Wrestling Notebook

Wolfpack Back Home For Matches Vs. Campbell, Appalachian State:
After sweeping three consecutive dual matches away from Reynolds Coliseum, the NC State wrestling team (7-6 overall, 2-1 ACC) returns home this week for a pair of matches against in-state foes before heading out on the road again the following week.

The Wolfpack will wrestle Campbell (3-6) on Wednesday, January 31 at 7:30 p.m., and then will take on Appalachian State (3-3) on Saturday, February 3 at 2 p.m. Both matches will be at Reynolds Coliseum, and both will be free to the public.

The Series With Campbell and Appalachian State:
NC State has wrestled Campbell 12 times in the Bob Guzzo era (since 1974-75) and has never lost to the Camels. The closest match in the series was the Wolfpack's 19-18 victory a year ago at Buies Creek. This season marks the third consecutive season in which the two programs have faced one another. The Camels are coached by former NC State assistant coach Dave Auble.

NC State has wrestled Appalachian State 18 times since Guzzo took over the program, and the Wolfpack has won all but one of the 18 meetings. The Mountaineers took a 22-19 victory over the Pack in 1993-94. The Pack has won the last seven meetings between the two schools, including two victories a year ago. The Wolfpack defeated Appalachian State 26-15 at the NC State Duals in early January, and then crushed the Mountaineers 34-3 on February 5 in Boone.

The Wolfpack Sweeps A Pair In Virginia:
NC State wrestled a split-venue doubleheader this past Saturday, January 27, and came away with a doubleheader sweep over ACC rival Virginia and non-conference foe James Madison. The Wolfpack wrestled the Cavaliers at 1 p.m. in Charlottesville and ran its ACC record to 2-1 with a 23-10 team victory. NC State won all but three matches, including seven of the first nine.

After defeating the Cavaliers, the Wolfpack jumped back on the bus and traveled up I-81 to Harrisonburg to wrestle JMU at 7 p.m. The Wolfpack spotted the Dukes leads of 7-0 and 10-4 before winning the final seven matches enroute to an easy 26-10 victory. That win lifted the Pack's overall record above the .500 mark in dual matches at 7-6.

Career-Best Winning Streaks:
Three NC State wrestlers are riding winning streaks that are the longest of their respective careers. Senior Zach Breitenbach (18-4 at 197) has won his last nine matches * a career high * 11 of his last 12, and 14 of his last 16. He has won his last three by either major decision or technical fall. Breitenbach enters action this week ranked 13th nationally by Amateur Wrestling News.

At 125, redshirt sophomore George Cintron is 14-6 on the season after a slow start and has won four in a row * a career high * eight of his last nine, and 11 of his last 13. Cintron's current four-match winning streak is his second of the season.

At 157, redshirt-junior Pierre Pryor is 14-3 on the season and has won nine in a row, also a career high. Pryor has won 11 of his last 12 matches, and 18 of his last 21 dating back to last season. Pryor also has won his last 10 matches against Atlantic Coast Conference competition. Ten of Pryor's 14 victories this season have been by fall or major decision.

Beating Ranked Opponents:
So far this season, the Wolfpack has faced 25 ranked individual opponents and defeated seven of them, the team's best mark vs. ranked wrestlers in several years. The Pack was 4-30 vs. ranked opponents a year ago, and 9-37 in 1999.

Leading the way vs. ranked opponents this season has been senior 197-pounder Zach Breitenbach (3-3) and Scott Garren (2-1). A year ago, no NC State wrestlers had more than one win against ranked opponents, and only Pierre Pryor, at 1-0, has a winning record against ranked foes.

Breitenbach Named ACC Wrestler of the Week For Second Time:
For the second time in three weeks, NC State senior 197-pounder Zach Breitenbach has been named the ACC Wrestler of the Week. Breitenbach, currently ranked 13th nationally by Amateur Wrestling News, scored heavy team points for the Wolfpack in its doubleheader sweep over Virginia and James Madison on January 27, picking up a 17-1 technical fall over Virginia's Zach Freday in the afternoon bout, and then winning a 13-2 major decision over James Madison's Steve Kodish that evening. Breitenbach, 18-4 on the season, now has won three in a row by either major decision or technical fall.

The two wins extended Breitenbach's current winning streak to nine matches, a career high. He has won 11 of his last 12, 14 of his last 16, and 32 of his last 42 dating back to last season.

Milestones: Senior Tommy Davis (149 pounds) now has 67 career victories and needs just 10 more wins to break into NC State's top 10 list for career victories ... Senior Zach Breitenbach (197) heads into action this week with an 18-4 record for the season and needs two more wins to become a 20-match winner for the second time in his career. He went 20-10 a year ago ... Breitenbach's next victory will be his 60th career win. He will join Davis as the only active NC State wrestlers with at least 60 career wins ... With two more victories, redshirt sophomore George Cintron (125) will have 30 wins for his career.

NC State's Recent 20-Bout Winners:
With 18 wins already to his credit, senior 197-pounder Zach Breitenbach has an outside chance of becoming just the 11th wrestler in school history to record 30 wins in a season, and the first since Sylvester Terkay went 41-0 in 1992-93. Breitenbach needs two more victories to become the first NC State wrestler to record 20 wins in back-to-back seasons since Tommy Davis in 1997-98 and 1998-99. Davis went 20-8 as a freshman at 126 in 1998, and then went 23-6 at 141 in 1999. Prior to Davis, the last NC State wrestler to post consecutive 20-match wins was Mike Miller in 1994-95 and 1995-96. Miller went 29-4 in 1994-95 and then followed that up with a 27-6 mark in 1995-96. Breitenbach, 18-4 this season, went 20-10 a year ago.

Following is a list of all Wolfpack wrestlers who have won 20 or more matches since the 1990-91 season:

        Wrestler                Year    W-L
        Ricky Strausbaugh       90-91   21-11
        Clayton Grice           90-91   21-8
        Mark Mangrum            90-91   25-9
        Sylvester Terkay        90-91   32-3
        Mark Cesari             91-92   28-6
        Steve Williams          91-92   29-7
        Sylvester Terkay        91-92   35-2
        Mike Miller             92-93   20-17
        Mark Cesari             92-93   27-6
        Chris Kwortnik          92-93   25-2
        Dan Madson              92-93   21-12
        Sylvester Terkay        92-93   41-0
        Mike Miller             94-95   29-4
        Wayne Jackson           94-95   22-9
        Troy Charney            94-95   23-8
        Kirk Stehman            94-95   24-8
        Mike Miller             95-96   27-6
        Anthony Sorantino       95-96   22-13
        Dan Madson              95-96   28-8
        Lee Carroll             96-97   23-12
        Jelani Chase            96-97   23-9
        Tommy Davis             97-98   20-8
        Billy Blunt             97-98   23-9
        Tommy Davis             98-99   23-6
        Kevin Boross            98-99   23-8
        Joel Dramis             99-00   21-7
        Zach Breitenbach        99-00   20-10

Individual Wrestler's Notes

George Cintron, 125, So., Wellington, Fla.

14-6 in 2001, 28-13 career.

Has a 4-2 career mark vs. ACC opponents.

Has had two winning streaks this season of four matches, a career high, and the second of those streaks is current * The first four-match streak came during the Duke Duals and the NC State Duals.

Has won eight of his last nine matches, with the one loss at the hands of 17th-ranked Ryan Escobar of Illinois.

Has won 11 of his last 13 matches, dating back to the Lehigh Duals in December.

Is 1-2 vs. ranked wrestlers.

Ryan McCallum, 133, Fr., Reading, Pa.

8-8 with 1 fall in 2001.

Is 0-3 vs. ACC opponents.

Lost to 20th-ranked Brandon York of Maryland 6-1 on January 20, his first college match against a rankled wreslter.

Snapped a four-match losing streak this past Saturday evening with a 7-2 win over Dalton Head of JMU.

Won a career-high six straight matches prior to the four-match losing streak.

Struggled against tough competition early, dropping four of his first five matches at the Navy Invitational and the Lehigh Duals.

Oraefo Brown, 141, So. Miami, Fla.

6-7 in 2001, 17-20 with 1 fall career.

Has a 6-2 career mark vs. ACC competition.

Has won three of his last four matches, and five of his last seven after a 1-5 start.

Won three in a row earlier in the year, one shy of his career-best winning streak of four matches.

Tommy Davis, 149, Sr., Newark, Del.

8-2 in 2001, 67-20 career.

Has a 21-5 career mark vs. ACC opposition.

Two-time ACC champion (141 pounds in 1999) (149 pounds in 2000)

Took a pair of major decisions on the road on January 27, defeating Ernesto Vera of Virginia by a 16-5 score in Charlottesville, and then hammering Brian Consolvo of James Madison 13-5 that evening * Has won three in a row, all by major decisions.

Took a 17-7 major decision over Maryland's Bryan Robinovitz on Janaury 20 at College Park to snap a two-match losing streak.

Has never lost three matches in a row, and has lost two in a row only two times, once this season and once in February 1999.

Both losses this season came to national top 10 wrestlers (#1 Adam Tirapelle of Illinois, and #8 JohnMark Bentley of UNC) * Has lost only six times in his career to unranked wrestlers, and just twice since his freshman season.

Has won 21 of his last 25 matches dating back to last season, including a career-best 12-match winning streak last season * Had winning streaks of nine and 10 matches earlier in his career.

The loss to Bentley this season was his first to an ACC foe in two years, snapping a streak of 12 consecutive wins vs. ACC opponents.

Needs 10 wins to crack the NC State career top 10 for victories.

Pierre Pryor, 157, R-Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.

14-3 with 4 falls in 2001, 54-22 with 17 falls career.

Has a 13-4 career record vs. ACC opposition.

The 1999 ACC champion at 157.

Received a medical hardship last season after fracturing his wrist the first day of the season.

Ten of his 14 wins this season have been by fall or major decision.

Has now won a career-high nine matches in a row * Previous longest streak was seven in a row over the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons, winning all four matches a year ago and his first three this season.

Has won 11 of his last 12 matches * Has won 18 of his last 21 matches, including seven first-period falls and five major decisions, dating back to the beginning of the 1999-2000 season.

Has won his last 10 matches vs. ACC competition.

Currently ranks ninth in school history with 17 career pins.

Scott Garren, 165, So., Paulsboro, N.J.

16-7 with 2 falls in 2001, 32-13 with 6 falls career.

Is 6-2 lifetime vs. the ACC.

The defending ACC champion at 157.

Ranked 12th nationally by Amateur Wrestling News.

Had a five-match winning streak snapped January 20 at Maryland, his first-ever ACC loss.

Has won five in a row twice this season * Career-longest winning streak was seven matches a year ago.

Is 2-1 vs. ranked opponents this season, with both victories coming against wrestlers ranked in the top 10.

Has two falls, one technical fall and four major decisions to his credit this season.

Has won six of his last eight matches, 11 of his last 15, 15 of his last 21, and 24 of his last 33 dating back to last season.

Dustin Kawa, 174, R-Fr., Lithonia, Ga.

9-9 with 1 fall in 2001.

Has a 3-1 record vs. ACC opponents.

NC State's first-ever high school national champion.

Split a pair of road decisions on January 27, defeating Virginia's Brian Muir 10-4, but dropping a 7-5 loss to James Madison's Nathan Rickman in sudden death.

Overcame a 6-1 first-period deficit on January 20 to post a 10-9 victory over Sal Aquia at Maryland and snap a two-match losing streak.

Both losses in the losing streak were last-second heartbreakers to ranked wrestlers * Lost 2-1 on riding time in overtime to Illinois' Ben King (#7) at the NC State Duals, and then lost 5-3 to UNC's Corey Bell (#14) on a takedown with three seconds left in the match three days later.

Has won six of his last nine matches.

Won a career-high four in a row during the Duke Duals and the NC State Duals, including a pin and a major decision.

Jason Gore, 184, R-Jr., Cary, N.C.

4-14 in 2001, 14-31 with 1 fall career.

Is 5-7 lifetime vs. the ACC.

Has lost 11 of 13 matches since a 2-1 start.

Zach Breitenbach, 197, Sr. Cary, N.C.

18-4 with 1 fall in 2001, 59-34 with 4 falls career.

Has a 14-4 career record vs. ACC opponents.

Academic All-American and ACC Honor Roll

Ranked 10th nationally by Intermat, and 13th by Amateur Wrestling News.

Is 3-3 this season vs. ranked opponents.

Has won nine matches in a row, a new career high * Previous longest winning streak was five matches, which he did once a year ago.

Has won three in a row by either major decisions or technical fall.

Has won 11 of his last 12 matches, 14 of his last 16, and 32 of his last 42 matches, dating back to the 1999 Lehigh Invitational.

Has suffered back-to-back losses just three times in the last two seasons, and just once in 2000-01.

Has a 38-14 mark over the last two seasons.

Was named ACC Wrestler of the Week the week of January 6-13.

Ricky Fowler, Hwt., Fr., Columbus, Ga.

3-2 in 2001.

Is 2-1 career vs. ACC opponents.

A member of the Wolfpack football team * Started the last four games of the season at defensive tackle as a true freshman.

David DeBinder, Hwt., Fr., Cary, N.C.

2-4 in 2001.

Got his first career win the Lehigh Duals, defeating Lock Haven's Jarred Dressler, 5-3.

North Carolina State University Athletics

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