North Carolina
ACC Championships
Carolina Wrestlers Finish Second At ACC Tournament
March 9, 2002 | Wrestling
March 9, 2002
The UNC wrestling team totaled 72.5 points to finish second to NC State's 83 points at the 2002 ACC wrestling championships held at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh. Carolina's Matt Kenny was UNC's lone champion, but four Tar Heels placed second and four added third-place finishes.
Kenny captured his fourth-consecutive title in the heavyweight division with a 6-1 decision over Virginia's Ryan Painter . Kenny is joins Justin Harty as the only Tar Heels to win the ACC title four times at heavyweight.
Four Tar Heels finished in the runner-up position. Chris Rodrigues at 125 pounds, Evan Sola at 133 pounds, Mike Booth at 149 pounds and Mark Canty at 174 pounds. Rodrigues lost a hard-fought 3-1 decision to NC State's George Cintron in overtime, and Virginia's Joe Alexander used a late one-point escape to defeat Sola, 5-4. Canty suffered a narrow 3-2 loss to NC State's Dustin Kawa, while Booth fell to NC State's Jake Giamoni, 5-1.
Carolina's Brad Byers placed third at 141 pounds with a 6-2 decision over NC State's Ryan McCallum, and Jimmy O'Connor beat Maryland's John Antonelli 4-2 at 157 pounds. Nick Richmond scored a 16-6 major decision over NC State's Kevin Gabrielson to take third at 184 pounds, while Venroy July beat Maryland's Rob Vorhies to finish third at 197 pounds.
Chris DiGuiseppe also wrestled for Carolina at 165 pounds.
"I'm very proud of Matt winning his fourth championship," said UNC coach Bill Lam. "I'm also pleased with the way we came back and wrestled in the consolation rounds. They made the difference and helped us to our second-place finish. We lost some close matches early, and to come back and wrestle that way shows a lot about the character of our guys."
Following the championship round, NCAA Tournament qualifiers were announced, and five Tar Heels earned berths for their performances this season. Kenny, Rodrigues, Sola, Byers, and Canty will represent UNC at Nationals March 21-23 in Albany, N.Y.
2002 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships
Championship Round Results
125 - George Cintron (NCS) dec. Chris Rodrigues (UNC), 3-1 OT
133 - Joe Alexander (UVa) dec. Evan Sola (UNC), 5-4
141 - Brandon York (Md) dec. Bob Seidel (UVa), 6-2
149 - Jake Giamoni (NCS) dec. Mike Booth (UNC), 5-1
157 - Tim Foley (UVa) dec. Dave Miller (NCS), 5-3
165 - Pierre Pryor (NCS) dec. Mike Mitchell (DU), 9-7
174 - Dustin Kawa (NCS) dec. Mark Canty (UNC), 3-2
184 - Jimi Massey (UVa) dec. Jake Stork (Md), 9-3
197 - Jason Gore (NCS) dec. Daegan Smith (DU), 8-3
Hwt - Matt Kenny (UNC) dec. Ryan Painter (UVa) 6-1
