North Carolina State's Mat Jam advance press release

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Bruce Winkworth (North Carolina State)
02/28/2001


* NC State Riding High As ACC Tournament Opens: Coming off its second consecutive 12-win dual-match regular season in as many years, the NC State wrestling team enters competition in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament this weekend on a high note.    Tied for first place in the final regular-season standings, the Wolfpack has won its last four matches against ACC opponents, and has won its last three regular-season matches and eight of its last nine. The Pack has finished first or tied for first in the regular season for the past two seasons and enters the tournament as one of the favorites, along with North Carolina, which also finished the regular season at 4-1.    The Wolfpack and Tar Heels split a pair of close regular-season matches, each winning on the other's home mat. UNC came to Reynolds Coliseum on January 16 and handed the Pack a 16-14 defeat. NC State returned the favor with a 19-16 win on February 15 at Chapel Hill. The win at UNC was NC State's fourth in a row at Carmichael Auditorium.    * NC State Vs. The ACC: Collectively, NC State wrestlers had an outstanding season against ACC competition, compiling a 33-17 mark in individual bouts against conference competition. Three Wolfpack wrestlers finished the regular season unbeaten against ACC foes and enter the tournament as obvious favorites in their respective weight classifications.    Sophomore 125-pounder George Cintron went 20-6 overall and 5-0 with one major decision against ACC opponents. Cintron enters the tournament having won his last 10 matches in a row.    Junior 157-pounder Pierre Pryor, the ACC champion at 157 two years ago, went 19-3 during the regular season and 5-0 with one fall and one major decision against ACC wrestlers. Pryor, who has not lost to an ACC opponent since 1998, begins competition in the ACC Tournament having won his last 14 matches.    Senior 197-pounder Zach Breitenbach went 24-4 during the regular season, 5-0 with a major decision and a technical fall in the ACC. Breitenbach is 16-4 vs. ACC opponents and has won his last15 matches heading into the ACC Tournament.    * Garren Suffers Season-ending Knee Injury: The Wolfpack suffered a serious blow February 15 in Chapel Hill when sophomore 165-pounder Scott Garren suffered a serious multiple-ligament tear in his left knee. He will undergo surgery sometime in late March or early April and not only will miss the remainder of the current season, but could miss next season as well.    During the third period of his 5-2 decision over North Carolina's Jason Wilson, Garren completely tore the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), and partially tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the lateral collateral ligament (LCL), the medial meniscus and the popliteal.    Following surgery, Garren will face an extensive rehabilitaion process that could stretch well into the 2001-02 season.    Garren, who won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship at 157 pounds as a freshman a year ago, finished his sophomore season with a 20-7 mark. He won five major decisions, had three pins, and had two victories over opponents ranked in the national top 10. He has a career mark of 36-13 with seven falls. This season he became the 11th NC State sophomore to record 20 wins in a season.    * Career-Best Winning Streaks: Three  NC State wrestlers enter action tonight riding winning streaks of 10 matches or more. All are career highs.    Senior Zach Breitenbach (23-4 at 197) has won his last 15 matches * a career high * 17 of his last 18, and 20 of his last 22. At one point during his winning streak, Breitenbach won five in a row by either major decision or technical fall, and over the course of the streak, he has won six major decisions, two technical falls, and one fall. He is currently ranked 8th nationally by Intermat and 14th by Amateur Wrestling News. He is tied for the team lead with two techincal falls, and ranks second with six major decisions.    At 125, redshirt sophomore George Cintron is 20-6 on the season after a slow start and has won 10 in a row * a career high * 14 of his last 15, and 17 of his last 19. Cintron has a team high 8-0 record in matches decided by major decision. He has a 34-13 career record.    At 157, redshirt-junior Pierre Pryor is 19-3 on the season and has won 14 in a row, also a career high. Pryor, the 1999 ACC champion at 157, has won 16 of his last 17 matches, and 23 of his last 26 dating back to last season. Pryor also has won his last 12 matches against Atlantic Coast Conference competition. Eleven of Pryor's 19 victories this season have been by fall or major decision. He is tied for seventh in NC State history with 18 career pins.    * Beating Ranked Opponents: So far this season, the Wolfpack has faced 27 ranked individual opponents and defeated seven of them, the team's best mark vs. ranked wrestlers in several years. The Pack was 4-30 vs. ranked opponents a year ago, and 9-37 in 1999.    Leading the way vs. ranked opponents this season has been senior 197-pounder Zach Breitenbach (3-3) and Scott Garren (2-1). A year ago, no NC State wrestlers had more than one win against ranked opponents, and only Pierre Pryor, at 1-0, has a winning record against ranked foes.      * Breitenbach Named ACC Wrestler of the Week For Second Time: For the second time in three weeks, NC State senior 197-pounder Zach Breitenbach was named the ACC Wrestler of the Week the week of January 29 through February 4. Breitenbach, currently ranked 9th nationally by Intermat and 14th by Amateur Wrestling News, scored heavy team points for the Wolfpack in its doubleheader sweep over Virginia and James Madison on January 27, picking up a 17-1 technical fall over Virginia's Zach Freday in the afternoon bout, and then winning a 13-2 major decision over James Madison's Steve Kodish that evening. Breitenbach, 20-4 on the season, now has won 11 in a row, the last five by either major decision or technical fall.    * Milestones: Senior Tommy Davis (149 pounds) picked up his 70th career victory February 10 at Navy. At 72-21, Davis needs just five more wins to break into NC State's top 10 list for career victories * Senior Zach Breitenbach (197) picked up his 20th win of the season on February 3 with a 10-1 thrashing of Appalachian State's Geoff McIntosh. Breitenbach currently is 24-4 for the season and now has won 20 matches for the second season in a row. He went 20-10 a year ago * Breitenbach picked up his 60th career win on January 31 with a 16-0 technical fall over Campbell's Jason Greenawalt. Breitenbach joined Tommy Davis as the only active NC State wrestlers with at least 60 career wins * George Cintron's 5-3 win over Appalachian State's Rich Caisse was the 30th of his career * Pierre Pryor enters competition in the ACC Tournament needing one more win to reach 60 for his career. Pryor is 59-22 with 18 pins.    * NC State's Recent 20-Bout Winners: With 24 wins already to his credit, senior 197-pounder Zach Breitenbach has an outside chance of becoming just the 11th wrestler in school history to record 30 wins in a season, and the first since Sylvester Terkay went 41-0 in 1992-93. With his 10-1 win over Geoff McIntosh of Appalachian State on February 3, Breitenbach became the first NC State wrestler to record 20 wins in back-to-back seasons since Tommy Davis in 1997-98 and 1998-99. Davis went 20-8 as a freshman at 126 in 1998, and then went 23-6 at 141 in 1999. Prior to Davis, the last NC State wrestler to post consecutive 20-win seasons was Mike Miller in 1994-95 and 1995-96. Miller went 29-4 in 1994-95 and 27-6 in 1995-96. Breitenbach, who has won 15 matches in a row, is 24-4 this season and went 20-10 a year ago.    Sophomore 165-pounder Scott Garren joined Breitenbach in the 20-win circle this season when he defeated North Carolina's Jason Williams 5-2 on February 15, and George Cintron (20-6 at 125) made it a troika when he defeated Duke's Tommy Hoang on February 22. Pierre Pryor (19-3 at 157) should reach 20 wins this weekend at the ACC Tournament. Assuming Pryor joins Breitenbach, Garren and Cintron, NC State will have its first quartet of 20-match winners since since 1994-95, when Mike Miller (29-4), Wa