Feb. 23, 2008

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - TarHeelBlue.com recently met up with freshman 174-pound grappler Kyle Kiss, who is a native of Loch Arbour, N.J., and holds a 16-13 record on the season. Kiss and the Tar Heels host a pair of duals in Chapel Hill Saturday.

THB.com: Overall, how has your freshman season been going for you?
Kiss: It has been a long season, but a good season. I have learned a lot. I'm just making a lot of adjustments from wrestling in high school to wrestling in college. The season is a lot longer, and practices are a lot harder. Everyone you wrestle is good. It's not like high school when you wrestle guys who are not so good. The adjustments have been the biggest difficulty of my season, but it's been going well.

THB.com: You were thrown into the starting line-up midseason at 174 pounds. How was that transition going from a reserve to a starter?
Kiss: Well, coaches told me to be ready even though I was redshirting, and at one of the tournaments Coach told me he was going to pulling me out of my redshirt. He told me to be ready the whole season, so I always knew there was a possibility of wrestling. There wasn't really much of a transition.

THB.com: You've done really well during your duals portion of the season. What has been the difference for you?
Kiss: Staying relaxed is the biggest part. Every match is a new match whether you won or lost the match before that. Taking each match one at a time really helps me.

THB.com: How has the preparation been for the upcoming ACC Championships?
Kiss: Well, starting this week we have been running every morning at 6:30 a.m., and then we've been practicing at 3 o'clock. We have definitely been putting more time into our practices. The next two weeks are going to be (rough), but it will pay off. We've been working a lot harder.

THB.com: The team is coming off of an emotional loss last season at the ACCs. How is the team doing heading into the championships?
Kiss: I think everyone is really hungry because of last season's ACCs. I think everyone wants to win real badly but we're not over-zealous - we're steady.

THB.com: How do you see the rest of the season panning out for the team?
Kiss: I hope we win ACCs, and I think it is very possible. Everyone has been looking a lot better in the last couple of matches. Everyone wants to win real badly, so we'll see how it goes.

The Carolina grapplers have a pair of dual matches this weekend before a two week break from competition prior to the ACC Championships. The Heels will face off against The Citadel at 1 p.m. and then Campbell University at 3 p.m. in Carmichael Auditorium.