March 8, 2003

Boone, N.C. - The University of North Carolina won it's 15th overall ACC Wrestling Championship, and first since 2000 in the 2003 MAT JAM being held at Appalachian State in Boone, NC.

North Carolina won 5 individual championships, followed by NC State with 3. UNC placed all ten of their wrestlers in the top three.

The Tar Heels won the championship with 104.5 team points and NC State finished second with 82 points. Virginia finished third (68), followed by Maryland (36), and Duke (17.5).

In the 125-pound weight class, North Carolina's Chris Rodrigues upset the No.1seed George Cintron of NC State, 6-1. To reach the finals, Rodrigues received a bye in the first round and recorded a fall in 4:42 against Virginia's No. 2 seeded Brian Sticca in the semifinals. Rodrigues, a red-shirt sophomore, was the No. 3 seed.

Evan Sola, a sophomore representing North Carolina, withheld his No. 1 seed to win the ACC Championship in the 133-pound weight class by beating Virginia's Joe Alexander, 2-0. The Championship match for Sola was his first bout of the evening. He received a bye in the first round and won by forfeit in the semifinals.

Winning three decisions on the evening, Virginia's No. 1 seeded Bob Seidel defeated North Carolina's No. 2 seed Brian Baglio, 11-3. On his way to winning the 141-pouns weight class, Seidel won over Duke's Adam Benitez (6-2) and NC State's Ryan McCallum (3-2).

Each of the winners from the first three weight classes, were runners-up in 2002, however came back in 2003 to avenge victory.

NC State's Jake Giamoni defended his 149-pound title by beating Maryland's Adam James, 13-7. In the first round, Giamoni won by decision over North Carolina's John Paul Igoe, 11-4. In the semifinals, the NC State junior won by major decision over Maryland's Brandon Foose, 20-7.

In the 157-pound class, NC State's Scott Garren defeated North Carolina's Chris DiGuisseppe, 2-1, to win the ACC title. In his first round, Garren won by technical fall over Ben Balmages of Duke, 21-5. In the semifinals, Garren won by fall in 6:54 over Maryland's Jason Keissling.

NC State's No. 1 seed Dustin Kawa repeated as ACC Champion, however in 2003 he did it in the 165-pound weight class. Kawa defeated No. 2 seed Jimmy O'Connor of North Carolina, 6-5, in rout to his second championship. After a bye in the first round, the NC State junior won by major decision over Virginia's No. 4 seed Will Durkee 13-2.

In overtime, North Carolina's Mark Canty won the title in the 174-pound weight class against Virginia's No. 2 seed Brian Muir. Canty, the No. 1 seed, received a bye in the first round and beat Duke's Tim Marcantonio 13-7 in the semifinals.

North Carolina's No. 3 seed Dusty Heist upset Maryland's No. 1 seed Jake Stork, 10-4 at 184 pounds. Heist had a bye in the first round and then defeated Duke's No. 2 seeded Tom Cass, 7-1, on his way to the championship.

In the second overtime bout of the evening, North Carolina's David Dashiell, Seed No. 3, upset Virginia's Zach Freday, Seed No.1, 5-4. The Tar Heel freshman had a bye in the first round and then defeated Maryland's No. 2 seed Sal Aquia.

In a very close heavyweight bout, Virginia's Josh Etu won in overtime over North Carolina's Ryan Adams, 2-1. On his way to the title, Etu received a first round bye and then defeated Mark Reid of Maryland, 3-1.

2003 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships Championship Round Results
125 Chris Rodrigues (UNC) def. George Cintron (ST), 6-1
133 Evan Sola (UNC) def. Joe Alexander (UVa), 2-0
141 Bob Seidel (UVa) def. Brian Baglio, 11-3
149 Jake Giamoni (NCSU) def. Adam James (MD), 13-7
157 Scott Garren (ST) def. Chris DiGuisseppe (UNC), 2-1
165 Dustin Kawa (ST) def. Jimmy O'Connor (UNC), 6-5
174 Mark Canty (UNC) def. Brian Muir (UVa), 2-1 OT
184 Dusty Heist (UNC) def. Jake Stork (MD), 10-4
197 David Dashiell (UNC) def. Zach Freday (UVa), 5-4 OT
Hwt. Josh Etu (UVa) def. Ryan Adams (UNC), 2-1 OT

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