March 16, 2000

ST. LOUIS, Mo.-- North Carolina pulled off two of the major upsets of opening round competition here Thursday in the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Kiel Center.

Brad Byers, a sophomore from Hudson, Ohio, stunned ninth-seeded Zach Zimmerer of Stanford, 5-3, at 133 pounds. Byers had finished second in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships at that weight class.

Then in the heavyweight division, ACC champion Matt Kenny scored a major decision over 10th-seeded Sean Hage of West Virginia. Kenny is a sophomore from Great Meadows, N.J.

Carolina's other first-round winner was freshman Skyler Holman of Sallisaw, Okla. Holman, who captured the ACC title at 125 pounds, won by a major decision over Brent Thompson of Kent, 14-5.

Carolina's other two NCAA qualifiers, Corey Bell and Clint Osborn, suffered opening losses. Bell was beaten by eighth-seeded Kole Clausen of Wisconsin, 12-2 at 174 pounds. Twelfth-seeded A.J. Johnson of Edinboro then defeated Osborn, 14-5.

Wrestle-backs begin in Thursday evening's session, followed by quarterfinal action. In the championship bracket, Holman will face Nebraska's Paul Gomez, who defeated 10th-seeded Jason Silverstein of Purdue in the first session. Byers will take on eighth-seeded Paris Ruiz of Fresno State and Kenny battles second-seeded Trent Hynek of Iowa State.