North Carolina State University Athletics
Wrestling Travels to Vegas For Cliff Kean Invitational
12/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
RALEIGH, N.C. The NC State wrestling team takes a lengthy break from the dual-match portion of its schedule beginning this weekend with the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
The biggest and most pretigious in-season college wrestling tournament in the country, the Las Vegas Invitational annually attracts most of the top teams and individual wrestlers in the country. The Wolfpack came away with a strong 14th-place finish in Las Vegas a year ago, but will only field a partial lineup for this year’s tournament.
Thanks to injuries and illness, NC State will not field a wrestler at 141 pounds, 184 pounds, 197 pounds or heavyweight.
“We’re just really banged up right now,” head coach Carter Jordan says. “We have a nice long break after this weekend, so we should be able to get most everyone healthy over that stretch.”
The partial lineup that the Wolfpack will take to Las Vegas features most of the Pack’s front-line performers, led by 2008 All-American Darrion Caldwell (10-0) at 149 pounds, 2005 ACC Rookie of the Year Kody Hamrah (8-1), 2007 ACC champion Taylor Cummings (7-3) at 125, sophomore Darrius Little (5-4) at 133, and freshman Jake Burge (4-2) at 174. Caldwell won the Las Vegas Invitational at 149 pounds a year ago.
NC State is off to a 1-4 start to its dual-match season, but those five can hardly be held accountable for that, posting a 34-10 record between them.
At the same time, NC State is without several top performers to illness or injury, including senior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica (30-6 a year ago) and heavyweight Bobby Isola (14-16 a year ago). In addition, senior 197-pounder Ryan Goodman (16-8 a year ago and a three-time NCAA qualifier) is still with the NC State football team and most likely won’t be ready to wrestle until some time in January.
“The guys we have out there are really wrestling well right now, Jordan says. “We just have to get healthy and get our lineup on the mat. I really believe that when we have our full lineup out there, we can be a heck of a good team.”
The biggest and most pretigious in-season college wrestling tournament in the country, the Las Vegas Invitational annually attracts most of the top teams and individual wrestlers in the country. The Wolfpack came away with a strong 14th-place finish in Las Vegas a year ago, but will only field a partial lineup for this year’s tournament.
Thanks to injuries and illness, NC State will not field a wrestler at 141 pounds, 184 pounds, 197 pounds or heavyweight.
“We’re just really banged up right now,” head coach Carter Jordan says. “We have a nice long break after this weekend, so we should be able to get most everyone healthy over that stretch.”
The partial lineup that the Wolfpack will take to Las Vegas features most of the Pack’s front-line performers, led by 2008 All-American Darrion Caldwell (10-0) at 149 pounds, 2005 ACC Rookie of the Year Kody Hamrah (8-1), 2007 ACC champion Taylor Cummings (7-3) at 125, sophomore Darrius Little (5-4) at 133, and freshman Jake Burge (4-2) at 174. Caldwell won the Las Vegas Invitational at 149 pounds a year ago.
NC State is off to a 1-4 start to its dual-match season, but those five can hardly be held accountable for that, posting a 34-10 record between them.
At the same time, NC State is without several top performers to illness or injury, including senior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica (30-6 a year ago) and heavyweight Bobby Isola (14-16 a year ago). In addition, senior 197-pounder Ryan Goodman (16-8 a year ago and a three-time NCAA qualifier) is still with the NC State football team and most likely won’t be ready to wrestle until some time in January.
“The guys we have out there are really wrestling well right now, Jordan says. “We just have to get healthy and get our lineup on the mat. I really believe that when we have our full lineup out there, we can be a heck of a good team.”
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