Caldwell voted ACC Wrestler of the Year

GREENSBORO, N.C. Less than a week after bringing home the first NCAA title by an Atlantic Coast Conference wrestler in 14 years, NC State’s Darrion Caldwell received the league’s ultimate honor on Friday.

Caldwell, a 149-pound junior from Rahway, N.J., was named ACC Wrestler of the Year in voting by the conference’s six head coaches. This marks the second time Caldwell has been named ACC Wrestler of the Year. He also won the award as a freshman two years ago.
 
Caldwell won the NCAA championship at 149 pounds with a tremendous 11-6 decision over previously unbeaten and defending national champion Brent Metcalf of Iowa last Saturday in St. Louis. The win by Caldwell is widely viewed as one of the biggest upsets in the history of the NCAA Wrestling Championships. Caldwell was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler.

With the victory over Metcalf, Caldwell became the ACC’s 15th NCAA wrestling champion. He finished the season with a 10-match winning streak six by major decision, one by technical fall and one by pin. Caldwell is NC State’s first All-American since 1996 (Mike Miller) and its first two-time All-American since 1992-93 (Sylvester Terkay).
 
Caldwell finished the season at 38-1, went unbeaten in ACC matches and placed first in his weight class at the ACC Championships in Blacksburg, Va., on March 7. His only loss of the season was a medical default to Oklahoma’s Kyle Terry. Caldwell now has a career record of 95-12 with 50 pins.

Virginia Tech’s Jarrod Garnett received the nod as Freshman of the Year. ACC Coach of the Year honors went to Kerry McCoy of Maryland.

Caldwell and Garnett also earned spots on the All-ACC team, which went to the champion and runner-up in each weight class at the ACC Championshps. The All-ACC team consists of six wrestlers who went on to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championships Caldwell, Duke’s Konrad Dudziak (285), Virgina’s Chris Henrich (174) and the Maryland trio of Steven Bell (133), Alex Krom (141) and Hudson Taylor (197).
 
The complete list of 2009 ACC wrestling honorees is as follows:
 
2009 ACC Wrestler of the Year
Darrion Caldwell, NC State
 
2009 ACC Freshman of the Year
Jarrod Garnett, Virginia Tech
 
2009 ACC Wrestling Coach of the Year
Kerry McCoy, Maryland
 
2009 All-Atlantic Coast Conference
125 Brendan Byrne, Jr., Maryland*
125 Jarrod Garnett, Fr., Virginia Tech
133 Steven Bell, Jr. Maryland*
133 Mike Rappo, So., North Carolina
141 Alex Krom, Jr., Maryland*
141 Chris Diaz, So., Virginia Tech
149 Darrion Caldwell, Jr., NC State*
149 Nick Stabile, So., North Carolina
157 Kody Hamrah, Sr., NC State*
157 Jesse Dong, Fr., Virginia Tech
165 Keegan Mueller, Sr., North Carolina*
165 Mike Sewell, Sr., Virginia
174 Chris Henrich, So., Virginia*
174 Anthony Trongone, Fr., Virginia Tech
184 Rocco Caponi, Sr. Virginia*
184 Tommy Spellman, So., Virginia Tech
197 Brent Jones, Jr., Virginia*^
197 Hudson Taylor, Jr., Maryland
285 Konrad Dudziak, Jr., Duke*
285 Justin Dobies, Sr., North Carolina
 
* - indicates ACC Champion
^ - indicates ACC Championships Most Outstanding Wrestler

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