Wrestling Debuts 2022-23 Captains Before Wrestle-Offs Friday

CHAPEL HILL, NC The North Carolina wrestling team has named four captains for the 2022-23 season. Austin O’Connor, Clay Lautt, Gino Esposito and Lachlan McNeil will lead the team for the upcoming season.

O’Connor, a Graduate student from Lockport, Ill., and the 2021 NCAA Champion at 149 pounds, Returns in his final season as a Tar Heel after a 21-3 overall record in 2021-22. Competing at 157 pounds, they finished last season as the second four-time All America in program history.

Lautt, a Graduate student from Olathe, Kan., returns at 174 pounds after a runner-up finish at the ACC Championships as well as All-America honors last season.

Esposito, from Milford, Conn., heads into the season at 174 pounds, looking to compete for the first time since 2020 as a graduate student.

McNeil, a red shirt freshman from Toronto, starts the season after competing at the World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia representing Team Canada and will compete in the 141-pound weight class.

All four captains, with the rest of the wrestling roster, are to compete in the Carolina Blue and White Wrestle-Offs on Friday, October 21, at 7:00 pm at Carmichael Arena.

Free and open to the public, Wrestle-Offs will be the first time fans can see the 2022-23 Tar Heels in action as the team solidifies the lineup for the upcoming season.