every wrestler an AA who is redshirting will bump everyone below them down a spot, making it difficult to know where the cutoff is for ncaat qualifiers. Currently WS has Carolina ranked as the #10 dual meet team and the #20 tournament team. This is a substantial jump over prior year. Below are the available wrestlers and their WS rankings. I will list the predicted starter first, noting that some starters are easy to predict, and a few weights may have multiple wrestlers competing for the starting spot.
125 – Branden McCrone (8), Cam Stinson (81), and Dunia Sibomana (16). McCrone was clearly brought in to start, and it is likely the reason Hickey transferred to improve his chances of starting after this addition. Stinson is the likely backup, unless Sibomana is able to beat him out as a true freshman.
133 – Matt Botello (19), Derek Guanajuato (28), Marco Tocci (119), and Lukas Littleton-Mascaro (192 at 141). I would love to be able to watch the wrestle-off for this spot, as I believe both Botello and Guanajuato are very good wrestlers at this weight. Botello is currently ranked about where Guanajuato was ranked at his peak, before his absence from any wrestling events last season began to drop his ranking. Tocci is probably better than a 119 ranked wrestler, but likely not a significant challenger to start. Littleton-Mascaro is ranked by WS at 141, but as he finished high school wrestling 126 I think they are off here. He will likely wrestle this year as a 133 pounder, unless something happens to McCrone and there is a possibility to challenge for a starting spot.
141 – Luke Simcox (16), Nick O’Neill (13), and Elias Navida (53). Although O’Neill has the higher WS ranking currently, Simcox clearly won the spot last season. My personal hope is that O’Neill will put on some weight and challenge for the 149 spot, as Navida and Botello/Guanajuato could easily provide an appropriate level of backup for this weight.
149 – Nate Askew (85) and Mitchell Younger (264). If memory serves me correctly Askew beat Younger by a single point early in the season last fall, and did not wrestle much after that. This suggests that the gap between their rankings is largely based on recorded matches for Askew that were not there for Younger. Regardless, I expect these 2 along with O’Neill and Navida to compete for this spot. Note that the traditional thinking would be to redshirt Askew this year if the competition is close for this spot. That may, or may not be impacted by the potential adoption of the 5 for 5 rule (depending on grandfathering, etc.).
157 – Laird Root (31), Joey Showalter (33), and Cullen Kane (136). Coming off a solid redshirt freshman season, Root seem likely to be the starter again. Showalter is a quality wrestler, however, and his ranking suggests that he could potentially challenge for the starting spot.
165 – Bryce Hepner (10), Collin Nugent (119), and Nadav Nafshi (170 at 174). Coming off an AA finish, there is little doubt that Hepner is the odd on favorite to be the starter here. Nugent would likely fall behind Showalter as a back up option for this weight. Not sure if Alvarez, Carrigan, or any of the others that bumped up looking to chase a starting spot last year could make it back down to this weight, but if a backup is needed at least 1 or 2 of them would likely consider dropping. Nafshi wrestled his senior season in high school at 175, and may not attempt to drop back down, but I am guessing he could still make this weight (started the 2025-2026 season at 165 I believe).
174 – Joshua Ogunsanya (15), Collin Carrigan (34), Marcus Murabito (83), Sabino Potella (90), Omaury Alvarez (110), Brody Kelly (157 at 184), and Ronin Gault (170). Carolina will welcome the return of Ogunsanya if he is healthy, though Carrigan finished really strong at the weight last year. Murabito appeared to have won the spot before getting hurt, so if he is healthy he could compete here. Kelly is an intriguing freshman here, though WS has him listed at 184 (up from his high school weight of 175).
184 – Christian Hansen (16), Nolan O’Boyle (92 at 174), and Aiden Schlett (133). Hansen was clearly brought in to start as a replacement for Dailey when he transferred. He is ranked a few spots ahead of Dailey, though this might be an interesting match to watch next January. The big difference, however, is that Dailey has 3 more years of eligibility left. O’Boyle did not wrestle at all this year, as far as I can tell, and his ranking is down as a result. If we need a backup here, it has already been proven that several 174 pounders will also jump up to compete.
197 – Robert Platt (29), Michael Calcagno (38), and Lincoln Jipp (157 at 184). Platt would seem to have this spot, based on the past season, but Calcagno is ranked very similarly and could compete here. Jipp bumped up to wrestle 215 in high school, and WS has him listed at 184. I expect him to wrestle 197 this year. After that we will see what he does.
285 – Nolan Neves (23), Jacob Levy (43), and Cristian Alvarez (159). Getting a healthy Neves back could be huge for the team, as Levy is still developing. Adding Alvarez (after football season) will be a great addition to the wrestling room. It remains to be seen what this arrangement will look like and how much wrestling Alvarez will be able to do, but having a 3rd workout partner that is a legitimate heavyweight can only help.
In the above listing we have 2 top 10 wrestlers. There are 6 more wrestlers that are ranked between 10 and 20. An additional 6 wrestlers are in the top 35, and therefore likely capable of being ncaat qualifiers. One other wrestler is ranked 38, so just outside of this group. That is a total of 14 wrestlers that are currently ranked to be likely ncaat qualifiers, meaning that we have a good shot of sending at least 8 back to the ncaat again next season. With the addition of Jipp and Alvarez to 197 and heavyweight respectively, we have at least 3 wrestlers at each weight which strengthens the workout room. There are no guarantees, but we have a team that is built to compete, with young wrestlers positioned to step in and compete at a high level should there be injuries. Where there were obvious holes in the lineup, we upgraded through the transfer portal. The fact that we did not bring in a transfer at 149 leads me to believe either we are set there, or we ran out of money (there are still options in the portal to take ncaat qualifiers from Cornell and Columbia).
