North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Wrestling Hits The Road For Lehigh, Navy
2/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 6, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. - Riding a season-best three-match winning streak, the NC State wrestling team faces its biggest challenge of the dual-match season to date when it travels to Bethlehem, Pa., and Annapolis, Md., this Friday and Saturday, February 7-8, for matches vs. Lehigh and Navy, respectively.
Facing those two traditional wrestling powers should be daunting enough, but the Wolfpack will have to take the mat without two of its top starters, junior 157-pounder Scott Garren and sophomore 174-pounder Kevin Gabrielson, both of whom are sidelined with injuries.
Garren, 10-0 and ranked No. 15 in the nation at 157 by Intermat, injured his left knee January 30 vs. UNC Greensboro and may need arthroscopic surgery, which would keep him out of action for a minimum of 10 days. Gabrielson, 7-6 overall and 3-3 at 174, is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair a torn tendon in his left thumb and will be out for the remainder of the regular season. He should be back in time for the ACC Tournament on March 8.
Lehigh in particular would have been a challenging bout even with Garren and Gabrielson in the lineup. The Mountain Hawks are currently 13-3 overall, ranked No. 5 nationally in the latest Intermat poll, and have won nine dual matches in a row. Lehigh has seven individual wrestlers ranked in the latest Intermat individual rankings, led by top-ranked 197-pounder Jon Trenge and third-ranked 165-pounder Troy Letters.
Navy, which is wrestling North Carolina on Saturday afternoon prior to taking on the Wolfpack, is 5-6 overall in what is a disappointing season for the Midshipmen. Still, Navy features a veteran lineup led by sophomore Sam Gray at 125, junior Frank Edwards at 165, and senior Jim Letchford at 197.
NC State has overcome a 2-5 start to the dual-match portion of the season and heads into action this weekend at 5-5 after a 25-12 win this past weekend at Old Dominion. Senior 125-pounder George Cintron and junior 165-pounder Dustin Kawa will put nine-match winning streaks on the line this weekend.
Cintron, the two-time defending ACC champion at 125, is 12-4 and has not lost since stumbling to a 3-4 start. Kawa, the defending ACC champion at 174, has dropped down to 165 and has been on a tear since making the change in early January, posting a 9-1 record at 165 and winning nine in a row, . His only loss at 165 was a 5-1 decision to Oklahoma's Wes Roberts on January 2. Kawa's average margin of victory in his winning streak has been 10 points. He has three major decisions and a technical fall in his winning streak.
In addition to Cintron and Kawa, junior 149-pounder Jake Giamoni enters the weekend on a hot streak for NC State. The defending ACC champion at 149, Giamoni has recovered from a five-match losing streak that dropped his record to 5-7, and now has won three matches in a row and five of his last six. He was named ACC Wrestler of the Week last week after going 3-0 with a fall, a technical fall and a major decision in NC State's victories over Campbell, UNC Greensboro and Old Dominion. His current winning streak has improved his overall mark to 10-8.
