North Carolina State University Athletics
Wrestling To Host NC State Duals Saturday
1/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
RALEIGH, N.C. The college wrestling season moves from the tournament phase back to the dual-meet phase this weekend for NC State.
The Wolfpack, which went 1-5 in an earlier slate of dual matches, will host the NC State Duals on Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum. The wrestling begins at noon with five teams participating. Admission is free of charge.
Following is the schedule for the NC State Duals:
12 noon
NC State vs. Gardner-Webb
Duke vs. Anderson
1:30 p.m.
NC State vs. Campbell
NC State vs. Anderson
Gardner-Webb vs. Duke
3 p.m.
Duke vs. Campbell
Anderson vs. Gardner-Webb
NC State is coming off two solid showings at arguably the most prestigious in-season college wrestling tournaments in the country, the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and the Southern Scuffle at Greensboro. The Pack came in 14th in a loaded field at Las Vegas, highlighted by Darrion Caldwell’s first-place finish at 149 pounds, which featured victories over the then-second- and third-ranked wrestlers in the country.
Caldwell stumbled this past weekend at Greensboro and did not place, but Joe Caramanica took third at 141 pounds, and Ryan Goodman finished fourth at 184. Kody Hamrah, wrestling unattached at 157, also finished fourth. NC State came in 13th against an impressive field.
The Wolfpack’s finishes at Las Vegas and Greensboro would tend to belie the team’s 1-5 start to the dual-meet season, but tournaments allow for individuals to score extra team points. Also, the Pack faced a daunting early schedule, with bouts against a murderer’s row of Oklahoma, Purdue, Michigan State and Iowa. And this was while Goodman was still playing football and unavailable to wrestle.
Thanks to Goodman’s insertion into the lineup at 184 and the improvement of youngsters like Taylor Cummings at 125, Darrius Little at 133 and Bobby Isola at heavyweight, NC State has demonstrated significant improvement since the start of the season.
“We have a really solid nucleus in Caldwell, Caramanica and Goodman,” Wolfpack head coach Carter Jordan said. “We’ve surrounded those three with a young but talented group that should continue to improve as the season goes along. We got off to a tough start with those early dual matches, but our experience against that level of competition should pay big dividends down the road.”
NC State wrestling notebook
This Week’s National Rankings: Darrion Caldwell’s stumble last weekend at the Southern Scuffle cost him six spots in the latest NWCA coaches poll. Caldwell fell from No. 3 to No. 9 at 149 pounds after his 3-2 performance at the Scuffle.
While Caldwell fell six spots, junior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica held steady at No. 7 after taking fourth place at the Scuffle. But while Caramanica held steady with a fourth-place finish at the Scuffle, junior 184-pounder Ryan Goodman dropped from the rankings altogether. Goodman entered the tournament ranked No. 20, but was replaced in the polls by Eric Chine of Kent State. Ironically, Chine finished sixth at the Southern Scuffle, two spots behind Goodman.
Caldwell A Fast Starter: Only at the midpoint of his sophomore season, 149-pounder Darrion Caldwell already has started a full-scale assault on the NC State record books. With 16 victories so far this season, Caldwell is on a pace that will put him within reach of the school record of 32 victories in a season by a sophomore, held by Sylvester Terkay. Caldwell has 14 dual matches, plus the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA championships still to go this season.
With 19 pins to his credit, Caldwell already ranks eighth in school history for career pins. He has a ways to go to break the school record of 64 by Terkay, but the next five wrestlers on the list ahead of Caldwell are all between 22 and 29 pins.
Caldwell has just 45 bouts to his credit so far in his career, but his .800 career won-lost percentage (36-9) would rank 11th in school history. Because won-lost percentage is subject to fluctuation, NC State’s career leaders only include wrestlers who have wrestled 50 or more bouts and who have exhausted their eligibility. Terkay is the career leader at .897 (122-14).
Also Challenging The Records: Darrion Caldwell is not the only NC State wrestler nudging towards the career lists in the record book. Following his third-place finish at the Southern Scuffle, junior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica has a 59-23 career record and needs just 11 more victories to crack the school’s all-time top 20.
Junior 184-pounder Ryan Goodman has a 51-14 record following his fourth-place finish at the Southern Scuffle. He still has a ways to go to crack the top 20 for career wins, but his career winning percentage of .784 would rank 13th in school annals.
Fast Worker: Returning to Darrion Caldwell, he has been working hard to become a seven-minute wrestler and overcome the reputation that he either pins his opponents early or struggles to finish. Looking at his match-by-match results, it’s easy to see where that reputation comes from. Of Caldwell’s 19 career pins, 17 of them came in the first period, eight in the first minute, and six in the first 30 seconds of the bout. He has never recorded a pin in the third and final period of a match.
Caldwell won his first three college matches with pins at 0:13, 1:35, and 2:20, meaning he was 3-0 before he had logged five minutes of mat time. He has four first-period pins against ranked wrestlers, including three that were in the top 10 at the time.
Add in technical falls and defaults, and 20 of Caldwell’s 36 career victories failed to go the distance. All but two of his nine career losses were by pin or technical fall.
Prior to this year’s Las Vegas Invitational, Caldwell had gone the distance in back-to-back matches just four times, and never in more than two matches in a row. Caldwell went a full seven minutes in his last four matches at Las Vegas, including a 12-3 major decision over No. 2 Josh Cherulla and an 8-6 decision over No. 3 J.P. O’Connor. None of his five matches at the Southern Scuffle, however, went the full seven minutes.
For his career, only 18 of Caldwell’s 45 matches have gone the full seven minutes.
The Wolfpack, which went 1-5 in an earlier slate of dual matches, will host the NC State Duals on Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum. The wrestling begins at noon with five teams participating. Admission is free of charge.
Following is the schedule for the NC State Duals:
12 noon
NC State vs. Gardner-Webb
Duke vs. Anderson
1:30 p.m.
NC State vs. Campbell
NC State vs. Anderson
Gardner-Webb vs. Duke
3 p.m.
Duke vs. Campbell
Anderson vs. Gardner-Webb
NC State is coming off two solid showings at arguably the most prestigious in-season college wrestling tournaments in the country, the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and the Southern Scuffle at Greensboro. The Pack came in 14th in a loaded field at Las Vegas, highlighted by Darrion Caldwell’s first-place finish at 149 pounds, which featured victories over the then-second- and third-ranked wrestlers in the country.
Caldwell stumbled this past weekend at Greensboro and did not place, but Joe Caramanica took third at 141 pounds, and Ryan Goodman finished fourth at 184. Kody Hamrah, wrestling unattached at 157, also finished fourth. NC State came in 13th against an impressive field.
The Wolfpack’s finishes at Las Vegas and Greensboro would tend to belie the team’s 1-5 start to the dual-meet season, but tournaments allow for individuals to score extra team points. Also, the Pack faced a daunting early schedule, with bouts against a murderer’s row of Oklahoma, Purdue, Michigan State and Iowa. And this was while Goodman was still playing football and unavailable to wrestle.
Thanks to Goodman’s insertion into the lineup at 184 and the improvement of youngsters like Taylor Cummings at 125, Darrius Little at 133 and Bobby Isola at heavyweight, NC State has demonstrated significant improvement since the start of the season.
“We have a really solid nucleus in Caldwell, Caramanica and Goodman,” Wolfpack head coach Carter Jordan said. “We’ve surrounded those three with a young but talented group that should continue to improve as the season goes along. We got off to a tough start with those early dual matches, but our experience against that level of competition should pay big dividends down the road.”
NC State wrestling notebook
This Week’s National Rankings: Darrion Caldwell’s stumble last weekend at the Southern Scuffle cost him six spots in the latest NWCA coaches poll. Caldwell fell from No. 3 to No. 9 at 149 pounds after his 3-2 performance at the Scuffle.
While Caldwell fell six spots, junior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica held steady at No. 7 after taking fourth place at the Scuffle. But while Caramanica held steady with a fourth-place finish at the Scuffle, junior 184-pounder Ryan Goodman dropped from the rankings altogether. Goodman entered the tournament ranked No. 20, but was replaced in the polls by Eric Chine of Kent State. Ironically, Chine finished sixth at the Southern Scuffle, two spots behind Goodman.
Caldwell A Fast Starter: Only at the midpoint of his sophomore season, 149-pounder Darrion Caldwell already has started a full-scale assault on the NC State record books. With 16 victories so far this season, Caldwell is on a pace that will put him within reach of the school record of 32 victories in a season by a sophomore, held by Sylvester Terkay. Caldwell has 14 dual matches, plus the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA championships still to go this season.
With 19 pins to his credit, Caldwell already ranks eighth in school history for career pins. He has a ways to go to break the school record of 64 by Terkay, but the next five wrestlers on the list ahead of Caldwell are all between 22 and 29 pins.
Caldwell has just 45 bouts to his credit so far in his career, but his .800 career won-lost percentage (36-9) would rank 11th in school history. Because won-lost percentage is subject to fluctuation, NC State’s career leaders only include wrestlers who have wrestled 50 or more bouts and who have exhausted their eligibility. Terkay is the career leader at .897 (122-14).
Also Challenging The Records: Darrion Caldwell is not the only NC State wrestler nudging towards the career lists in the record book. Following his third-place finish at the Southern Scuffle, junior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica has a 59-23 career record and needs just 11 more victories to crack the school’s all-time top 20.
Junior 184-pounder Ryan Goodman has a 51-14 record following his fourth-place finish at the Southern Scuffle. He still has a ways to go to crack the top 20 for career wins, but his career winning percentage of .784 would rank 13th in school annals.
Fast Worker: Returning to Darrion Caldwell, he has been working hard to become a seven-minute wrestler and overcome the reputation that he either pins his opponents early or struggles to finish. Looking at his match-by-match results, it’s easy to see where that reputation comes from. Of Caldwell’s 19 career pins, 17 of them came in the first period, eight in the first minute, and six in the first 30 seconds of the bout. He has never recorded a pin in the third and final period of a match.
Caldwell won his first three college matches with pins at 0:13, 1:35, and 2:20, meaning he was 3-0 before he had logged five minutes of mat time. He has four first-period pins against ranked wrestlers, including three that were in the top 10 at the time.
Add in technical falls and defaults, and 20 of Caldwell’s 36 career victories failed to go the distance. All but two of his nine career losses were by pin or technical fall.
Prior to this year’s Las Vegas Invitational, Caldwell had gone the distance in back-to-back matches just four times, and never in more than two matches in a row. Caldwell went a full seven minutes in his last four matches at Las Vegas, including a 12-3 major decision over No. 2 Josh Cherulla and an 8-6 decision over No. 3 J.P. O’Connor. None of his five matches at the Southern Scuffle, however, went the full seven minutes.
For his career, only 18 of Caldwell’s 45 matches have gone the full seven minutes.
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