Wrestling At Oklahoma, Adds Match With OKCU

RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State’s wrestling team will celebrate the Thanksgiving weekend with a trip halfway across the country to Norman, Okla., for a tri-meet with Oklahoma City University and the 12th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.

The Wolfpack will take on the Stars at noon EST, then will wrestle the Sooners at 5 p.m. Oklahoma and Oklahoma City will wrestle at 8 a.m. EST, which will be 9 o’clock local time.

“We originally scheduled this as just a dual meet with Oklahoma, but they wanted to bring in Oklahoma City and make it a tri-meet and we agreed to that,” Wolfpack head coach Carter Jordan said. “It should be a challenging weekend for us, but it also will be a good measuring stick.”

Oklahoma City, an NAIA program, is 2-1 and is coming off of a 32-7 victory over Neosho County. Like the Wolfpack, the Stars are a young team and are slated to have five freshmen starters for the match on Saturday. In addition to the newcomers, they have nine returning wrestlers who qualified for the NAIA Championships lasdt March.

Oklahoma is ranked 12th in the lastest NCAA Division I poll and is coming off of a 24-11 victory over No. 20 Arizona State. The Sooners feature six ranked wrestlers in their lineup, led by No. 5 Kyle Terry at 149, No. 7 Eric Lapotsky at 197, and No. 8 Jeff James at 174.

NC State enters the weekend recovering from several injuries that occurred last weekend in a dual match Friday vs. Utah Valley and in last Saturday’s NC State Open. In particular, redshirt-sophomore 149-pounder Colton Palmer is out of action and will be replaced in the lineup by redshirt-freshman Brett Farina. Junior heavyweight Bobby Isola will be a Saturday decision after sustaining an ankle injury in the second round of the NC State Open. If Isola is unable to wrestle, freshman Eloheim Palma, the 2009 high school national champion, will take his spot in the lineup. Palma has wrestled unattached in three tournaments this season and is 7-0 as an unattached wrestler.

The rest of the Wolfpack’s lineup appears healthy heading into the weekend. Two other high school national champions from a year ago will be in the lineup - 141-pounder Dale Shull and 197-pounder Andrew Tumlin. Kasey Young (165) and Jonathan Becker (184) complete a potential sextet of first-year performers in the starting lineup for the Wolfpack.

Balancing the newcomers will be 125-pounder Taylor Cummings, the team’s lone senior, along with juniors Darrius Little (133) and Bobby Ward (157).

Probable Starters

NC State (1-1)
125 - Taylor Cummings (2-3), Sr.
133 - Darrius Little (5-1), Jr.
141 - Dale Shull (4-2), Fr.
149 - Brett Farina (5-5), R-Fr.
157 - Bobby Ward (2-0), Jr.
165 - Kasey Young (1-4), Fr.
174 - Quinton Godley (3-4), So.
184 - Jonathan Becker (2-4), Fr.
197 - Andrew Tumlin (2-3), Fr.
Hwt - Bobby Isola (2-2), Jr. or Eloheim Palma (7-0), Fr.

Oklahoma City University (2-1)
(12 noon EST)
125 - Kidd Gomez (5-5), Fr.
133 - Cameron Ream (13-5), Fr.
141 - John Lynch (4-8), Fr.
149 - Will Shelton (9-7), Jr.
157 - Nik Turner (10-6), Jr.
165 - Mark Meyer (7-3), So. or Cole Nelson (4-7), Fr.
174 - Andrew Pontikes (7-8), So.
184 - Jake Mabry (7-7), Jr. or Marvin Lewis (0-5), Fr.
197 - Jake Mabry (7-7), Jr. or Marvin Lewis  (0-5), Fr.
Hwt - Corey Johnson (9-7), Sr.

No. 12 Oklahoma (2-0)
(5 p.m. EST)
125 - Justin Forrest (7-5), R-Fr.
133 - Alex Ekstrom (3-4), Fr.
141 - No. 15 Zack Bailey (4-2), Jr.
149 - No. 5 Kyle Terry (6-1), Sr.
157 - Shane Vernon (6-0), Sr.
165 - No. 17 Tyler Caldwell (14-3), Fr.
174 - No. 8 Jeff James (6-0), Jr.
184 - Erich Schmidtke (7-3), R-Fr.
197 - No. 7 Eric Lapotsky (6-0), Sr.
Hwt - No. 14 Nathan Fernandez (9-2), Jr.

North Carolina State University Athletics

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