Centennial Conference Wrestling

Atlantic Coast Conference

Jason Leturmy
Assistant Director of Media Relations
Atlantic Coast Conference
Phone (336) 851-6062; Fax (336) 854-8797

Cavaliers’ Rocco Caponi Voted ACC Wrestler of the Week

Junior wins weight class title at Brute/Bearcat Open in New York

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Virginia’s Rocco Caponi, a junior from Uniontown, Ohio, was today named the 2007-08 season’s second Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week for his performance this past weekend at the Brute/Bearcat Open in Binghamton, N.Y.

Caponi, who competes in the 184-pound weight class for the Cavaliers, won four matches over the weekend en route to the title in his division, including three wins over wrestlers from No. 9 Cornell. In the four matches, he took three decisions by a combined score of 13-6 and recorded one major decision, with a score of 9-0.

This coming Saturday, November 17, Caponi and the 3-0 Cavaliers will again be in action at the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in Chapel Hill, N.C. Virginia will first face Purdue at noon on Saturday, and then will take on Michigan State at 2:00 p.m.

Virginia's Eric Albright Named ACC Wrestler of the Week

GREENSBORO, N.C. Virginia's Eric Albright was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week after helping the Cavaliers to wins over conference foes North Carolina and Virginia Tech.

Albright posted a pair victories at 133 pounds in leading the Cavaliers to a 27-10 win over the Tar Heels and a 25-15 decision over the Hokies. The red-shirt freshman from York, Pa., earned a 9-1 major decision over North Carolina's Jared Royer and a 14-4 major decision against Sheridan Moran of Virginia Tech.

Albright has posted a 22-7 overall record and a 9-2 dual record this season.

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Maryland's Hudson Taylor Named ACC Wrestler of the Week

GREENSBORO, N.C. Maryland's Hudson Taylor was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week after taking third place at the 2005 Southern Scuffle, an event that featured six nationally ranked teams and 58 individual competitors.

Taylor, a 197-pound freshman, went 6-1 at the Southern Scuffle en route to a third place finish. A native of Pennington, N.J., Taylor opened the Scuffle with a 12-0 major decision over Edinboro's Joe Fedone. He then defeated Oregon State's Travis Gardner in a 6:37 fall, before recording his second major decision with a 9-1 victory over Mitch Kuhlman of Minnesota. In the quarterfinals, Taylor got by No. 13 Jeff Foust of Missouri with an injury default two minutes into the match. He then suffered his only loss in the event, a 10-8 overtime decision, at the hands of No. 18 Ryan Goodman of NC State. Taylor earned an 11-5 win over Lehigh's Paul Weibel and a 10-5 decision over Missouri's Max Askren to conclude the Scuffle with a 6-1 mark.

2004-05 Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestling Accolades

GREENSBORO, NC The 2004-05 ACC Wrestling post season honors were announced today as voted on by the league's six head coaches. The University of North Carolina won a pair of awards as Evan Sola was named Wrestler of the Year and C. D. Mock was tabbed Coach of the Year. NC State's Kody Hamrah was selected as the league's first Freshman of the Year honoree.

North Carolina's Evan Sola was honored as the ACC Wrestler of the Year becoming just the second wrestler in ACC history to win this award twice joining NC State's Sylvester Terkay, who won in 1991, 1992 and 1993. The junior grappler finished the season with a sixth place finish at 133 pounds at the NCAA Championships earning All-America accolades for the second time in three seasons. Sola, a native of Wernersville, Pa., concluded the season with a record of 36-6 overall, 15-0 in dual match action and 6-0 in ACC play registering 13 pins, three major decisions and one technical fall. The 36 wins tied him for tenth on the Tar Heel single season list, while his 13 falls tied him for sixth. Prior to nationals, Sola was named ACC Wrestler of the Week twice in 2005 and was crowned the league's Most Valuable Wrestler at the conference championship. Sola captured the individual league title at 133 pounds and led the Tar Heels to their sixth team title in the last ten seasons.

The Wolfpack's Kody Hamrah was selected as the Freshman of the Year. Hamrah finished his freshman campaign winning ten of his last 11 matches, while compiling an overall record of 17-10, 14-5 in dual matches and a perfect 6-0 ledger during the conference regular season. The Middlesex, N.J. native finished second at the ACC Championship at 157 pounds in guiding NC State to a third place finish with 56.5 points. His strong performance at the league championship earned him All-ACC accolades.

In just his second season as head coach of the Tar Heel wrestling program, C. D. Mock was honored as the ACC Coach of the Year. Under the tutelage of Mock, North Carolina claimed the ACC Championship and finished in 24th place with 23 points at the 2005 NCAA Wrestling Championships, the Tar Heels' best finish at nationals since 1997. At the conference tournament, North Carolina captured four individual titles at 125 pounds, 133 pounds, 165 pounds and 197 pounds to lead all schools. In all, five Tar Heel athletes garnered All-ACC honors, while five participated at the NCAA Championships tying league highs in both categories this season.

Virginia's Paul Bjorlo Earns ACC Wrestler of the Week Honors

GREENSBORO, N.C. Virginia's Paul Bjorlo was tabbed Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week after posting a 3-0 record in dual match play in leading the Cavaliers to a pair of victories including a win over conference-foe Maryland in College Park.

Bjorlo posted a 16-0 technical fall victory over the Terrapins' Matt Rothstein at 157 pounds to lead Virginia to a 26-11 win over Maryland. The win was the Cavaliers first conference victory of the season. Against the Blue Devils, Bjorlo defeated Duke's Zach Weisberg by a count of 7-1 for his third conference win of the season.

In Virginia's final match of the regular season, the senior from Reston, Va. registered a 5-3 decision over American's Dwayne Hash as Virginia posted a 24-19 win over the Eagles in Washington D.C. For the season, Bjorlo now stands at 25-12 in dual meet action.

Bjorlo and the Cavaliers are back in action on Saturday, March 5 as they travel to Greensboro, N.C. for the 52nd annual ACC Wrestling Championship. The meet will be held in conjunction with the Southern Conference Wrestling Championship on the campus of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.