North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Wrestling Hits The Road For Maryland
1/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 16, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. - For the NC State wrestling team, the road to victory hopefully will be on the road this weekend when the Wolfpack travels to College Park, Md., to take on the Maryland Terrapins in Atlantic Coast Conference action.
The Wolfpack, 1-4 in dual matches, is looking to rebound from a 21-13 defeat at the hands of arch-rival North Carolina on January 14. Maryland, 2-2 after a 26-9 loss to Navy on January 15, has a young team team led by junior 184-pounder Jake Stork (25-4 and ranked No. 19 nationally), senior 197-pounder Sal Aquia (11-4), and freshman 141-pounder John-Henry Zarzycki (16-6).
"Any time you go on the road it's a challenge," Wolfpack coach Bob Guzzo says. "Maryland has a young team, but they've got a lot of talent, especially with guys like Stork and Aquia, who are tested veterans. We'll need to wrestle very well in order to win."
The Wolfpack has been led all season by senior 125-pounder George Cintron, junior 157-pounder Scott Garren and junior 165-pounder Dustin Kawa. Cintron, the defending ACC champion, is 8-4 after a 2-1 sudden-death victory over ninth-ranked Chris Rodrigues of North Carolina, and has won four matches in a row. Garren is undefeated at 8-0 in a comeback from major knee surgery, and has battled a concussion he suffered in practice two weeks ago. Kawa, who just moved down from 174 to 165 following the holiday break, is 4-1 at 165 and 8-3 overall. He is the defending ACC champion at 174, and has won four matches in a row.
NC State Wrestling Notes: In Guzzo's 28-plus seasons with the Wolfpack, NC State holds a 19-9 overall record in dual matches against Maryland. The Wolfpack has won the last three meetings between the two schools, including a 24-13 decision a year ago at Reynolds Coliseum.
It has been a different story for NC State on the road against the Terrapins, however. The Pack is just 6-8 at College Park during Guzzo's tenure. NC State defeated the Terps at College Park two years ago by a 21-13 score, but that was the Wolfpack's first win there since a 17-14 win in 1991. The win over the Terps in 2001 snapped a four-match losing streak at Maryland.
Garren Remains Unbeaten: NC State's Scott Garren comes into the Maryland bout undefeated at 8-0 and riding a 13-match winning streak that dates back to February 2001. Garren's 8-0 start this season is the best start to a season by an NC State wrestler since heavyweight Sylvester Terkay went 41-0 and won the national championship in 1993.
A junior 157-pounder from Gibbstown, N.J., Garren missed the final two dual-meet bouts in 2001 and all of 2001-02 while recovering from reconstructive knee surgery. Garren, who has won 18 of his last 20 matches, has a 44-13 career record.
Garren's eight-match streak this season is the longest in-season winning streak of his career, and his overall 13-match winning streak also is a career best. Both are the longest current streaks on the team, and his 13-match winning streak is the second-longest by any current NC State wrestler. Cintron had a 14-match winning streak a year ago.
Gabrielson Returns: Despite the loss to North Carolina, the Wolfpack got a boost with the return to action of sophomore Kevin Gabrielson, who moved up to 174 and wrestled well before tiring in the third period against Mark Canty and losing 4-3.
Gabrielson had been out of action with a high ankle sprain since the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on December 6-7. He was 4-3 at 165, including a convincing 6-4 win over 15th-ranked Oscar Santiago of Purdue in the Vegas tournament, before moving up to 174.
Flip-Flopping The Lineup: Gabrielson's move to 174 was precipitated by Kawa's drop from 174 to 165. At 8-3 on the season, Kawa is now 4-1 at the lower weight and has won his last four matches in a row. Kawa, a former high school national champion, spent his first two seasons at NC State wrestling at 174, and won the 2002 ACC championship at that weight.
Gabrielson came to NC State a year ago as a 157-pounder and was a part-time starter, posting a 7-8 record at 157 and 7-10 overall.
Fowler Back In Action: Heavyweight Ricky Fowler made his season debut at the NC State Duals, but lost on a medical default in his only bout. Fowler, an offensive lineman on the Wolfpack football team, was 6-5 two years ago as a true freshman. He redshirted a year ago, and is 0-2 so far in 2003.
Milestone: Senior 125-pounder George Cintron's three victories at the NC State Duals last weekend gave him 60 career victories at NC State. He is 61-27 in three-plus seasons.
Cintron vs. Rodrigues, Part IV: Cintron and North Carolina's Chris Rodrigues wrestled three times a year ago, and while all three bouts were close, each was more competitive and more thrilling than the one before it.
The two put a climax to their season with a breathtaking overtime cliffhanger in the finals of the ACC Tournament. Each wrestler got an escape in regulation, but Cintron managed a takedown midway through the one-minute overtime to capture the championship, 3-1.
On January 14 at Reynolds Coliseum, they resumed their very friendly rivalry with a near-carbon copy of the championship bout. There was no score after one period. Cintron got a point on an escape in the second period, and Rodrigues matched that in the third, sending the bout into overtime. This time, despite some tumbling near-misses and semi-calamities for both wrestlers, the overtime period was scoreless. Cintron won the coin toss for the sudden-death tiebreaker, took the down position, and managed to escape with just six second remaining, giving him his third consecutive entertaining win over the UNC All-American.
On Deck: The Wolfpack will next be in action on January 24 at VMI. NC State's next home wrestling match will be January 30, a doubleheader against Campbell and UNC Greensboro.
