Thanks for posting and sharing. Go Heels!
Wrestling 2026-2027
- Thread starter 81Heel/M1
- Start date
Although the fall sports are just getting into full swing, wrestling is preparing for the season.
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They are looking good in the pics. Thanks for sharing. Go Heels!
For anyone paying attention to the OL in the football game, Christian Alvarez has been playing a lot at right guard. Great sign for his football prospects, but possibly ominous for his wrestling prospects.
Roster Note - According to sources, while UNC's Bryce Hepner is not currently listed on Carolina's 2026-27 roster, he is expected to be re-enrolled for the spring semester in Chapel Hill and will be eligible to wrestle beginning in mid-December. Hepner is coming off an ACC Championship and All-American season at 165.
Carolina's schedule for the upcoming season should be released soon.
Carolina's schedule for the upcoming season should be released soon.
Thanks @TommyAshley. Hate that he won’t be available for the early matches, but having him back second semester is huge. He has surely had enough classes that missing a semester won’t break his heart.
Wrestling Announces 2026-27 Schedule - University of North Carolina Athletics
Entering year four under the direction of head coach Rob Koll , the North Carolina wrestling program has announced its schedule for the upcoming 2026-27 camp...
Wrestling schedule out, like Christmas in September!
Schedule looks great with N Iowa, S Dakota St, and W Virginia quality non-con opponents. Plus National Duals which is another 2-4 very quality opponents. And we get both State and VaT at home.
On Hepner, thanks to Tommy Ashley for that heads up. Would have been worried otherwise! Mid-December could include National Duals on Dec 12-13. Would be helpful!
Schedule looks great with N Iowa, S Dakota St, and W Virginia quality non-con opponents. Plus National Duals which is another 2-4 very quality opponents. And we get both State and VaT at home.
On Hepner, thanks to Tommy Ashley for that heads up. Would have been worried otherwise! Mid-December could include National Duals on Dec 12-13. Would be helpful!
Intermat put out their UNC preview today. Interesting to see their take on the middle weights, and their listing of extra guys at each weight. They also have Hepner and Ogunsanya at their traditional weights (unlike the cradlezone projected lineup posted above). Here is the their look:
125: McCrone
133: Botello / Guanajuato
141: Simcox
149: O’Neill / Younger
157: Root / Askew
165: Hepner / Showalter
174: Ogunsanya / Carrigan / Portella
184: Hansen / Calcagno / Jipp
197: Platt / Calcagno / Jipp
285: Levy / Neves / Alvarez (yes they listed Levy first, which I think I disagree with)
125: McCrone
133: Botello / Guanajuato
141: Simcox
149: O’Neill / Younger
157: Root / Askew
165: Hepner / Showalter
174: Ogunsanya / Carrigan / Portella
184: Hansen / Calcagno / Jipp
197: Platt / Calcagno / Jipp
285: Levy / Neves / Alvarez (yes they listed Levy first, which I think I disagree with)
Thanks for posting this NYH92. We are basically 6 weeks away from the start of the season, so it is time to start getting excited about the predictions and information. I will make a few comments on their lineup, though it is likely pretty close on the starters.
I saw an Instagram post that listed McCrone as one of the top 5 candidates not ranked at the AA level to make AA at the end of the year. Looking forward to seeing what he can do. Botello/Guanajuato is a match I would really like to watch. Simcox is solid at 141, though O'Neill is ranked higher at this weight. We need to be better at 149, and I am hoping O'Neill can be the answer there. That said, this will likely be a battle between the trio of O'Neill, Askew, and Younger. I don't see Askew bumping up to 157 to back up Root. Showalter and Alvarez are also listed at 157, and they might be a good match to watch. With Hepner out this semester, Nugent is the only 165 pounder listed on the roster, though I suspect Showalter (or Alvarez) to be holding this spot until Hepner returns. It's great to have Ogunsanya back, though at the end of the day Carrigan did a pretty good job backing him up last season. Hansen should be fun to watch at 184, though I would look for back ups to come from 174 vs 197. The roster list Tenold and Schlett at 184, but Carrigan, Murabito, Portella, and O'Boyle all might compete for this spot should something happen to Hansen. Platt is the returning starter at 197, though Calcagno is ranked by WS only 9 spots behind Platt. Jipp looks like he will make this a really competitive weight in the practice room. Intermat and WS list Levy as the starter at 285, even though WS ranks Neves 23 spots higher in their rankings. I don't know if there is some lingering injury for Neves, but I am assuming that Neves will be the starter. Alvarez is an intriguing inclusion here, especially after he won a football backup role as a true freshman after only 6 weeks with the team.
I will note that Alvarez and Jipp are the only freshmen listed in the Intermat lineup, though Sibomana (125), Nafshi (174), and Kelly (184) all had similar rankings coming out of high school. They may not have been listed because McCrone, Ogunsanya, and Hansen are higher ranked than the starters ahead of Jipp and Alvarez.
I saw an Instagram post that listed McCrone as one of the top 5 candidates not ranked at the AA level to make AA at the end of the year. Looking forward to seeing what he can do. Botello/Guanajuato is a match I would really like to watch. Simcox is solid at 141, though O'Neill is ranked higher at this weight. We need to be better at 149, and I am hoping O'Neill can be the answer there. That said, this will likely be a battle between the trio of O'Neill, Askew, and Younger. I don't see Askew bumping up to 157 to back up Root. Showalter and Alvarez are also listed at 157, and they might be a good match to watch. With Hepner out this semester, Nugent is the only 165 pounder listed on the roster, though I suspect Showalter (or Alvarez) to be holding this spot until Hepner returns. It's great to have Ogunsanya back, though at the end of the day Carrigan did a pretty good job backing him up last season. Hansen should be fun to watch at 184, though I would look for back ups to come from 174 vs 197. The roster list Tenold and Schlett at 184, but Carrigan, Murabito, Portella, and O'Boyle all might compete for this spot should something happen to Hansen. Platt is the returning starter at 197, though Calcagno is ranked by WS only 9 spots behind Platt. Jipp looks like he will make this a really competitive weight in the practice room. Intermat and WS list Levy as the starter at 285, even though WS ranks Neves 23 spots higher in their rankings. I don't know if there is some lingering injury for Neves, but I am assuming that Neves will be the starter. Alvarez is an intriguing inclusion here, especially after he won a football backup role as a true freshman after only 6 weeks with the team.
I will note that Alvarez and Jipp are the only freshmen listed in the Intermat lineup, though Sibomana (125), Nafshi (174), and Kelly (184) all had similar rankings coming out of high school. They may not have been listed because McCrone, Ogunsanya, and Hansen are higher ranked than the starters ahead of Jipp and Alvarez.
Interesting new look with the octagonal mat, and the foot/tarheel logo.
Intermat has now ranked the wrestlers for the 2026-2027 season, and the results are a little interesting. Keep in mind these are pre-season rankings, and there is a lot to get fleshed out in early season action. Below I will provide the comparison on rankings, Intermat, Flo, and WS, and to the extent possible I will provide a composite/average ranking. Note that Flo only ranks the top 24 wrestlers and Intermat only does the top 33 at each weight. Also, WS does a ranking for everyone, and a separate ranking with only starters ranked. I will be using the ranking with only starters included unless otherwise noted.
I should also point out that Intermat is ranking O'Neill at 149 vs. the other 2 services appear to be ranking (or not ranking) Askew at this weight. All of the services appear to be ranking Levy as the heavyweight starter, and all I can say is either they know something we don't or they are waiting to see Neves appear back on the mat before they move him to the starter role. With those caveats here is how our wrestlers are currently ranked.
125 - McCrone (Intermat=9, Flo=11, WS=8: Composite= 9)
133 - Botello (IM=14, Flo=16, WS=14: Comp=15)
141 - Simcox (IM=12, Flo=9, WS=15: Comp= 12)
149a - O'Neill (IM= 28, Flo - not ranked, WS = Not a Starter but 14 at 141)
149b - Askew (IM = not ranked, Flo = not ranked, WS = 55)
157 - Root (IM= 23, Flo= not ranked, WS= 24: Comp= 25)
165 - Hepner (IM= 4, Flo= 6, WS= 7: Comp= 6)
174 - Ogunsanya (IM= 13, Flo=15, WS= 15: Comp= 14)
184 - Hansen (IM=12, Flo= 12, WS= 15: Comp= 13)
197 - Platt (IM=26, Flo= not ranked, WS= 26: Comp= 26)
285a - Neves (IM= not ranked, Flo= not ranked, WS= 24 for all wrestlers/not ranked as a starter)
285b - Levy (IM= not ranked, Flo= Not ranked, WS= 34 as the starter and 47 with all wrestlers listed)
This year's freshman class (with their Flo rankings) includes:
125 - Sibomana: Big Board (Flo top 100) ranking = 97, and #9 at 120 pounds
125 - Littleton-Mascaro: Not in top 100
174 - Nafshi: Big Board = 54, and #8 at 175
174 - Gault: Not in top 100
184 - Kelly: Big Board = 52, and #6 at 175
197 - Jipp: Big Board = 39, and #7 at 215
285 - Alvarez: Big Board = 64, and #6 at 285
Note that Alvarez, like Hepner is likely not available until after the first semester due to football. Of note he was the first reserve to get meaningful snaps on the OL, even though he did not participate in spring training and only had summer workouts and 6 weeks of camp/games before becoming the number 2 right guard. It will be interesting to see how much he plays this week against Clemson, as ETSU was not a great measure of his readiness to step into the lineup.
I should also point out that Intermat is ranking O'Neill at 149 vs. the other 2 services appear to be ranking (or not ranking) Askew at this weight. All of the services appear to be ranking Levy as the heavyweight starter, and all I can say is either they know something we don't or they are waiting to see Neves appear back on the mat before they move him to the starter role. With those caveats here is how our wrestlers are currently ranked.
125 - McCrone (Intermat=9, Flo=11, WS=8: Composite= 9)
133 - Botello (IM=14, Flo=16, WS=14: Comp=15)
141 - Simcox (IM=12, Flo=9, WS=15: Comp= 12)
149a - O'Neill (IM= 28, Flo - not ranked, WS = Not a Starter but 14 at 141)
149b - Askew (IM = not ranked, Flo = not ranked, WS = 55)
157 - Root (IM= 23, Flo= not ranked, WS= 24: Comp= 25)
165 - Hepner (IM= 4, Flo= 6, WS= 7: Comp= 6)
174 - Ogunsanya (IM= 13, Flo=15, WS= 15: Comp= 14)
184 - Hansen (IM=12, Flo= 12, WS= 15: Comp= 13)
197 - Platt (IM=26, Flo= not ranked, WS= 26: Comp= 26)
285a - Neves (IM= not ranked, Flo= not ranked, WS= 24 for all wrestlers/not ranked as a starter)
285b - Levy (IM= not ranked, Flo= Not ranked, WS= 34 as the starter and 47 with all wrestlers listed)
This year's freshman class (with their Flo rankings) includes:
125 - Sibomana: Big Board (Flo top 100) ranking = 97, and #9 at 120 pounds
125 - Littleton-Mascaro: Not in top 100
174 - Nafshi: Big Board = 54, and #8 at 175
174 - Gault: Not in top 100
184 - Kelly: Big Board = 52, and #6 at 175
197 - Jipp: Big Board = 39, and #7 at 215
285 - Alvarez: Big Board = 64, and #6 at 285
Note that Alvarez, like Hepner is likely not available until after the first semester due to football. Of note he was the first reserve to get meaningful snaps on the OL, even though he did not participate in spring training and only had summer workouts and 6 weeks of camp/games before becoming the number 2 right guard. It will be interesting to see how much he plays this week against Clemson, as ETSU was not a great measure of his readiness to step into the lineup.
Excellent information! Intermat has 9 Tar Heel weights ranked, including 6 in the top 15. It’s just an early look at “on paper” standings but nice to see us get so much love. The Koll / Ramos recruiting combo is bearing fruit.
Iowa State hit with recruiting violations for contact with potential transfer(s) before they were in the transfer portal (tampering). Punishment includes 1 year probation, $25K, loss of 0.5% of the budget, 2 week long bans on recruiting communications during an active recruiting period, 2 year disassociation of a booster, etc. Seems like you have to work hard to violate recruiting rules in the current environment. All of the athletes have agents that can talk with whoever they want about the recruit, rather than waiting until the recruit is eligible to talk with outside coaches.
www.ncaa.org
On a side note, I can't remember if I posted that Steel Meyer, 2027 recruit is in IMG's new wrestling program this year instead of wrestling back in Allen, Texas.
Tampering, impermissible recruiting violations occurred in Iowa State men’s wrestling program - NCAA.org
Impermissible contact violations occurred in the Iowa State men’s wrestling program when local regional training center assistant coach Chris Perry had contact with two transfer student-athletes and one of those student-athletes was not yet in the Transfer Portal, according to an agreement...
www.ncaa.org
On a side note, I can't remember if I posted that Steel Meyer, 2027 recruit is in IMG's new wrestling program this year instead of wrestling back in Allen, Texas.
Intermat interviewed Coach Koll. It’s about 27 minutes long, and covers this years team, Coach Koll’s coaching tree, and his philosophy about building wrestling programs.
He mentions that he had 2-3 really good wrestlers when he came to UNC, but a significant drop off after that. Freshmen he said should push starters, or in the current environment compete for the job, included Sibomana, Nafshi, Kelly, Jipp, and after football Alvarez. Not sure who will be the starter at 133. Askew, O’Neill, and Younger competing at 149. Mentioned that Neves, and Levy were both banged up, which may explain Neves not being listed as the starter on some sites.
Koll talked about building the program to last beyond his time coaching, and getting wrestlers summer internships to prepare them for life after college. Probably other things I am leaving out, but it’s late. I may update tomorrow if I think of anything else.
He mentions that he had 2-3 really good wrestlers when he came to UNC, but a significant drop off after that. Freshmen he said should push starters, or in the current environment compete for the job, included Sibomana, Nafshi, Kelly, Jipp, and after football Alvarez. Not sure who will be the starter at 133. Askew, O’Neill, and Younger competing at 149. Mentioned that Neves, and Levy were both banged up, which may explain Neves not being listed as the starter on some sites.
Koll talked about building the program to last beyond his time coaching, and getting wrestlers summer internships to prepare them for life after college. Probably other things I am leaving out, but it’s late. I may update tomorrow if I think of anything else.
Looking forward to this season with some of the same caveats as last season, we are still not ideally built for tournaments with more of a solid across the board team than a team with some high end contenders, That said we have increased the level of some of that talent and have a few more guys that are at least competing for All-American so we should be looking at a better tournament finish if we can stay healthy and at least live up to expectations, especially if a few of our borderline AA guys can make it, or place higher than expected
Good points hw07. I have some additional comments from the interview, that in part support your post. This should be a better team, if healthy this year, with potentially 8-10 qualifiers (my thoughts, and not from the interview).
The interviewer talked about this being Coach Koll's most complete team at UNC, and I assume he meant in terms of strength at every weight and depth. While it is not obvious that we have an AOC type wrestler competing for a championship, we have several that could be competing to make AA at the end of the year (my thoughts, and not from the interview).
They talked about the ACC some. Back when UNC and state were stronger compared to the rest of the conference, and everyone else not so much. This year there will be several good teams with Tech, Stanford, UNC, state, and Pitt all predicted to be strong. I don't think he mentioned UVA in this part, but he talked about them building their program to last (but the team is not there yet). Koll compared the ACC favorably against the Big 12, though not up to the Big 10 level yet.
The National Duels will have UNC traveling on the last day of exams. I am assuming that means that Hepner will be eligible if he is registered for the 2nd semester and the first semester has ended.
While they were discussing his considerable coaching tree, he mentioned that he thought Kyle Dake would be a good coach when he is ready to look at that step. Let's hope UNC is an option he considers when and if he is ready for that.
Finally, they talked about social media and hockey, both of which Coach Ramos is more into than he is.
The interviewer talked about this being Coach Koll's most complete team at UNC, and I assume he meant in terms of strength at every weight and depth. While it is not obvious that we have an AOC type wrestler competing for a championship, we have several that could be competing to make AA at the end of the year (my thoughts, and not from the interview).
They talked about the ACC some. Back when UNC and state were stronger compared to the rest of the conference, and everyone else not so much. This year there will be several good teams with Tech, Stanford, UNC, state, and Pitt all predicted to be strong. I don't think he mentioned UVA in this part, but he talked about them building their program to last (but the team is not there yet). Koll compared the ACC favorably against the Big 12, though not up to the Big 10 level yet.
The National Duels will have UNC traveling on the last day of exams. I am assuming that means that Hepner will be eligible if he is registered for the 2nd semester and the first semester has ended.
While they were discussing his considerable coaching tree, he mentioned that he thought Kyle Dake would be a good coach when he is ready to look at that step. Let's hope UNC is an option he considers when and if he is ready for that.
Finally, they talked about social media and hockey, both of which Coach Ramos is more into than he is.
Over the weekend two 2027 recruits participated in The Who’s #1 event in Oklahoma. Braylon Reynolds (144) lost 7-5 when a last second takedown was ruled not completed. Not an official, but it looked good to me. There is a thread on the Intermat high school forum with a clip of the sequence if you want to watch it. This was a rematch of the Fargo finals. Mick Moylan also wrestled at 215 as a last minute replacement for the wrestler he lost to in the finals at Fargo. All indications from freestyle tournaments this summer are that Moylan will be a 197 pounder at the next level.
I am probably going to do a weight class review in the next week or so. Please keep in mind that I have no inside information and will primarily be noting public information with my thoughts, comments and question for consideration.
I am probably going to do a weight class review in the next week or so. Please keep in mind that I have no inside information and will primarily be noting public information with my thoughts, comments and question for consideration.
Looking at the lightweights, we lost both starters to graduation (or more accurately having fully used their eligibility). Both were ncaa qualifiers at UNC, though Oakley did not make it after an off year last year. Terukina basically came in and replaced Moore after his transfer to Illinois for his final season.
McCrone transfers in as a potential step up, ranking between 8-11 on the Intermat, WrestleStat, and FloWrestling sites. He has the ability to pull off upset wins over highly ranked wrestler, and could compete for AA honors if he has a good year. If he stays healthy, he may be one of the keys to our season, and potentially a top 20 finish at the ncaat. The 1 returning backup is Stinson. His WS ranking is #74, a drop of roughly 35 spots from last year pre-season. He will need to take a step forward if he wants to hold the backup spot or ever routinely start for the team. I am pulling for him, but last year he lost the blue/white matchup against the true freshman Hickey (who transferred to state). Two freshmen join this weight in Sibomana and Littleton-Mascaro. Littleton-Mascaro was our highest ranking recruit early on after his commitment, but while he fell back in the rankings Sibomana climbed up to a top 10 ranking coming out of high school. Sibomana has also qualified for the Democratic Republic of Congo wrestling team in the U20 and U23 categories. Coach Koll talked about not making starters weigh in for every event, and whoever earns second team position at this weight should get opportunities to wrestle. The first opportunities to see where each wrestler stands will come Nov. 1 at the Southeastern Open, followed by the blue/white matchup on Nov. 6. Note that the 2 freshmen are both ranked 139 on WS until they have matches to use for the rankings.
With Oakley now gone the battle for the starting spot will likely be between RFr Botella who is ranked between 14-17 in the three services and Guanajuato ranked 25 in WS. Guanajuato did not wrestle at all last year as far as I could tell, and I think that led to a slight drop in his ranking along with the presumption being made that Botello will start by ranking services. Guanajuato is listed as a senior, though I believe last year might have been a medical redshirt year. He also qualified for the Mexican national team this summer. I have said for a while that this is the wrestle-off I would like to see, and Coach Koll stated in the Intermat interview that he didn’t know who will start here. Backing these 2 up is Tocci, ranked #96 on WS.
If the link below works, it is a ream picture taken at the JFK Warfare Training Center/School at Fort Bragg.
McCrone transfers in as a potential step up, ranking between 8-11 on the Intermat, WrestleStat, and FloWrestling sites. He has the ability to pull off upset wins over highly ranked wrestler, and could compete for AA honors if he has a good year. If he stays healthy, he may be one of the keys to our season, and potentially a top 20 finish at the ncaat. The 1 returning backup is Stinson. His WS ranking is #74, a drop of roughly 35 spots from last year pre-season. He will need to take a step forward if he wants to hold the backup spot or ever routinely start for the team. I am pulling for him, but last year he lost the blue/white matchup against the true freshman Hickey (who transferred to state). Two freshmen join this weight in Sibomana and Littleton-Mascaro. Littleton-Mascaro was our highest ranking recruit early on after his commitment, but while he fell back in the rankings Sibomana climbed up to a top 10 ranking coming out of high school. Sibomana has also qualified for the Democratic Republic of Congo wrestling team in the U20 and U23 categories. Coach Koll talked about not making starters weigh in for every event, and whoever earns second team position at this weight should get opportunities to wrestle. The first opportunities to see where each wrestler stands will come Nov. 1 at the Southeastern Open, followed by the blue/white matchup on Nov. 6. Note that the 2 freshmen are both ranked 139 on WS until they have matches to use for the rankings.
With Oakley now gone the battle for the starting spot will likely be between RFr Botella who is ranked between 14-17 in the three services and Guanajuato ranked 25 in WS. Guanajuato did not wrestle at all last year as far as I could tell, and I think that led to a slight drop in his ranking along with the presumption being made that Botello will start by ranking services. Guanajuato is listed as a senior, though I believe last year might have been a medical redshirt year. He also qualified for the Mexican national team this summer. I have said for a while that this is the wrestle-off I would like to see, and Coach Koll stated in the Intermat interview that he didn’t know who will start here. Backing these 2 up is Tocci, ranked #96 on WS.
If the link below works, it is a ream picture taken at the JFK Warfare Training Center/School at Fort Bragg.
Thanks for posting the Coach Koll interview. He’s very good at these…funny, and also providing a lot of information.
On specific wrestlers, it was interesting he said Simcox is fully healthy “for the first time” and he expects a big jump. And that Hepner is a guy who needs to know he is the clear starter, which he never had at Ohio State.
I, as a non-wrestler, was intrigued by the comment that an important benefit of depth is to save guys some weigh-ins over the course of the year. Helps your starters be fresher at the end of the year (and presumably help avoid injury over the course of the year).
Finally, it sounds like fundraising has taken a major step up. He mentioned that the prior regime raised less than $100k but his regime will raise $2 million (I couldn’t tell if he meant just this year or since he has been here).
Overall it is very clear the program is in a very good place and on the rise.
On specific wrestlers, it was interesting he said Simcox is fully healthy “for the first time” and he expects a big jump. And that Hepner is a guy who needs to know he is the clear starter, which he never had at Ohio State.
I, as a non-wrestler, was intrigued by the comment that an important benefit of depth is to save guys some weigh-ins over the course of the year. Helps your starters be fresher at the end of the year (and presumably help avoid injury over the course of the year).
Finally, it sounds like fundraising has taken a major step up. He mentioned that the prior regime raised less than $100k but his regime will raise $2 million (I couldn’t tell if he meant just this year or since he has been here).
Overall it is very clear the program is in a very good place and on the rise.
Trying to work through these more quickly this time, but I will summarize 125-133 as one really strong starter that has a chance to be AA at the end of the year if things go well, 2 very competitive wrestlers vying for 133 that can only make this weight stronger as the year goes on, and a question about who will step into the backup role at 125. Early info suggests that it may be Sibomana, but you just don't know who is ready to take the next step forward vs. who is at the top of their potential.
Unlike 125-133, the competitors at 141-149 are all the same players from last season. As NYH92 pointed out, Coach Koll noted that Simcox was perhaps healthy for the first time. If that stays the case, we could be in for some good wrestling at that weight. Coming into the season Simcox is ranked 12, 9, and 16 by Intermat, Flo, and WS. If that is based on him not being healthy with last year's results, this could be fun. On the roster he is backed up by O'Neill and Navida. Intermat assumes that O'Neill will bump up to 149, and ranks him #28 at that weight. WS ranks O'Neill 19 at 141, along with Navida at #52. All in all this is a very strong weight with some options if the injury bug hits us again this year.
Askew returns at 149, with a WS ranking of 89. This is not where we need this weight to be wrestling, and the hope is that Askew has improved, O'Neill can bump up and take this spot, or Younger (WS#279) steps up to take this starting spot. Both Askew and Younger should be ready for the sophomore jump in skill/ability, though they arrived here very differently. After winning a match over Younger by a single point in the first tournament last year, and after Scott was injured and out for the season, Askew went on to start in this spot for virtually the entire year. Much like Spencer Moore at 125 a few years ago, he never got the signature win that gave him confidence to take a big step forward. He had a decent year overall based on the standard from a few years back, but it is not what we are hoping for going forward. Younger never showed up wrestling again after that early season tournament loss to Askew, so it is hard to know where he is at in his college progression.
It is interesting to note that this was not one of the weights where we took a transfer. Not sure if that is because Coach Koll expects better this year from at least 1 of this trio, if the better options showed up at 125 and 184, or if he was trying to get 3 transfers before running out of roster spots. The fixed limit on roster makes it more difficult in some ways I imagine. Whatever the case we can expect at least a little improvement at this weight from wrestlers that boast an U17 World gold medal and multiple state championships in highly competitive states.
As a reminder during the season last year we lost Guanajuato (133), Scott (141-49), Ogunsanya (174), Neves (285), Murabito (174), O'Boyle (184), while losing McNeil (149), Moore (125), and Lautt (197) to transfer. Injuries happen every year, but I am certainly hoping that we don't get hit like last year again. As pointed out Simcox is finally fully healthy, at least for the time being, but both our heavyweights are apparently banged up coming into the season according the the Intermat interview. More soon, but even with the injuries we have some decent options at most weights if the young wrestlers are ready to step up.
Unlike 125-133, the competitors at 141-149 are all the same players from last season. As NYH92 pointed out, Coach Koll noted that Simcox was perhaps healthy for the first time. If that stays the case, we could be in for some good wrestling at that weight. Coming into the season Simcox is ranked 12, 9, and 16 by Intermat, Flo, and WS. If that is based on him not being healthy with last year's results, this could be fun. On the roster he is backed up by O'Neill and Navida. Intermat assumes that O'Neill will bump up to 149, and ranks him #28 at that weight. WS ranks O'Neill 19 at 141, along with Navida at #52. All in all this is a very strong weight with some options if the injury bug hits us again this year.
Askew returns at 149, with a WS ranking of 89. This is not where we need this weight to be wrestling, and the hope is that Askew has improved, O'Neill can bump up and take this spot, or Younger (WS#279) steps up to take this starting spot. Both Askew and Younger should be ready for the sophomore jump in skill/ability, though they arrived here very differently. After winning a match over Younger by a single point in the first tournament last year, and after Scott was injured and out for the season, Askew went on to start in this spot for virtually the entire year. Much like Spencer Moore at 125 a few years ago, he never got the signature win that gave him confidence to take a big step forward. He had a decent year overall based on the standard from a few years back, but it is not what we are hoping for going forward. Younger never showed up wrestling again after that early season tournament loss to Askew, so it is hard to know where he is at in his college progression.
It is interesting to note that this was not one of the weights where we took a transfer. Not sure if that is because Coach Koll expects better this year from at least 1 of this trio, if the better options showed up at 125 and 184, or if he was trying to get 3 transfers before running out of roster spots. The fixed limit on roster makes it more difficult in some ways I imagine. Whatever the case we can expect at least a little improvement at this weight from wrestlers that boast an U17 World gold medal and multiple state championships in highly competitive states.
As a reminder during the season last year we lost Guanajuato (133), Scott (141-49), Ogunsanya (174), Neves (285), Murabito (174), O'Boyle (184), while losing McNeil (149), Moore (125), and Lautt (197) to transfer. Injuries happen every year, but I am certainly hoping that we don't get hit like last year again. As pointed out Simcox is finally fully healthy, at least for the time being, but both our heavyweights are apparently banged up coming into the season according the the Intermat interview. More soon, but even with the injuries we have some decent options at most weights if the young wrestlers are ready to step up.
One important caveat on the fundraising: after the House V NCAA court ruling the scholarship limit in wrestling jumped from 9.9 to 30. So there is a need for more money that did not exist before.
I cant say how many additional scholarships the athletic department/Rams clud initially pledged to wrestling, but I do know that in general many coaches were told that if they wanted to maximize their roster they needed to drum up their own money for their program. And UNC has stated that Olympic sports are focused on scholarship growth to fill this gap, not NIL or other expenses. (though they ae not going to turn down any directed gift if offered.)
If, hypothetically, all of that $2 Million went to scholarship endowment, that would secure 4 of the 20 additional scholarships needed, in perpetuity .
If, instead, they allocated $1 Million directly to athletic scholarships for this season, that would be right around what is needed to put every wrestler on scholarship for 2026-27. So that 2 mil could be $1 million for scholarship need now, and $1 million towards the endowment for every year. But then that means you still have to raise $1 million every single year to keep everyone on scholarship. That does not sound like a reachable goal yet. Especially since it sounds like Coach is saying that the $2 million includes all donations since he arrived and includes future pledges not yet received. (We did not pull in $2 million in one year.)
So more likely what has happened, is a couple more scholarships are now endowed, a couple more guys are on on full rides, and a majority of the roster got a sizeable, but partial boost to their previous scholarship level.
This is all speculation by me, to be clear.
My point is that this $2 million number, as impressive and notable as it is, is not yet where we need to be to fund all scholarships; wrestling still has a multi-year journey to reach the goal. Some schools that really focus on wrestling and with deep pockets are almost certain to get there faster.
Remember that the UVA coach quit when faced with this hill to climb (among other issues.) It is a daunting task they must navigate just to maintain competitiveness.
All that said, I do agree that they have accomplished a lot, on the mats, in the recruit homes, AND in the donor handshakes. Well done.
One additional thought: until UNC can fully endow all scholarships, it behooves coaches to take as many in-state kids as they can to stretch what level of aid they can give to the whole team. It is a lot easier to fund 30 in-state kids at $25K per year than it is to fund 30 out-of-state kids at $55K per year. Your money literally can go twice as far.
Great stuff. A big theme of the interview was sustainability of the program. There is still wrestling at UNC 40 years after Koll wrestled here and he wants that to be the case 40 years from now. So I would expect that scholarship endowments are a big priority. NIL and salaries are great, but in a sport like wrestling the scholarship to a place like UNC is very high value. And now, if we have the money, we can offer more than 9.9. This is a good thing for UNC.
Looking at 157, Root returns after qualifying for the ncaat as a RFr. He is currently ranked 23 by intermat at this weight and 28 on WS, while not making Flo's top 24. The question here is will he continue to get better, and therefore move up in the rankings, or simply peak around the lower 20s or high teens? The latter assumption is not unusual really, and examples include Spencer Moore, Oakley, etc., where they get to a peak spot and stay or drop off. If he wants to improve, the room has good talent with Showalter ranked 30 by WS, Kane at 115, and Alvarez ranked 115 at 165 (though on the roster at 157 this year). Note that Alvarez has competed in summer Greco/Roman wrestling primarily, much like Eischens did. He has had some success, and that may translate into improvement in freestyle, or simply and variation in style as a workout partner for Root and Hepner.
The only 165 pounder listed on the roster this fall is Nugent, WS 122, though we know that Hepner will be back after the semester is over. Hepner is ranked by Intermat at 4, Flo at 6, and WS at 9. It was interesting hearing Coach Koll talk about his perspective coming out of tOSU vs. our situation. By now he clearly knows he is our guy at this weight, and hopefully he comes back healthy and ready to move up the rankings. Until he returns, I expect to see Showalter wrestling at this weight for any dual meets.
For these 2 weights we have a high level starter at 165, an ncaat qualifier at 157 that I would like to see climb in the rankings this year, and at least 1 really solid reserve that ranks as capable of being an ncaat qualifier in his own right. Occasionally a backup for several years will break out and move up in the rankings, but at a certain point it becomes the exception rather than the rule. I would really like to see at least 1 of Kane, Nugent, and/or Alvarez wrestle enough tournaments to make a significant climb in the rankings. Alvarez seem to me to be the most likely to do this, based on his competing in the G/R events, and the potential to continue with G/R after graduating the way Eischens has done.
The only 165 pounder listed on the roster this fall is Nugent, WS 122, though we know that Hepner will be back after the semester is over. Hepner is ranked by Intermat at 4, Flo at 6, and WS at 9. It was interesting hearing Coach Koll talk about his perspective coming out of tOSU vs. our situation. By now he clearly knows he is our guy at this weight, and hopefully he comes back healthy and ready to move up the rankings. Until he returns, I expect to see Showalter wrestling at this weight for any dual meets.
For these 2 weights we have a high level starter at 165, an ncaat qualifier at 157 that I would like to see climb in the rankings this year, and at least 1 really solid reserve that ranks as capable of being an ncaat qualifier in his own right. Occasionally a backup for several years will break out and move up in the rankings, but at a certain point it becomes the exception rather than the rule. I would really like to see at least 1 of Kane, Nugent, and/or Alvarez wrestle enough tournaments to make a significant climb in the rankings. Alvarez seem to me to be the most likely to do this, based on his competing in the G/R events, and the potential to continue with G/R after graduating the way Eischens has done.
Great stuff, all - thank you! Getting excited for the start of the season....
Let me start by noting that the current roster on goheels excludes Murabito and Hepner. We had already noted that Hepner is not in school this semester, but Murabito was a surprise to me. If you will recall he initially stepped in for Ogunsanya last season, but was obviously hurt in his first match. After that he did not wrestle any more matches last season, and Carrigan stepped in finishing as a ncaat qualifier. Not sure if his injury is still an issue, but I would not think he would be the first one to go if this was simply trying to make a roster limit (currently listing 33 wrestlers). Whatever the reason for Murabito no longer being listed on the roster, we wish him well.
Ogunsanya returns to the lineup this season ranked 13, 15, and 17 by Intermat, Flo, and WS respectively. Carrigan is also back, ranked 37 by Intermat. They are backed up by Portella (WS #76), O'Boyle (78), as well as 2 freshmen Nafshi and Gualt (both ranked #141 by WS). This is a really deep group, and the hope is that Ogunsanya can take a step forward and compete for a chance at AA. Carrigan did nothing but get better in his time starting, and could also take a step forward perhaps. If so, this becomes an interesting weight to watch. Note also that Coach Koll specifically called out Nafshi as competing for the spot here. He came in as a highly ranked freshman, and it will be interesting to see where his ranking climbs after early season tournaments.
Hansen was brought in via transfer portal to replace Dailey after his departure. He is ranked slightly higher than Dailey in all 3 rankings at 12, 12, and 18 in Intermat, Flo, and WS. Backing Hansen up are Tenold (93), Schlett (133), and the freshman Kelly (153). Note that Kelly was ranked slightly higher than Nafshi at 175 in high school, and will be another one to watch in the early tournaments.
For anyone interested there have been a number of photos that have come up on Instagram lately of the wrestlers presumably from the media events getting ready for the season.
Note that 1 site, CarolinaCombat, posted that O'Neill is officially bumping up to 149, though he is still listed at 141 on the goheels roster.
Ogunsanya returns to the lineup this season ranked 13, 15, and 17 by Intermat, Flo, and WS respectively. Carrigan is also back, ranked 37 by Intermat. They are backed up by Portella (WS #76), O'Boyle (78), as well as 2 freshmen Nafshi and Gualt (both ranked #141 by WS). This is a really deep group, and the hope is that Ogunsanya can take a step forward and compete for a chance at AA. Carrigan did nothing but get better in his time starting, and could also take a step forward perhaps. If so, this becomes an interesting weight to watch. Note also that Coach Koll specifically called out Nafshi as competing for the spot here. He came in as a highly ranked freshman, and it will be interesting to see where his ranking climbs after early season tournaments.
Hansen was brought in via transfer portal to replace Dailey after his departure. He is ranked slightly higher than Dailey in all 3 rankings at 12, 12, and 18 in Intermat, Flo, and WS. Backing Hansen up are Tenold (93), Schlett (133), and the freshman Kelly (153). Note that Kelly was ranked slightly higher than Nafshi at 175 in high school, and will be another one to watch in the early tournaments.
For anyone interested there have been a number of photos that have come up on Instagram lately of the wrestlers presumably from the media events getting ready for the season.
Note that 1 site, CarolinaCombat, posted that O'Neill is officially bumping up to 149, though he is still listed at 141 on the goheels roster.
RE Muribato:
Under new NCAA roster limits, it is possible to have more than the roster limit on scholarship and a part of your team for two possible reasons:
1) If someone is declared a medical hardship at the beginning of the season. However, they cannot play at any point in the season, even if they become healthy. So it is a pretty big deal to declare someone a medical; you need to be sure because it is a year of eligibility lost.
The question then becomes: does UNC policy or NCAA policy prevent that athlete from being listed on the roster at all? I do not know the answer to that.
2) It is also possible to be over the scholarship limit thanks to the new DSA provision:
The Designated Student-Athlete (DSA) Exception: To prevent athletes from being immediately cut, the House v. NCAA court settlement created the DSA classification.
- Who Qualifies: Any athlete who was already on a college roster during the 2024–2025 academic year, or any recruit who had been officially promised a roster spot prior to April 7, 2025, is eligible.
- How the Cap Exception Works: Schools are permitted to exceed the new sport-specific roster limits to accommodate these players. DSAs do not count against the school's roster cap.
- Duration: An athlete keeps their DSA status and remains exempt from the roster cap for the entire duration of their college athletic eligibility (up to 5 years/4 seasons of competition).
- The settlement states that if a student-athlete is receiving any athletic financial aid (i.e. a partial or full scholarship), their scholarship remains protected at the current level; they cannot be cut for performance, injury or roster management.
- But the school can leave them off the team and they just continue as a regular student with that partial scholarship.
This could literally be anyone or everyone on the roster assuming everyone was either a walk-on or a partial. Did we dole out any full rides in the past? Are we doling out full rides now?
Per my Rams Club friend from a year+ ago, the school now counts all athletes as in-state. It’s just accounting games but made life easier for the Tams Club and coaches it seems.
You are partially correct.
2021 Senate Bill 140 made all NC out-of-state athletes on a full athletic scholarship paid out by the school's booster club at the in-state price tier. North Carolina General Statute 116-143.6,
There was another bill last year that extended this in-state to grad students as well.
However, note that this does not apply to athletes on a partial scholarship. If they are an out-of-state student their partial scholarship is applied to their out-of-state rate; they do not get a revised tuition bill that considers them in-state students.
Assuming that most wresters are on partial or no scholarship currently, it still behooves UNC to recruit In-state kids until we fully fund all scholarships. Unless we have already done that, then I am wrong here.
Of course that also means, that we get more bang for our buck if we give out full rides to fewer people instead of partials to everyone: once we make a scholarship a full ride, it is converted to the in-state rate.
Complicated to say the least. I would be very curious to know how Coach Koll plans to handle this moving forward. Do you sacrifice roster depth to hopefully land more big fish?
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I believe I heard at one point that students/athletes can establish residency in NC if they move there year round for a continuous year. Not sure this is true, but if it is it would help the upper classmen with their college expense. Maybe someone else has a better handle on whether or not that is true.
Platt returns as the starter at 197, ranked 26 and 28 by Intermat and WS respectively. Note that he did not make the top 24 necessary to be ranked by Flo. He will be backed up by Calcagno (WS #37), and Jipp (WS #128). Platt mostly needs to be more consistent, and if he is unable to manage consistently good wrestling, Calcagno and Jipp should be right there on his heels. Note that Calcagno is ranked roughly 10 spots behind Platt, and Jipp basically won this weight in the U20 freestyle trials this summer. Jipp was top 6-7 in his last high school rankings at 215 pounds.
Although there have been reports of lingering injuries for Neves (WS #24) and Levy (WS #47), we will need at least one of them to get healthy and step up their game. Neves had a few good wins 2 seasons ago, but was not consistent against other wrestlers. If healthy, he is our best chance likely to score points at the ncaat. Levy stepped in last season as a true freshman after Neves injury finished his season. He will need a significant sophomore bump to compete and qualify for the ncaat. An intriguing option here, after football is done, is the freshman Alvarez. He got the start in his 4th game against ND, after missing spring ball and only having fall camp to earn playing time. This makes me really want to see what he can do on the mat, though I am not oblivious to the fact that football may at some point take him away from wrestling. Still, he will be a great addition to the wrestling room if his physical play on the football field is any indication.
Two years ago we had 2 starters ranked in the 60s by WS. If we can get healthy and hold our current rankings, we should have all 10 weights ranked between 4 - 28 with our best wrestler showing up based on current rankings. That is 10 qualifiers if we are healthy and wrestle to potential. Our biggest opportunity is for Hepner to meet or exceed his top in ranking (this would be huge for tournament points). The biggest challenges for us qualifying 10 wrestlers for the ncaat are at 149 and heavyweight, where we will need to get healthy and have someone step up. Our strongest backups are at 133 (WS #25), 157 (WS #30), 174 (WS #37), and 197 (WS #37). On paper our weakest backups are 125 (WS #74), 149 (WS #89), 165 (WS #115), and 184 (WS #93). We have 5 freshmen that were ranked top 10 at their weights coming out of high school including 125 - Sibomana, 174 - Nafshi, 184 - Kelly, 197 - Jipp, and 285 - Alvarez.
Last season we lost 3 starters to injury, and we will need to avoid a similar issue with losses this season. If we are healthy and the wrestlers that start for us step up, we could have a really good season. Depending on the weights, we could even sustain a few lost starters and still finish strong. With a little over 2 weeks until our kickoff event, there is a lot to be excited about going into this season.
Platt returns as the starter at 197, ranked 26 and 28 by Intermat and WS respectively. Note that he did not make the top 24 necessary to be ranked by Flo. He will be backed up by Calcagno (WS #37), and Jipp (WS #128). Platt mostly needs to be more consistent, and if he is unable to manage consistently good wrestling, Calcagno and Jipp should be right there on his heels. Note that Calcagno is ranked roughly 10 spots behind Platt, and Jipp basically won this weight in the U20 freestyle trials this summer. Jipp was top 6-7 in his last high school rankings at 215 pounds.
Although there have been reports of lingering injuries for Neves (WS #24) and Levy (WS #47), we will need at least one of them to get healthy and step up their game. Neves had a few good wins 2 seasons ago, but was not consistent against other wrestlers. If healthy, he is our best chance likely to score points at the ncaat. Levy stepped in last season as a true freshman after Neves injury finished his season. He will need a significant sophomore bump to compete and qualify for the ncaat. An intriguing option here, after football is done, is the freshman Alvarez. He got the start in his 4th game against ND, after missing spring ball and only having fall camp to earn playing time. This makes me really want to see what he can do on the mat, though I am not oblivious to the fact that football may at some point take him away from wrestling. Still, he will be a great addition to the wrestling room if his physical play on the football field is any indication.
Two years ago we had 2 starters ranked in the 60s by WS. If we can get healthy and hold our current rankings, we should have all 10 weights ranked between 4 - 28 with our best wrestler showing up based on current rankings. That is 10 qualifiers if we are healthy and wrestle to potential. Our biggest opportunity is for Hepner to meet or exceed his top in ranking (this would be huge for tournament points). The biggest challenges for us qualifying 10 wrestlers for the ncaat are at 149 and heavyweight, where we will need to get healthy and have someone step up. Our strongest backups are at 133 (WS #25), 157 (WS #30), 174 (WS #37), and 197 (WS #37). On paper our weakest backups are 125 (WS #74), 149 (WS #89), 165 (WS #115), and 184 (WS #93). We have 5 freshmen that were ranked top 10 at their weights coming out of high school including 125 - Sibomana, 174 - Nafshi, 184 - Kelly, 197 - Jipp, and 285 - Alvarez.
Last season we lost 3 starters to injury, and we will need to avoid a similar issue with losses this season. If we are healthy and the wrestlers that start for us step up, we could have a really good season. Depending on the weights, we could even sustain a few lost starters and still finish strong. With a little over 2 weeks until our kickoff event, there is a lot to be excited about going into this season.
I’m really excited for this season. Thanks for the writeups. Hope the freshmen and a bunch of the backups come to SE Open so we can get more data points about the depth. Also will be interesting to see if Neves and/or Levy wrestle which give some sense on how “banged up” they are.
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I agree, I am very interested in seeing how the freshmen look against college competition, it is important to the health of the program that we are bringing in recruits that can compete both for having future starters and keeping the competition in the room high
Are there sports with kids in partial scholarships these days? Seems crazy to be asking that, but I thought all varsity sports are now fully funded to the NCAA maximum on scholarships with clearly defined limits on spots on the teams. Therefore, I understood all of those members of the team to be on scholarship. Maybe there’s an erroneous assumption in my logic.
UNc’s scholarship counts:
Before House V NCAA ruling: 338 (max allowed under previous scholarship limits)
After House V NCAA: 532 current academic year. That is what we publicly reported was the target for this season. It is possible it has grown since then.
total Varsity athletes: roughly 800 current academic year.
So we are still over 250 short of full scholarship funding. Much of this is likely a full scholarship split into partials for multiple athletes in equivalency sports.
FB, MBB and baseball are all reportedly completely funded to full schollys for everyone. And an equal number of women had to receive more scholarships. So logically a sport like wrestling is probably still short of full roster funding, unless they went and fundraiser on their own (which they did, but we do not know how it was used.)
wrestling had to honor all existing partial scholarships from last year at the same level, so if they did not fully fund everyone immediately, there are wrestlers still on partials.
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