North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Wrestling Faces Key ACC Showdown Vs. Maryland
1/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
RALEIGH, N.C. - With one month left in the regular season, NC State’s wrestling team faces a key Atlantic Coast Conference showdown Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum vs. Maryland.
The Terrapins, 12-5 overall in dual matches, are undefeated at 2-0 in conference action and sit atop the conference standings. The Wolfpack, which has faced a rigorous non-conference slate, is 7-6 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
“Maryland is a good team, well-coached,” NC State coach Carter Jordan said. “I expect this to be a tough match. I’m looking forward to it.”
The Wolfpack is coming off a pair of losses from a week ago, 16-14 at North Carolina last Friday and 23-16 to 22nd-ranked Navy on Saturday. Despite the larger margin of defeat, Jordan believes his team wrestled a much more competitive match against the Midshipmen than against the Tar Heels.
“I was pleased with the way we wrestled against Navy,” Jordan said. “We were much more aggressive. The Carolina match was the closer match and we’re pretty evenly matched with them, but I didn’t think we wrestled as well in that match as we did against Navy. If we can wrestle like we did against Navy, we’ll be fine.”
THE SERIES VS. MARYLAND: Dating back to 1974-75, NC State holds a 22-10 record against Maryland, including a 14-1 mark at Reynolds Coliseum. The Wolfpack’s only home loss to the Terps during that time was a 27-12 thumping in 1993-94. NC State has won six of the last seven meetings between the two, seven of the last 10, and 13 of the last 20.
A year ago, Maryland handed NC State a resounding 28-6 defeat at College Park. The Terrapins won every match except for 184, a 4-3 decision by Jeremy Colbert over Luke Stauffer, and heavyweight, an 11-5 win by Jainor Palma over Bryan Reiss.
Maryland comes into this weekend’s match at 12-5 overall and 2-0 in the ACC, with dual match wins over North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
PALMA CLIMBS WIN LIST: Off to a phenomenal start at 17-4, senior heavyweight Jainor Palma’s career record stands at 68-45 heading into action today vs. Maryland. Palma needs one more victory to move into a four-way tie with Chris Kwortnik (1991-94), Steve Williams (1989-92) and Gregg Fatool (1982-85) for 20th in career wins at NC State.
Palma’s 17 wins leads the team. Palma set a career best for wins in a season a year ago when he went 23-11. He was 17-4 after 21 matches a year ago.
IN THIS WEEK'S RANKINGS: Three NC State wrestlers are ranked in the latest NCWA poll. Sophomore 197-pounder Ryan Goodman (13-1 including a 3rd-place finish at the Southern Scuffle) is 13th, a drop of one spot despite winning twice without a loss last week. Senior heavyweight Jainor Palma (17-4, 5th at the Southern Scuffle) is ninth, up from 17th after splitting two matches against top 10 opponents last weekend. Junior 157-pounder Kody Hamrah (13-5, 5th at the Southern Scuffle) is 19th. Hamrah, like Goodman, swept his two bouts last weekend vs. North Carolina and Navy. Palma defeated then-eighth-ranked Spencer Nadolsky of UNC last Friday in the second sudden victory period, but lost in sudden victory to Navy’s ninth-ranked Ed Prendergast. Nadolsky now is 10th, Prendergast is eighth.
VERSUS RAKED OPPONENTS: NC State wrestlers so far this season have compiled a 10-22 record against opponents ranked in the national top 20 of their respective weight classifications. That is the most wins in a season against ranked opponents by the Wolfpack since the NC State media relations office began tracking wins vs. ranked opponents in 1998-99.
A year ago, NC State went 7-31 against ranked opponents, with then-freshman 197-pounder Ryan Goodman accounting for four of the seven wins.
This season, junior 157-pounder Kody Hamrah and heavyweight Jainor Palma lead the team with three wins apiece against ranked opponents. Goodman has two wins against ranked foes. Freshman 141-pounder Darrion Caldwell and sophomore 165-pounder Obie Simpson each have one victory against a ranked opponent.
The Pack will face four more ranked opponents this afternoon vs. Maryland in 141-pounder Alex Krom (No. 13), 165-pounder Jason Kiessling (No. 12), 174-pounder Mike Letts (No. 11) and 197-pounder Hudson Taylor (No. 19).
WINNING STREAKS: Several NC State wrestlers enter today’s match vs. Maryland riding winnings streaks. The most significant streak for the Wolfpack is a career-best 11-match winning streak by sophomore 197-pounder Ryan Goodman, who is 13-1 for the season. The last time an NC State wrestler had a winning streak longer than 10 matches was 2002-03, when four Wolfpackers had double-digit winning streaks. The longest was by Scott Garren, who opened the season by winning his first 18 matches. Jake Giamoni won 15 in a row that year, while Dustin Kawa won 12 straight and George Cintron was 11 consecutive.
Junior 157-pounder Kody Hamrah has won seven in a row following his decisions last weekend over UNC’s Ben Fiacco and Navy’s John Jarred. Hamrah’s career-high winning streak is eight matches, which he did once in each of the last two seasons.
UP NEXT: The Wolfpack will have a week to prepare for its next match, Feb. 3 at Indiana. This will be NC State’s fifth match of the season against a team from the Big Ten, which is one of college wrestling’s power conferences. The Hoosiers are 10-1 overall, 0-1 in the Big Ten following a 22-9 loss at No. 16 Illinois.
The Terrapins, 12-5 overall in dual matches, are undefeated at 2-0 in conference action and sit atop the conference standings. The Wolfpack, which has faced a rigorous non-conference slate, is 7-6 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
“Maryland is a good team, well-coached,” NC State coach Carter Jordan said. “I expect this to be a tough match. I’m looking forward to it.”
The Wolfpack is coming off a pair of losses from a week ago, 16-14 at North Carolina last Friday and 23-16 to 22nd-ranked Navy on Saturday. Despite the larger margin of defeat, Jordan believes his team wrestled a much more competitive match against the Midshipmen than against the Tar Heels.
“I was pleased with the way we wrestled against Navy,” Jordan said. “We were much more aggressive. The Carolina match was the closer match and we’re pretty evenly matched with them, but I didn’t think we wrestled as well in that match as we did against Navy. If we can wrestle like we did against Navy, we’ll be fine.”
THE SERIES VS. MARYLAND: Dating back to 1974-75, NC State holds a 22-10 record against Maryland, including a 14-1 mark at Reynolds Coliseum. The Wolfpack’s only home loss to the Terps during that time was a 27-12 thumping in 1993-94. NC State has won six of the last seven meetings between the two, seven of the last 10, and 13 of the last 20.
A year ago, Maryland handed NC State a resounding 28-6 defeat at College Park. The Terrapins won every match except for 184, a 4-3 decision by Jeremy Colbert over Luke Stauffer, and heavyweight, an 11-5 win by Jainor Palma over Bryan Reiss.
Maryland comes into this weekend’s match at 12-5 overall and 2-0 in the ACC, with dual match wins over North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
PALMA CLIMBS WIN LIST: Off to a phenomenal start at 17-4, senior heavyweight Jainor Palma’s career record stands at 68-45 heading into action today vs. Maryland. Palma needs one more victory to move into a four-way tie with Chris Kwortnik (1991-94), Steve Williams (1989-92) and Gregg Fatool (1982-85) for 20th in career wins at NC State.
Palma’s 17 wins leads the team. Palma set a career best for wins in a season a year ago when he went 23-11. He was 17-4 after 21 matches a year ago.
IN THIS WEEK'S RANKINGS: Three NC State wrestlers are ranked in the latest NCWA poll. Sophomore 197-pounder Ryan Goodman (13-1 including a 3rd-place finish at the Southern Scuffle) is 13th, a drop of one spot despite winning twice without a loss last week. Senior heavyweight Jainor Palma (17-4, 5th at the Southern Scuffle) is ninth, up from 17th after splitting two matches against top 10 opponents last weekend. Junior 157-pounder Kody Hamrah (13-5, 5th at the Southern Scuffle) is 19th. Hamrah, like Goodman, swept his two bouts last weekend vs. North Carolina and Navy. Palma defeated then-eighth-ranked Spencer Nadolsky of UNC last Friday in the second sudden victory period, but lost in sudden victory to Navy’s ninth-ranked Ed Prendergast. Nadolsky now is 10th, Prendergast is eighth.
VERSUS RAKED OPPONENTS: NC State wrestlers so far this season have compiled a 10-22 record against opponents ranked in the national top 20 of their respective weight classifications. That is the most wins in a season against ranked opponents by the Wolfpack since the NC State media relations office began tracking wins vs. ranked opponents in 1998-99.
A year ago, NC State went 7-31 against ranked opponents, with then-freshman 197-pounder Ryan Goodman accounting for four of the seven wins.
This season, junior 157-pounder Kody Hamrah and heavyweight Jainor Palma lead the team with three wins apiece against ranked opponents. Goodman has two wins against ranked foes. Freshman 141-pounder Darrion Caldwell and sophomore 165-pounder Obie Simpson each have one victory against a ranked opponent.
The Pack will face four more ranked opponents this afternoon vs. Maryland in 141-pounder Alex Krom (No. 13), 165-pounder Jason Kiessling (No. 12), 174-pounder Mike Letts (No. 11) and 197-pounder Hudson Taylor (No. 19).
WINNING STREAKS: Several NC State wrestlers enter today’s match vs. Maryland riding winnings streaks. The most significant streak for the Wolfpack is a career-best 11-match winning streak by sophomore 197-pounder Ryan Goodman, who is 13-1 for the season. The last time an NC State wrestler had a winning streak longer than 10 matches was 2002-03, when four Wolfpackers had double-digit winning streaks. The longest was by Scott Garren, who opened the season by winning his first 18 matches. Jake Giamoni won 15 in a row that year, while Dustin Kawa won 12 straight and George Cintron was 11 consecutive.
Junior 157-pounder Kody Hamrah has won seven in a row following his decisions last weekend over UNC’s Ben Fiacco and Navy’s John Jarred. Hamrah’s career-high winning streak is eight matches, which he did once in each of the last two seasons.
UP NEXT: The Wolfpack will have a week to prepare for its next match, Feb. 3 at Indiana. This will be NC State’s fifth match of the season against a team from the Big Ten, which is one of college wrestling’s power conferences. The Hoosiers are 10-1 overall, 0-1 in the Big Ten following a 22-9 loss at No. 16 Illinois.
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