March 17, 2000

ST. LOUIS, Mo.-- North Carolina's Brad Byers lost his 133-pound quarterfinal match to top seeded Eric Juergens of Iowa at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in the Kiel Center here Friday.

Byers, a sophomore from Hudson, Ohio, was the Tar Heels' last surviving competitor in the championship bracket. He fell into the consolation bracket where he joined four other Carolina wrestlers.

Juergens scored a 10-2 major decision over Byers in winning their morning match. Byers will compete for All-America honors as he is one of four wrestlers in competition for fifth place nationally in the wrestlebacks.

Byers had reached the quarterfinals with upset wins over Stanford's ninth-seeded Zach Zimmerman and eighth-seeded Paris Ruiz of Fresno State on Thursday.

Tar Heel heavyweight Matt Kenny won two consolation matches to reach the wrestleback quarterfinals where he will mett ninth-seeded Tom Coutad of Ohio. Byers faces tenth-seeded Rob Loper of Pittsburgh in consolation quarterfinal action.

North Carolina Results From Championship Bracket:
(All seeds in parentheses)

First Round:
125 pounds: Skyler Holman (7) def. Brent Thompson of Kent by major decision, 14-5.
133 pounds: Brad Byers def. (9) Zach Zimmerer of Stanford, 5-3.
174 pounds: Kole Clausen (8) of Wisconsin def. Corey Bell by major decision, 12-2.
197 pounds: A.J. Johnson (12) of Edinboro def. Clint Osborn by major decision, 14-5.
HW: Matt Kenny def. Sean Hage (10) of West Virginia by major decision, 14-3.

Second Round:
125 pounds: Paul Gomez of Nebraska def. (7) Skyler Holman, 7-3.
133 pounds: Brad Byers def. (8) Paris Ruiz of Fresno State by a fall in 1:18.
HW: Dave Anderton of Oklahoma State def. Matt Kenny by a fall in 1:01.

Quarterfinals:
133 pounds: Eric Juergens (1) of Iowa def. Brad Byers by major decision, 10-2.

North Carolina Results From Consolation Bracket:
(All seeds in parentheses)
First Round:
174 pounds: Corey Bell def. Delaney Berger of Minnesota by major decision, 17-8.

Second Round:
125 pounds: Quantres Bates (4) of Oklahoma def. Skyler Holman (7) by a technical fall, 23-7, in 6:49.
174 pounds: Corey Bell def. Cassidy Shults of Bloomsburg, 7-2.
197 pounds: Dan Stine of Pittsburgh def. Clint Osborn, 2-1.
HW: Matt Kenny def. John Testa of Clarion by a fall in 1:05.

Third Round:
174 pounds: Eric Hall of Virginia Tech def. Corey Bell, 8-6.
HW: Matt Kenny def. Chris Miller of BYU, 2-1.