March 3, 2001

CHAPEL HILL --- NC State's Zach Breitenbach defeated Clint Osborn of North Carolina, 8-2, at 197 pounds to clinch the Atlantic Coast Conference wrestling championship for the Wolfpack Saturday evening at UNC's Carmichael Auditorium.

University of Maryland finished fourth in the team standings. Brandon York at 133 and Mark Mansueto at 141 captured individual titles for the Terps. It was the third straight conference championship for York.

The ACC contested its wrestling championship concurrently with the Colonial Athletic Association and the Southern Conference in Mat Jam, the first event of its kind in collegiate wrestling.

Breitenbach's victory provided the winning margin for the Wolfpack in a tightly contested race with Virginia. The Wolfpack finished with 78.5 points, 5.5 more than the Cavaliers. North Carolina was third with 68 points.

The title is the 11th for NC State, all under current head coach Bob Guzzo. It was State¹s first ACC wrestling crown since 1996, breaking a four-year run by North Carolina. The Pack placed a league-high six wrestlers in the finals. Pierre Pryor won his second title at 157 with an 8-0 major decision over Virginia's Don Carlo-Clauss. George Cintron (125), Pryor and Breitenbach won individual titles for the champions. The Pack added three second-place and two third-place finishes.

Virginia had two champions, Greg Francesca at 165 and Jimi Massey at 184. The Cavaliers also had three second-place finishers.

The victory capped a week for Breitenbach in which he was also inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and was awarded a Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship by the ACC.

Host North Carolina had three champions, including JohnMark Bentley at 149 pounds, Corey Bell at 174 pounds and Matt Kenny at heavyweight. Bell became the third four-time ACC champion in Carolina history. Bentley and Kenny won ACC titles for the third time. The only other four-time ACC champions for UNC were Al Palacio (1983, 1985-87 at 118) and Justin Harty (1994-97 at heavyweight).

Bentley was named the ACC's Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Finals
125- George Cintron (NC State) decisions Tommy Hoang (Duke) 3-1
133- Brandon York (Maryland) decisions Joe Alexander (Virginia) 2-0
141- Mark Mansueto (Maryland) decisions Orafeo Brown (NC State) 5-1
149- JohnMark Bentley (North Carolina) decisions Tommy Davis (NC State) 4-1
157- Pierre Pryor (NC State) major decisions Don Carlo-Clauss (Virginia) 8-0
165- Greg Francesca (Virginia) decisions Tim Marcantonio (Duke) 9-2
174- Corey Bell (North Carolina) decisions Dustin Kawa (NC State) 6-5
184- Jimi Massey (Virginia) decisions Jake Stewart (Maryland) 9-6
197- Zach Breitenbach (NC State) decisions Clint Osborn (North Carolina) 8-2
HWT- Matt Kenny (North Carolina) wins by technical fall vs. Josh Etu (Virginia) 19-3

ACC Team Standings
1. NC State           78.5
2. Virginia           73
3. North Carolina     68
4. Maryland           52.5
5. Duke               34