North Carolina State University Athletics
Wrestling Hosts NC State Open At Reynolds
11/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
RALEIGH, N.C. - With several starters out with injuries, NC State’s showing at its own NC State Open was understandably underwhelming. No Wolfpack wrestlers reached the finals, and only junior Darrius Little placed, finishing third at 133 pounds.
At the same time, progress can be measured many ways, and after an often less-than-competitive showing Friday against Utah Valley, several NC State showed up Saturday ready for action.
“I thought several guys really turned it around from last night,” NC State head coach Carter Jordan said. “We faced a pretty good team in Utah Valley last night. They won three weights today and were runner-up in two others. But that doesn’t change the fact that we didn’t compete at several weights. Those guys in particular wrestled well today and were aggressive and took the fight to their opponents.”
NC State began the tournament without starters at 149 and 157. Sophomore 149-pounder Colton Palmer defaulted his match Friday night and was unable to go Saturday for the tournament, and junior 157-pounder Bobby Ward sat out with an unspecified ailment.
In addition, backup heavyweight Eloheim Palma, very impressive in two previous early-season tournaments, was unable to wrestle because of an ankle injury suffered a week ago at the Pembroke Open. Making matters worse, junior heavyweight starter Bobby Isola suffered a serious ankle injury in his first bout and could be out for an extended time.
“We wound up with three starters and a key backup more or less missing the tournament entirely,” Jordan said. “Bobby is going to be out for a while. I hope we can get the other three back for next weekend at Oklahoma.”
The Wolfpack wrestles the Sooners next Saturday in Norman. The match time is still to be determined.
