March 6, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Sophomores Jason Kiessling and Barry Stein each earned second-place finishes Saturday to lead Maryland at the 2004 Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestling Championships hosted by the University of Virginia.

As a team, Maryland finished fifth in the standings with 32 points. NC State won the team title with 84 points, followed closely by Virginia with 76. Duke edged North Carolina, 60-56, for third in the standings.

Juniors John Antonelli (165) and Pat Cissne (174) placed third for the Terrapins, losing their semifinal matches but winning in the consolation finals. Mike Lupa finished fourth at 133 pounds after going 1-2 on the day.

"We met or exceeded our seedings in a number of weight classes," said Maryland head coach Pat Santoro. "We did better than was predicted. Overall, we wrestled hard. We made some adjustments in places, but made some mistakes in others."

Kiessling went in as the third seed at 157 pounds, but won his semifinal match with second-seeded Paul Bjorlo of Virginia, 4-3. He lost to top-seeded Scott Garren of NC State, 6-2, in the final.

Kiessling and Bjorlo were later voted by the league's coaches as alternates for the NCAA National Championships. Should any of the 15 ACC representatives to the NCAA not be able to wrestle, either Kiessling or Bjorlo would be put into the NCAA bracket.

Stein had a similar trip through the heavyweight bracket, beating No. 2-seed Janior Palma, 4-2 in the semifinal, but losing to top-seeded Ryan Adams of UNC, 15-6 in the championship.

Antonelli lost 8-2 to Virginia's Tim Foley in a first-round match, but picked up a pair of wins in the consolation bracket to place third. Both a 5-3 win over Michael Mitchell of Duke and a 4-2 win over Garrett Atkinson of North Carolina came in overtime.

Cissne lost a tight 8-7 decision to Michael Grogan of Virginia in a semifinal, but beat Joshua Lee of UNC, 12-6, and cruised to a 25-10 technical fall over Rick Brownlee of NC State in the third-place match.

Lupa lost in the first round at 133 to top-seeded Adam Benitez of Duke, but beat Bobby Shaw of UNC, 7-4, in the consolation semifinal to earn a place. He lost the third-place match to Steve Hromada of Virginia, 10-3, to finish fourth.

TEAM STANDINGS
1. NC State 84, 2. Virginia 76, 3. Duke 60, 4. North Carolina 56, 5. MARYLAND 32

MARYLAND RESULTS

Matt Pandullo (125) - Lost major decision to Brian Sticca (Virginia), 16-6; Lost to Drew Forshey (UNC), 5-2.

Mike Lupa (133) - Lost to Adam Benitez (Duke), 5-2; Def. Bobby Shaw (UNC), 7-4; Lost consolation final to Steve Hromada (Virginia), 10-3... Finished 4th.

Jason Gribschaw (141) - Lost to Alex Hernandez (NC State), 7-3; Lost to Mike Booth (UNC), 6-3.

Jerad Villecco (149) - Lost to Aaron Martin (Virginia), 2-1; Lost to Andy Soliman (Duke), 5-4.

Jason Kiessling (157) - Def. Paul Bjorlo (Virginia), 4-3; Lost championship to Scott Garren (NC State), 6-2... Finished 2nd.

John Antonelli (165) - Lost to Tim Foley (Virginia), 8-2; Def. Michael Mitchell (Duke), 5-3 OT; Def. Garrett Atkinson (UNC) in consolation final, 4-2 OT... Finished 3rd.

Patrick Cissne (174) - Lost to Michael Grogan (Virginia), 8-7; Def. Joshua Lee (UNC), 12-6; Def. Rick Brownlee (NC State) by tech. fall in consolation final, 25-10... Finished 3rd.

Dan Scheets (184) - Lost major decision to Mark Canty (UNC), 17-8; Lost to Drew Michelotti (Virginia), medical forfeit.

Jerry Afari (197) - Lost to Tim Marcantonio (Duke), 10-6; Lost by fall to Kevin Collier (Virginia), 4:42.

Barry Stein (Hwt) - Def. Janior Palma (NC State), 4-2; Lost championship by major decision to Ryan Adams (UNC), 15-6... Finished 2nd.