North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Wrestling Team Kicks Off Season At Campbell
11/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 9, 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State wrestling team begins the 2004-05 season Tuesday night with a road match at Campbell. The match will begin at 7 p.m.
The bout vs. the Camels will mark the head-coaching debut for Carter Jordan, who took over the program in May after the retirement of longtime head coach Bob Guzzo. Jordan was Guzzo's top assistant coach the last six years and helped build the current roster as the program's lead recruiter.
NC State was 9-6 overall last season and won its third Atlantic Coast Conference championship in the last four years. Campbell was 5-12. Both programs feature first-year head coaches. Billy Greene, a 2000 graduate of Campbell, takes over for the Camels, replacing former NC State assistant Dave Auble.
Jordan will take a young but very talented squad into action this season. The Pack returns 13 lettermen from last year's conference championship squad, including three NCAA qualifiers, but the roster's only senior, 149-pounder Alex Hernandez, will redshirt this season. Eight of NC State's 10 starters vs. the Camels will be freshmen or sophomores.
Redshirt-junior 174-pounder Kevin Gabrielson and junior 149-pounder Chris DeLuca are the lone upperclassmen in the starting lineup. Five of the 10 starters earned high school or junior college All-America status, however, and Jordan expects big things from this year's team.
"These guys have been a pleasure to coach," Jordan says. "They listen and they work extremely hard. We're implementing a different style this year, and we've thrown a lot at them in a short time. They've been very quick to buy into it, which has been gratifying for me. I'm very excited to get the season started."
NC State is 11-0 all-time vs. Campbell. The Wolfpack manhandled the Camels twice a year ago, beating the Camels 32-9 in the season-opener November 19 in Buies Creek, then taking a 42-3 decision January 20 in Raleigh.
Following are the probable starters for Tuesday's match:
125 -- Garrett Cummings (NCS), R-So., Bloomsburg, Pa., unopposed
133 -- Jeff Breese (NCS), R-So., Claysville, Pa., vs. Doug West, Fr., Millersville, Md.
141 -- Travis Varner (NCS), Fr., Morehead City, N.C., vs. Elliot Berger, Jr., North Canton, Ohio
149 -- Chris DeLuca (NCS), Jr., East Meadow, N.Y., vs. Billy Sheridan, Fr., Poquoson, Va.
157 -- Kody Hamrah (NCS), Fr., Middlesex, N.J., vs. Alex Davis, Jr., Davidson, N.C.
165 -- Ryan Nowicki (NCS), R-Fr., Bethlehem, Pa., vs. Jeff Lyons, So., Candler, N.C.
174 -- Kevin Gabrielson (NCS), R-Jr., Chesapeake Beach, Md., vs. Brian Hocum, Sr., Clarkston, Wash.
184 -- Jeremy Colbert (NCS), Fr., El Reno, Okla., vs. Lantz Nixon, R-Sr., Akron, Ohio
197 -- Zach Garren (NCS), So., Paulsboro, N.J., vs. Willy Johnson, Fr., Stafford, Va.
Hwt -- Jainor Palma (NCS), So., Cary, N.C. vs. John Ottinger, Jr., Grantsboro, N.C.
