Wrestling Takes Swing West To Nebraska, Wyoming

RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State wrestling team will try to rebound from a rough two days earlier this week at the Southern Scuffle in Greensboro with a swing west.

The Wolfpack will wrestle a doubleheader on Sunday, taking on North Dakota State and Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb. NC State will wrestle the Bison at 12 noon local time, 1 p.m. EST, and then will take on the Cornhuskers at 4 p.m. local time, 5 o’clock back east.

On Tuesday, the Pack will be in Laramie, Wyoming, to battle the Cowboys. That match will begin at 7 p.m. MST, 5 p.m. EST.

NC State, 2-2 in duals thus far in 2009-10, had just two wrestlers advance to the second day of the Southern Scuffle. Freshman heavyweight Eloheim Palma won his first three matches to reach the quarterfinals, but then lost twice on the second day of the tournament.

Junior 149-pounder Bobby Ward, meanwhile, split his first two bouts, then battled through the wrestle-backs to take fifth place. Palma and Ward rank first and second, respectively, in victories for the Wolfpack. Palma is 14-5, while Ward is 13-5.

“We had a rough day in Greensboro,” head coach Carter Jordan said. “The Southern Scuffle is a really good tournament with a big field, eight mats, and a lot of really good wrestlers. I think some of our younger guys were a little overwhelmed by it all.”

NC State’s starting lineup will get a boost this week with the return of Mike Moreno at 125 pounds. A redshirt-freshman, Moreno sat out the first semester. He went 10-13 a year ago and finished third in the ACC at 125.

The Wolfpack still will be without the services of junior 133-pounder Darrius Little, who missed the Southern Scuffle with a knee injury and will not make the trip to Lincoln and Laramie. Little is 7-3 on the season. Redshirt-freshman Scott Norris (0-3) will replace little in the lineup.

“We’ll definitely be a better lineup once we get both Mike and Darrius in there at the same time,” Jordan said. “Darrius is a veteran and a leader, and he’s wrestled well for us this year. We miss not having him in the lineup. Mike Moreno has come a long way in two years in our program. Having him paired with Darrius gives us a great 1-2 punch at 125 and 133.”

With Norris in the lineup in place of Little, NC State this week will feature a lineup of five freshmen, four of them first-year performers. Other freshmen joining Norris and Palma in the lineup will be 141-pounder Dale Shull (8-6), 184-pounder Jonathan Becker (3-7) and 197-pounder Andrew Tumlin (3-6). Shull, Tumlin and Palma all were high school national champions a year ago.

“I don’t like to make too much out of having a young lineup,” Jordan said. “We can’t do anything about it, so the less said the better. It’s all part of the process.”

Scouting North Dakota State: Senior Ryan Adams (141-149) leads NDSU with an overall record of 18-3 this season.  Sophomore Tyler Johnson (165) is 15-2.  Fellow sophomore Justin Solberg (125) is third with 14-4. Solberg and redshirt freshman Brian Ham (4-6 at 133 and 141) are tops in pins with four apiece.

North Dakota State is 1-2 in dual-match competition, with all three bouts coming December 13 at the Dakota Duals. After opening with a 36-12 victory over Minnesota State Moorhead, the Bison fell to Northern Illinois by a score of 23-16 and No. 21 Oregon State 42-0. Senior Ryan Adams tallied two major-decision victories, while sophomore Justin Solberg, junior Andrey Patselov, redshirt-freshman Mac Stoll and junior Kenny Moenkedick also claimed two wins each.
 
Scouting Nebraska: Nebraska will be without 157-pound standout Jordan Burroughs the rest of the season, as the defending national champion suffered a torn LCL and PCL in NU’s last competition Dec. 19. Burroughs will undergo surgery this month and seek a medical hardship, while redshirt freshman Tyler Koehn will step up at the 157-pound bout. Koehn is 13-6 this season.

Despite the loss of Burroughs, Nebraska still has three returning national qualifiers and a pair of returning All-Americans in its starting lineup. Second-ranked Craig Brester has been as strong as any wrestler in the nation, compiling a 15-0 record with seven pins. The senior 197-pounder was named Big 12 wrestler of the week Dec. 14 and crowned Las Vegas Invitational champion in early December. At 174 pounds, senior Stephen Dwyer has risen to No. 3 in the national rankings with a 13-1 record, while sophomore Tucker Lane is ranked 13th at heavyweight with a 14-4 record.

Scouting Wyoming: The Cowboy won some tough matches December 20 at the Reno Tournament of Champions, but also dropped a few as well and left the annual event with plenty to work on. Wyoming had six place-winners on the day, recording a third-place finish by sophomore 184-pounder Joe LeBlanc (22-3) and fourth-place showings from sophomore 125-pounder Michael Martinez (20-5) and senior 141-pounder Cory VomBaur (9-4).

In addition, Wyoming had two fifth-place winners in redshirt freshman 133-pounder Kasey Garnhart (16-12) and sophomore 174-pounder Brock Smith (14-7). Sophomore 197-pounder Alfonso Hernandez (13-10) finished sixth.

As a team, the Cowboys placed seventh of 25 teams with a total of 69.5 points.

North Carolina State University Athletics

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