March 29, 2013
Virginia Tech leads ACC Wrestling 2012-13 honorees
Yates voted ACC Wrestler of the Year; Dresser Coach of the Year
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Atlantic Coast Conference champion Virginia Tech leads the list of 2012-13 postseason wrestling honorees as announced today by Commissioner John Swofford.

Pete Yates, the Hokies’ 165-pound All-America redshirt senior, has been selected as the ACC Wrestler of the Year in a vote of the league’s head coaches. Virginia Tech’s Kevin Dresser was voted the ACC Coach of the Year.

In addition, North Carolina 125-pounder Nathan Kraisser has been voted the ACC Freshman of the Year.

Yates, a two-time ACC champion, capped his stellar career with a fourth-place finish at last weekend’s NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. The Conyers, Ga., native finished with 131 career wins, the second most in school history (two behind Sean Gray), with two All-America medals and ACC titles in 2012 and 2013. Yates ended the regular season ranked fourth nationally in his weight class by InterMat.

Yates finished this season with a 34-3 record, including a 5-0 ACC dual record and an 18-0 overall record in dual competition. He was cited as the ACC Wrestler of the Week on three occasions – Dec. 4, Jan. 29 and Feb. 19.

After guiding the Hokies to a first-place ACC regular-season finish for the fifth straight year, Dresser coached Virginia Tech to its first ACC Wrestling Championship on March 9 at College Park, Md. The Hokies boasted five of the 10 ACC weight class champions, including Yates at 165 pounds and tournament Most Valuable Wrestler Jarrod Garnett at 125.

Dresser’s team followed up with a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Championships, the first top-10 finish in program history and the 13th by an ACC squad. A school-record four Virginia Tech wrestlers earned All-America honors (Yates, Garnett, Zach Neibert at 141 pounds and Nick Brascetta at 149). Virginia Tech finished with a 16-3 mark in team dual matches, including a 5-0 mark in ACC competition.

UNC’s Kraisser was ranked seventh nationally at the end of the regular season and ended the year with a 33-7 record that included two wins in the NCAA Championship. Kraisser, of Ellicott City, Md., went 5-0 against ACC opposition during the regular season and was named the ACC Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 22 following a 24-hour stretch in which he defeated two of the nation’s top-seven ranked opponents in dual matches.

Yates becomes the third Virginia Tech student-athlete to be named the ACC Wrestler of the Year, joining Mike Faust in 2006 and Devin Carter last season. The ACC Coach of the Year honor is the first for Dresser, who just completed his seventh season at Virginia Tech. Kraisser becomes the first wrestler from UNC to be named the ACC Freshman of the Year since that award was established in 2005.

Listed below are all honorees for the 2012-13 season. All-ACC Wrestling honors were determined by the results of the ACC Championship, with the top two finishers in each weight class earning all-conference status.

ACC Wrestler of the Year
Pete Yates, Virginia Tech

ACC Freshman of the Year
Nathan Kraisser, North Carolina

ACC Coach of the Year
Kevin Dresser, Virginia Tech

2013 All-ACC
125 - Jarrod Garnett, Virginia Tech* !
125 - Nathan Kraisser, North Carolina
133 - George DiCamillo, Virginia*
133 - Brandon Gambucci, Duke
141 - Evan Henderson, North Carolina*
141 - Zach Neibert, Virginia Tech
149 - Nick Brascetta, Virginia Tech*
149 - Derek Valenti, Virginia
157 - Jesse Dong, Virginia Tech*
157 - Jedd Moore, Virginia
165 - Pete Yates, Virginia Tech*
165 - Nick Sulzer, Virginia
174 - Josh Asper, Maryland*
174 - Jon Fausey, Virginia
184 - Jimmy Sheptock, Maryland*
184 - Stephen Doty, Virginia
197 - Christian Boley, Maryland*
197 - Mike Salopek, Virginia
285 - David Marone, Virginia Tech*
285 - Derek Papagianopoulos, Virginia

* - ACC weight class champion
! – ACC Championship Most Valuable Wrestler

For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Wrestling).

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