North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Vs. Duke Wrestling Match Moved To Wednesday
2/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 25, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State-Duke wrestling match -- originally scheduled for February 18 at Reynolds Coliseum and moved to Thursday, February 27 at Duke -- has been rescheduled again for Wednesday, February 26 at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Wolfpack, 7-10 in dual matches overall and 1-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, is coming off a 30-16 loss at Iowa State that had more good news than bad. The bad news was that NC State had to forfeit matches at 125 and 174, where injured starters George Cintron (16-5 and the two-time defending ACC champion at 125) and Kevin Gabrielson (7-6 overall and 3-3 at 174) are out for the rest of the regular season.
The best news to come out of the match was that two injured starters -- junior 157-pounder Scott Garren and junior 165-pounder Dustin Kawa - both wrestled well against strong competition.
Garren, who has battled a concussion and a knee injury this season, improved to 13-0 on the season with a 13-8 decision over Nathan Meyer. Garren is ranked No. 12 in the nation at 157 by Intermat. Kawa, meanwhile, improved to 19-4 overall and 13-2 at 165 with a 13-5 major decision over Iowa State's Nick Passolano, who came into the bout ranked 11th nationally. Kawa's only loss was a sudden-death tiebreaker loss to Virginia's Will Durkee on February 15. He has won 13 of his last 14 bouts, but has mysteriously failed to crack the national rankings.
The Wolfpack also got strong performances at Iowa State from junior 149-pounder Jake Giamoni, who defeated Nate Gallick 3-2. Giamoni, 17-8 on the season, now has won 10 matches in a row, matching his career high, and has won 12 of his last 14.
The Blue Devils are 9-9 overall and 1-2 in the ACC. They are led by senior 125-pounder Tommy Hoang (13-5) and junior 165-pounder Mike Mitchell (29-9), who will be matched up against Kawa in what could be the headliner bout of the evening.
The match will be the final regular-season bout of the season for both teams. The Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament will be held Saturday, March 8, at Appalachian State as part of Mat Jam, which also will include the Southern Conference Tournament.
