COLLEGE PARK, Md. - NC State won one of three bouts in the finals of the 2008 ACC Championships. The lone champion and automatic national qualifier for the Wolfpack was Darrion Caldwell (149). Darrius Little (133) dropped a 6-4 decision in the finals and Ryan Goodman fell 7-2.
Caldwell continued his ACC dominance in the finals, winning his second straight ACC title. He wrestled his first full seven minutes of the tournament with a major decision over Eric Medina of Maryland in the championship round. Caldwell led 6-0 after one period, with a takedown and two sets of back points. A second period reversal gave him an 8-0 lead. He finished out the bout with a takedown, a stall point, and a ride time point for a 12-2 victory.
Caldwell, spent only five minutes and 20 seconds on the mat en route to the finals. He pinned Nick Murray of Virginia Tech in 4:41 and put away Shawn Harris Virginia in 0:26.
The 133-pound final came down to the final 30 seconds of the bout. Little and Steve Bell of Maryland exchanged takedowns and a pair of escapes to set the stage for a dramatic end to their bout Tied at four late in the third, Little got in on a deep outside single leg. As Little switched to a double leg, Bell chin whipped him to the mat and spun around for the takedown with just 15 seconds to go in the bout. Bell made the 6-4 lead stand to end Little’s run at an ACC Championship.
The road to the finals for Little began with a 13-7 victory over Danny Lopes of North Carolina. Little followed that with an upset of the top seed, Eric Albright of Virginia. A takedown in the final ten seconds of the bout gave Little a 6-4 lead. He gave up a late escape and held on for the 6-5 win.
A second period reversal gave Rocco Caponi of Virginia a 2-0 lead in 184 pound final and he never relinquished it on the way to a 7-2 win. Goodman would earn an escape and a stall point, but a pair of third period takedowns doomed him.
Goodman received and opening round bye and only required one victory to reach the finals. He earned that win by way of a 6-1 decision over Josh Haines of Maryland.
In addition to the finalists, Joe Caramanica (141) placed fourth. Caramanica entered the tournament ranked 9th in the country, according to the Intermat rankings. He dropped a 2-1 decision to Nick Nelson of Virginia in the semifinals. Nelson secured a takedown with just four seconds remaining in the bout to take the victory. Caramanica rebounded from that loss with a 5-0 win over Chris Diaz of Virginia Tech.
Early into the first period of the consolation finals bout with Nick Stabile of North Carolina, Caramanica injured his right knee. When he returned to action he got the first takedown. However, from that point on, Stabile took control of the action and defeated Caramanica, 16-2.
Maryland took the team title with five champions and 86.5 points. Virginia finished second with two champions and 84.5 points. North Carolina and Virginia Tech each had one champion. Outstanding Wrestler went to Mike Epperly (165) of Virginia Tech. Four wild card berths to national tournament will be awarded at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Caldwell will take the mat again for the Wolfpack on March 20 at the NCAA Championships held at the
ScottTrade Center in
St. Louis, Missouri.
Complete Wolfpack Wrestling Results
125- #6 Taylor Cummings 0-2, Eliminated
8-3 L vs #1 Drew Forshey (UNC)
4-0 L vs #2 Brendan Byrne (UMD)
133- Darius Little 2-1, 2nd
13-7 W vs #5 Danny Lopes (UNC)
6-4 W vs #1 Eric Albright (UVA)
6-4 L vs #2 Steve Bell (UMD)
141- #1 Joe Caramanica 1-2, 4th Place
2-1 L vs #4 Nick Nelson (UVA)
5-0 W vs #3 Chris Diaz (VT)
16-2 L vs #2 Nick Stabile (UNC)
149- #1 Darrion Caldwell 3-0, 1st
4:41 WBF vs #6 Nick Murray (VT)
0:26 WBF vs #4 Shawn Harris(UVA)
12-2 MD vs #2 Eric Medina(UMD)
157- #5 Colton Palmer 0-2, Eliminated
3-2 L vs #3 Voris Tejada (Duke)
1:03 LBF vs #4 Drew DiPasquale (UVA)
165- #6 Jalil Dozier 0-2, Eliminated
4:55 LBF vs #1 Keagan Mueller (UNC)
1:46 LBF vs #3 Addison Nuding (Duke)
174- #6 Randy Goodman 0-2, Eliminated
6-1 L vs #4 Kyle Kiss (UNC)
5-0 L vs #3 Eric Decker (VT)
184- #2 Ryan Goodman 1-1, 2nd
6-1 W vs #3 Josh Haines (UMD)
7-2 L vs #1 Rocco Caponi (UVA)
197- #5 Mark Jahad 0-2, Eliminated
0:40 LBF vs #3 Brent Jones (UVA)
16-7 L vs #4 D.J. Bruce (VT)
285- #3 Bobby Isola 0-2, Eliminated
7-4 L vs David Marone (VT)
Medical default vs Jack Danilkowicz (UVA)
Final Team Score
1. Maryland 86.5
2. Virginia 84.5
3. UNC 77
4. Va Tech 40
5. NC State 37.5
6. Duke 11.5
