The North Carolina Wrestling team was thrown for a loop in August of 2023 when head coach Coleman Scott departed from the program to become an associate head coach for Oklahoma State. 

The Tar Heels didn’t need to think too long on who would replace Scott. 

The program hired longtime former Cornell coach and Stanford coach Rob Koll. But before Koll was ever at those programs, he was a UNC wrestling legend. Koll was a 1988 NCAA National Champion for the Tar Heels and was hired 10 days after Scott left. 

Koll was the head coach at Cornell for 28 years before moving to Stanford the last two seasons. He’s coached 74 All-Americans, a Hodge Trophy winner and 16 NCAA Champions in his career. 

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Koll inherits the No.17-ranked team in the FloWrestling preseason rankings. UNC finished 12th at the NCAA Championships in 2023 and returns two All-Americans in Lachlan McNeil and Gavin Kane. The pair will need to come up big as the program lost two-time national champion Austin O’Connor to graduation. 

McNeil is the No. 4-ranked wrestler at 141-pounds in the FloWrestling preseason rankings. Kane is the No.6 wrestler at 184. 

The season begins on Nov. 2 at the Carolina Duals against Greensboro College, Queens and Pac-12 heavyweight, Oregon State. The Tar Heels then head to the Journeyman’s Wranglemania in Bethlehem, Pa. to face Buffalo and another Pac-12 team, Arizona on Nov. 11. 

Wranglemania and its sibling event, Journeymen Classic, are both streaming live on FloWrestling and the FloSports app.

UNC will also be one of a number of top-ranked programs heading to the desert for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational from Dec. 1-2. The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational is streaming live on FloWrestling and the FloSports app. 

Take a look at the upcoming UNC Wrestling schedule. 

North Carolina Wrestling Schedule 2023-2024

• Nov. 2: Greensboro College; Chapel Hill, N.C.                         
• Nov. 2: Queens; Chapel Hill, N.C.                         
• Nov. 2: Oregon State; Chapel Hill, N.C.                         
• Nov. 11: Buffalo; Bethlehem, Pa.                            
• Nov. 11: Arizona State; Bethlehem, Pa.                            
• Nov. 19: Central Michigan; Champaign, Ill.                           
• Nov. 19: Illinois; Champaign, Ill.                           
• Dec. 1-2: Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational; Las Vegas, Nev.                           
• Dec. 16: Morgan State; Chapel Hill, N.C.                         
• Dec. 17: Appalachian State; Boone, N.C.                               
• Dec. 29: Soldier Salute; Iowa City, Iowa                           
• Jan. 12: Penn; Chapel Hill, N.C.                         
• Jan. 13: Brown; Chapel Hill, N.C.                         
• Jan. 13: Harvard; Chapel Hill, N.C.                         
• Jan. 26: Virginia Tech; Blacksburg, Va.                           
• Jan. 28: Navy; Chapel Hill, N.C.                         
• Feb. 2: NC State; Raleigh, N.C.                             
• Feb. 9: Pitt; Chapel Hill, N.C.                         
• Feb. 16: Virginia; Charlottesville, Va.                      
• Feb. 23: Duke; Chapel Hill, N.C.                         

When is the 2024 ACC Wrestling Tournament? 

The ACC Championship is March 10 in Chapel Hill, N.C. North Carolina State won the ACC Championship in 2023 with Virginia Tech finishing second. 

When is the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Tournament?

The NCAA Wrestling Championships are March 21- 23 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. 

More North Carolina Wrestling News

Here are more North Carolina Wrestling headlines: 

• Early Line-up Look: North Carolina Tar Heels
• How Every College Did At The 2023 World Championships
• The 2023-24 NCAA D1 Middleweight Redshirt Report