Virginia Cavaliers Finish Third at the 2003 MAT JAM/Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestling Championships

Story Links

March 8, 2003

BOONE, N.C. – The University of Virginia wrestling team finished third with 68 team points in the 2003 MAT JAM/Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestling Championships at the Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachian State University. The Cavaliers’ Bob Seidel (Wall, N.J./Wall) and Josh Etu (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) won individual weight class titles at 141 pounds and heavyweight, respectively. UVa’s Joe Alexander (Franklin, N.J./Delsea Regional), Brian Muir (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) and Zach Freday (Akron, Ohio/Hoover) finished runner-ups at 133, 174 and 197 in order.

North Carolina won its 15th overall ACC Wrestling Championship, and its first since the 2000 season, after five Tar Heels won individual championships. N.C. State with had three individual champions and UVa had two. UNC placed all ten of its wrestlers in the top three spots of the event. The Tar Heels won the championship with 104.5 team points, followed by N.C. State in second with 82 points. Virginia finished third with 68 points, followed by Maryland (36) and Duke (17.5). The ACC Wrestling Championships were part of the MAT JAM event that also features the Southern Conference Championship.

In the 125-pound weight class, North Carolina’s Chris Rodrigues upset the No.1 seed 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 by a major decision, 11-3. On his way to winning the 141-pound weight class, Seidel won over Duke’s Adam Benitez (6-2) and N.C. State’s Ryan McCallum (3-2).

Each of the winners from the first three weight classes were runners-ups in 2002. However, each wrestler came back in 2003 to record their individual weight class titles.

N.C. 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 sem-finals, the NCSU 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.

N.C. 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, on his way to his second championship. After a bye in the first round, the NCSU 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, seeded No. 3, upset Virginia’s Zach Freday, seeded No.1, by the score of 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 RyanAdams, 2-1. On his way to the title, Etu received a first round bye and then defeated Mark Reid of Maryland, 3-1.

Four members of the Virginia wrestling team; Bob Seidel (141), Josh Etu (HWT), Tim Foley (157) and Joe Alexander (157), will return to action on March 20-22 when the Cavaliers compete in the 2003 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Kansas City, Missouri. The event will take place at Kemper Arena and will be hosted by the Big 12 Conference and the Kansas City Sports Commision. Seidel and Etu earned automated bids to the NCAA Championships, while Foley and Alexander were awarded wildcard spots in the event.

Here is a look at the 2003 Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestling Championship Round results:

Team ScoresSchool		PointsNorth Carolina	104.5N.C. State 	82Virginia		68Maryland	36Duke		17.5

Weight	Opponents					Result125 	Chris Rodrigues (UNC) def. George Cintron (NCSU)	6-1133 	Evan Sola (UNC) def. Joe Alexander (UVa)		2-0141 	Bob Seidel (UVa) def. Brian Baglio (UNC)		MD, 11-3149 	Jake Giamoni (NCSU) def. Adam James (MD)		13-7157 	Scott Garren (NCSU) def. Chris DiGuisseppe (UNC)	2-1165 	Dustin Kawa (NCSU) def. Jimmy O'Connor (UNC)	6-5174 	Mark Canty (UNC) def. Brian Muir (UVa)		2-1 OT184 	Dusty Heist (UNC) def. Jake Stork (MD)		10-4197 	David Dashiell (UNC) def. Zach Freday (UVa)		5-4 OTHwt. 	Josh Etu (UVa) def. Ryan Adams (UNC)		2-1 OT

Here is a complete look at Virginia’s individual results from the 2003 ACC Championships:

Weight	Opponents							Result125	*** 4th Place ***L	Chris Rodrigues (UNC) def. Brian Sticca (UVa)		Fall @ 4:42W	Brian Sticca (UVa) def. Matt Pandulla (Maryland)		13-6L	Tommy Hoang (Duke) def. Brian Sticca (UVa)		9-7 (OT)

133 *** Second Place ***W Joe Alexander (UVa) def. Daniel Pacitti (NCSU) MD, 8-0L Evan Sola (UNC) def. Joe Alexander (UVa) 2-0

141 *** First Place ***W Bob Seidel (UVa) def. Adam Benitez (Duke) 6-2W Bob Seidel (UVa) def. Ryan McCallum (NCSU) 3-2W Bob Seidel (UVa) def. Brian Baglio (UNC) 2-0

149L Adam James (Maryland) def. Paul Bjorlo (UVa) 6-3L John Paul Igoe (UNC) def. Paul Bjorlo (UVa) 3-2

157 *** 3rd Place ***L Chris DiGuisseppe (UNC) def. Tim Foley (UVa) 2-1W Tim Foley (UVa) def. Ben Balmages (Duke) MD, 14-5W Tim Foley (UVa) def. Jason Kiessling (Maryland) MD, 12-1

165L Dustin Kawa (NCSU) def. Will Durkee (UVa) MD, 13-2L John Antonelli (Maryland) def. Will Durkee (UVa) 8-5

174 *** Second Place ***W Brian Muir (UVa) def. Pat Cissne (Maryland) 12-6W Brian Muir (UVa) def. Kevin Gabrielson (NCSU) MD, 12-4L Mark Canty (UNC) def. Brian Muir (UVa) 2-1 (OT)

184L Jon Godwin (NCSU) def. Scott Mania (UVa) 7-3W Scott Mania (UVa) def. Tom Cass (Duke) Injury Def.L Jon Godwin (NCSU) def. Scott Mania (UVa) MD, 11-2

197 *** Second Place ***W Zach Freday (UVa) def. Levi Craig (Duke) 9-4W Zach Freday (UVa) def. Matt Gulliver (NCSU) TF, 22-7L David Dashiell (UNC) def. Zach Freday (UVa) 5-4 (OT)

HWT *** First Place ***W Josh Etu (UVa) def. Mark Reid (Maryland) 3-2W Josh Etu (UVa def. Ryan Adams (UNC) 2-1 (OT)

— UVa —