North Carolina State University Athletics
Tar Heels Edge Wolfpack In ACC Wrestling Showdown, 16-14
1/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
RALEIGH, N.C. - Eighth-ranked JohnMark Bentley handed NC State's Tommy Davis a 5-0 defeat at 149 pounds in the marquee matchup of the evening, and North Carolina went on to hand the Wolfpack a 16-14 defeat in Atlantic Coast Conference wrestling Tuesday night (Jan. 16) at Reynolds Coliseum.
The Tar Heels evened their overall dual-match record at 2-2, while the Wolfpack dropped to 4-6. The match was the ACC opener for both teams.
"It was a very evenly fought match," NC State wrestling coach Bob Guzzo said. "They got a major decision, and we had a team point taken away for an unsportsmanlike conduct call, and that was the difference in the match. I'm really proud of the way our guys competed. We just have to go back to the practice room and keep working to get better."
Bentley's win over Davis gave North Carolina a 16-11 lead with one match remaining. The Wolfpack's Pierre Pryor rode Chris DiGuiseppe for four solid minutes at 157, but was unable to roll him over for the potential match-winning pin. Pryor wound up winning 3-0.
NC State's Scott Garren, ranked 12th at 165, began the match with a relatively easy 9-6 win over Jake Reynolds, but the Tar Heels tied the match with Corey Bell's 5-3 win over Dustin Kawa at 174. Kawa was nursing a 3-2 lead when he was penalized a point for stalling, tying the match at 3-3 late in the final period. Bell then got the winning takedown with just three seconds left in the match in what proved to be a huge turning point.
UNC's Nick Richmond, ranked 15th at 184, then took a 15-5 major decision over Jason Gore to give the Tar Heels a 7-3 team lead. The teams alternated winning every other match the rest of the way, but NC State was unable to overcome the four-point deficit in the team scoring.
The match featured five ranked wrestlers, and all five won. NC State's Zach Breitenbach defeated Clint Osborne 8-2 at 197 to go with Garren's match-opening victory, and Bell, Richmond and Bentley all won for the Tar Heels.
North Carolina 16, NC State 14
125 - George Cintron (NCS) dec. Chris Collins, 8-6
133 - Brad Byers (UNC) dec. Ryan McCallum, 6-4
141 - Oraefo Brown (NCS) dec. Mike Booth, 8-2
149 - #8 JohnMark Bentley (UNC) dec. Tommy Davis, 5-0
157 - Pierre Pryor (NCS) dec. Chris DiGuiseppe, 3-0
165 - #12 Scott Garren (NCS) dec. Jake Reynolds, 9-6
174 - #14 Corey Bell (UNC) dec. Dustin Kawa, 5-3
184 - #15 Nick Richmond (UNC) dec. Jason Gore, 15-5
197 - #16 Zach Breitenbach (NCS) dec. Clint Osborne, 8-2
Hwt - Ryan Adams (UNC) dec. Ricky Fowler, 7-2
