NC State
North Carolina
NC State Wrestling Pins Tar Heels On Gabrielson Fall
2/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 13, 2002
RALEIGH - Leading by four points heading into the final bout of the evening, NC State's Kevin Gabrielson pinned James O'Connor at 4:47 in the 157-pound match Wednesday at Reynolds Coliseum to cinch a 22-12 ACC wrestling victory for the Wolfpack over North Carolina.
NC State evened its team record to 7-7 with the victory, while North Carolina, which had taken a 21-9 victory over the Pack in Chapel Hill earlier this season, fell to 11-4 in dual-match competition.
Gabrielson's pin enabled NC State to break open a closely fought bout that appeared to be going down to the wire. The Wolfpack won five of the first nine matches, and took the only major decision of the evening when 17th-ranked Pierre Pryor beat Chris DiGuiseppe 19-6 at 165 in the first bout of the night.The Pack went on to take three of the first four matches and four of the first six in building an early seven-point lead. Dustin Kawa, ranked 18th at 174, beat Mark Canty 9-5 to make it 7-0 Wolfpack before Dusty Heist got the Tar Heels on the board with a 9-5 decision over Jon Godwin at 184.
North Carolina made a strategic move by moving Nick Richmond up a classification, from 184 to 197, but NC State's Jason Gore got four takedowns enroute to a 10-7 decision that pushed the lead back to seven points at 10-3. UNC heavyweight Ryan Adams defeated Ngozi Collins 6-2 to cut the lead to 10-6, but NC State's George Cintron pushed the lead back to seven points at 13-6 with a 3-2 decision over Chris Rodrigues, taking the lead in the bout with a second-period takedown.
North Carolina won the next two matches to cut the Wolfpack lead to a single point at 13-12. Evan Sola got the decision over Clarence Davis by an 8-2 score at 133, but Davis managed a crucial third-period reversal to avert a major decision. That prevented UNC's Brad Byers from tying the team score when he decisioned Ryan McCallum 6-4 at 141. Instead, the Wolfpack clung to a one-point lead at 13-12 heading into the final two matches of the evening.
Jake Giamoni gave NC State a 16-12 lead with a 7-4 decision over Mike Booth at 149, which meant North Carolina needed a major decision from O'Connor at 157 to tie the team score and decide the bout on criteria. O'Connor had a 3-2 lead in the second period, but Gabrielson made a quick reversal for two points, and O'Connor wound up on his back and could not escape the pin after Gabrielson made his move to gain the advantage.
NC State 22, North Carolina 12
165 - Pierre Pryor (NCS) major dec. Chris DiGuiseppe, 19-6
174 - Dustin Kawa (NCS) dec. Mark Canty, 9-5
184 - Dusty Heist (UNC) dec. Jon Godwin, 9-5
197 - Jason Gore (NCS) dec. Nick Richmond, 10-7
Hwt - Ryan Adams (UNC) dec. Ngozi Collins, 6-2
125 - George Cintron (NCS) dec. Chris Rodrigues, 3-2
133 - Evan Sola (UNC) dec. Clarence Davis, 8-2
141 - Brad Byers (UNC) dec. Ryan McCallum, 6-4
149 - Jake Giamoni (NCS) dec. Mike Booth, 7-4
157 - Kevin Gabrielson (NCS) wbf James O'Connor, at 4:47
