North Carolina State University Athletics
Wrestling Heads To ACC Championships
3/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
RALEIGH, N.C. While the regular season was frustrating at times, NC State heads into the Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestling Championships on Saturday at College Park, Md., on the short list of possible favorites to win the conference title.
Despite a 9-10-1 dual-match record in the regular season, the Wolfpack boasts four returning conference champions on the roster this season, and the Pack has performed much better in tournament settings than in dual matches.
“I think we’re ready to go,” Wolfpack head coach Carter Jordan said. “We’ve had three great weeks of practices since the regular season ended. Everyone is healthy and ready to go. We have three or four guys capable of winning their bracket, and that scores points in a tournament that you can’t score in a dual match.”
The Wolfpack enters the weekend with junior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica (29-4 overall, 6-0 vs. ACC competition) and sophomore 149-pounder Darrion Caldwell (29-3 overall, 8-0 vs. ACC opponents) established as heavy favorites in their respective weight classes, and junior 184-pounder Ryan Goodman (14-5 overall, 4-0 vs. the ACC) a solid favorite in his weight class. Sophomore 125-pounder Taylor Cummings (20-13, 6-3 vs. conference foes) is on the short list of favorites at 125.
The performance of those four will be critical to the Wolfpack’s hopes of repeating as ACC team champions, but just as important will be the performances of the other six wrestlers in the lineup, especially in the wrestleback brackets.
Junior 165-pounder Jalil Dozier (13-11 overall, 2-6 in the ACC) struggled at times during the season, but won five of his last seven matches and six of his last nine.
Freshmen 133-pounder Darius Little (10-12, 4-4 vs. ACC opponents), 157-pounder Colton Palmer (7-9 overall, 3-5 at 157) and heavyweight Bobby Isola (14-14 overall, 5-3 vs. the ACC) all have had solid rookie campaigns and have bolstered the lineup as the season has progressed.
Senior 174-pounder Randy Goodman (5-14 overall, 1-2 vs. the ACC) and junior 197-pounder Mark Jahad (9-18 overall, 1-4 vs. the ACC) round out the lineup and are capable of scoring valuable points by advancing deep into the tournament.
NC STATE WRESTLING NOTEBOOK
NC STATE AND THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Wolfpack has won the ACC tournament championship 14 times, including a year ago. The Pack has won the championship four times in the last seven years.
CALDWELL AND PINS: Darrion Caldwell wrapped up the regular season with pins in each of his last five matches, and heads into the postseason with 19 falls for the season and 29 for his career.
Caldwell’s 19 pins for the season ranks third in school history for a single season. Sylvester Terkay recorded 27 pins in 1991-92, and 25 in 1992-93 when he went 41-0 and won the national championship.
Caldwell now is tied with Dan Madson (1992-94, 1996) for third in school history with 29 career pins. He still has a ways to go to break the school record of 64 by Terkay from 1990-93. The late Tab Thacker (1981-84) ranks second in career pins with 54.
A year ago, Caldwell set the school record for pins by a freshman with 10. Thacker previously held the record for pins by a sophomore with 15 in 1981-82. Caldwell broke that when he pinned North Carolina’s Victory Ramirez on February 8.
SOPHOMORE RECORD IN SIGHT: With 29 victories so far this season, Caldwell is on a pace that has him within reach of the school record of 32 victories in a season by a sophomore, held by Sylvester Terkay.
WINNING PERCENTAGE: Darrion Caldwell has just 58 bouts to his credit so far in his career, but his .845 career won-lost percentage (46-9) would be fourth 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 have exhausted their eligibility. Sylvester Terkay is the career leader at .897 (122-14).
CARAMANICA CLIMBS WINS LIST: With his 29-4 regular season in the books, junior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica now has a career record of 72-23. He is tied for 19th in school history and is the 21st wrestler in NC State history to record 70 victories in a career.
GUNNING FOR 30: With 29 wins apiece, Joe Caramanica and Darrion Caldwell are shooting to become just the second pair of NC State wrestlers ever to win at least 30 matches apiece in a single season. Both have two dual matches remaining plus the postseason. Brian Jackson (38) and Michael Stokes (34) both won more than 30 matches in 1989. Only nine wrestlers in the program’s history have won 30 or more matches, the last being Sylvester Terkay in 1993, when he went 41-0 and won the national championship.
FRESHMAN HEAVYWEIGHTS: At 14-14, Bobby Isola is tied with Sylvester Terkay (14-9 in 1989-90) as the second-winningest freshman heavyweight in program history. The late Tab Thacker went 19-3-1 as a freshman in 1980-81.
Despite a 9-10-1 dual-match record in the regular season, the Wolfpack boasts four returning conference champions on the roster this season, and the Pack has performed much better in tournament settings than in dual matches.
“I think we’re ready to go,” Wolfpack head coach Carter Jordan said. “We’ve had three great weeks of practices since the regular season ended. Everyone is healthy and ready to go. We have three or four guys capable of winning their bracket, and that scores points in a tournament that you can’t score in a dual match.”
The Wolfpack enters the weekend with junior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica (29-4 overall, 6-0 vs. ACC competition) and sophomore 149-pounder Darrion Caldwell (29-3 overall, 8-0 vs. ACC opponents) established as heavy favorites in their respective weight classes, and junior 184-pounder Ryan Goodman (14-5 overall, 4-0 vs. the ACC) a solid favorite in his weight class. Sophomore 125-pounder Taylor Cummings (20-13, 6-3 vs. conference foes) is on the short list of favorites at 125.
The performance of those four will be critical to the Wolfpack’s hopes of repeating as ACC team champions, but just as important will be the performances of the other six wrestlers in the lineup, especially in the wrestleback brackets.
Junior 165-pounder Jalil Dozier (13-11 overall, 2-6 in the ACC) struggled at times during the season, but won five of his last seven matches and six of his last nine.
Freshmen 133-pounder Darius Little (10-12, 4-4 vs. ACC opponents), 157-pounder Colton Palmer (7-9 overall, 3-5 at 157) and heavyweight Bobby Isola (14-14 overall, 5-3 vs. the ACC) all have had solid rookie campaigns and have bolstered the lineup as the season has progressed.
Senior 174-pounder Randy Goodman (5-14 overall, 1-2 vs. the ACC) and junior 197-pounder Mark Jahad (9-18 overall, 1-4 vs. the ACC) round out the lineup and are capable of scoring valuable points by advancing deep into the tournament.
NC STATE WRESTLING NOTEBOOK
NC STATE AND THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Wolfpack has won the ACC tournament championship 14 times, including a year ago. The Pack has won the championship four times in the last seven years.
CALDWELL AND PINS: Darrion Caldwell wrapped up the regular season with pins in each of his last five matches, and heads into the postseason with 19 falls for the season and 29 for his career.
Caldwell’s 19 pins for the season ranks third in school history for a single season. Sylvester Terkay recorded 27 pins in 1991-92, and 25 in 1992-93 when he went 41-0 and won the national championship.
Caldwell now is tied with Dan Madson (1992-94, 1996) for third in school history with 29 career pins. He still has a ways to go to break the school record of 64 by Terkay from 1990-93. The late Tab Thacker (1981-84) ranks second in career pins with 54.
A year ago, Caldwell set the school record for pins by a freshman with 10. Thacker previously held the record for pins by a sophomore with 15 in 1981-82. Caldwell broke that when he pinned North Carolina’s Victory Ramirez on February 8.
SOPHOMORE RECORD IN SIGHT: With 29 victories so far this season, Caldwell is on a pace that has him within reach of the school record of 32 victories in a season by a sophomore, held by Sylvester Terkay.
WINNING PERCENTAGE: Darrion Caldwell has just 58 bouts to his credit so far in his career, but his .845 career won-lost percentage (46-9) would be fourth 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 have exhausted their eligibility. Sylvester Terkay is the career leader at .897 (122-14).
CARAMANICA CLIMBS WINS LIST: With his 29-4 regular season in the books, junior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica now has a career record of 72-23. He is tied for 19th in school history and is the 21st wrestler in NC State history to record 70 victories in a career.
GUNNING FOR 30: With 29 wins apiece, Joe Caramanica and Darrion Caldwell are shooting to become just the second pair of NC State wrestlers ever to win at least 30 matches apiece in a single season. Both have two dual matches remaining plus the postseason. Brian Jackson (38) and Michael Stokes (34) both won more than 30 matches in 1989. Only nine wrestlers in the program’s history have won 30 or more matches, the last being Sylvester Terkay in 1993, when he went 41-0 and won the national championship.
FRESHMAN HEAVYWEIGHTS: At 14-14, Bobby Isola is tied with Sylvester Terkay (14-9 in 1989-90) as the second-winningest freshman heavyweight in program history. The late Tab Thacker went 19-3-1 as a freshman in 1980-81.
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