March 16, 2001

IOWA CITY, IOWA -- The University of North Carolina's final two wrestlers in contention at the NCAA Championships in Iowa City, Iowa, were eliminated in Friday's competition.

Corey Bell (174 pounds) and JohnMark Bentley (149 pounds) made it into Friday's wrestlebacks, but failed to advance to Saturday's final day of competition.

After advancing through Thursday's first round with a bye, Bentley (149 pounds) lost a 7-0 second-round decision to Jared Frayer of Oklahoma. He answered with a 6-2 decision over Malik Elliott of Boston University in the second wrestleback on Friday before falling 5-0 to Reggie Wright of Oklahoma State in the third wrestleback.

Bell (174 pounds) finished 1-2 at the 2001 NCAA Championships. After losing a first-round match to Mike Feeney of Eastern Michigan, 5-1, the senior rebounded to take an 8-1 decision over Mike Regner of The Citadel in the first wrestleback. Luke Moore of Ohio University won by fall over Bell in Friday's second wrestleback at 6:17.

Also competing in Iowa City for North Carolina were Clint Osborn (197 pounds) and Matt Kenny (Hwt.). Each went 0-2 on Thursday.

The championship finals of the 2001 NCAA Wrestling Championships take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday.