North Carolina State University Athletics
Wrestling To Host Wolfpack Open Sunday At Coliseum
11/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 12, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. — NC State, ranked No. 25 in the latest national poll by intermat.com, will break the seal on the 2010-11 college wrestling season Sunday by hosting the Wolfpack Open at Reynolds Coliseum.
The tournament will begin at 10 a.m., and should last well into the afternoon, depending on the number of participants. As an open tournament, wrestlers will compete unattached, and there will be no team scoring.
Trackwrestling.com will score the match and post up-to-the-minute results on its website.
NC State begins the 2010-11 season with a veteran team that features talent and depth. The Wolfpack’s starting lineup should feature seven returning starters, plus several others who saw time last season because of the many injuries that befell the team.
The lineup will be further bolstered when 2009 national champion and preseason No. 1-ranked Darrion Caldwell returns to his spot at 149 pounds later in the season. Caldwell missed the 2009-10 season recuperating from shoulder surgery.
“It was a tough season, losing Darrion and then having all the injuries we had,” Wolfpack head coach Carter Jordan says of last year’s 8-13 squad. “We lost five projected starters to injury at one time or another, and that’s not even counting Darrion, who was injured before the season started. It tested our depth, but it should make us stronger this season.”
Jordan will probably send as many as 20 wrestlers into action this weekend at the Wolfpack Open, but much of his starting lineup appears settled. Redshirt-junior Mike Moreno went 7-10 a year ago after replacing the injured Taylor Cummings in December. Moreno carries a 17-23 career record into this season and will start at 125 pounds.
The next two weight classes will represent a reshuffling of the lineup. Darrius Little started his first two seasons at 133, and began there last season before falling to injuries after 10 matches. Granted an additional year of eligibility, Little enters 2010-11 as a redshirt-junior and also moves up a weight, to 141 pounds. He went 7-3 a year ago and has a 36-33 career mark, all at 133.
“Darrius is now in his fourth year in the program and is one of our leaders,” Jordan says. “The move up will be an adjustment for him, but I think it’s his best spot in the lineup.”
While Little moves to 141, sophomore Dale Shull and redshirt-sophomore Scott Norris will battle for the starting job at 133. Shull spent most of last season at 141 and was 14-11 at that weight, then moved down to 133 in February. He went 4-5 at the lower weight.
Jordan believes that Shull’s strength at 133 and Little’s quickness at 141 make the move a natural, but cautions that Norris will not go quietly.
“Scott Norris has really looked good in practice, and that spot at 133 is still not settled,” Jordan said. “Dale’s a little nicked up right now, so they’re going to be competing with one another for awhile, and that can only be good for the team.”
Whoever starts at 149 to open the season will merely be keeping the chair warm for Caldwell, who can make a credible case for himself as one of the two or three greatest wrestlers in the history of the program. Jordan has several talented freshmen who could step into that spot, but prefers to redshirt them if possible.
Redshirt-sophomore Brett Farina, who went 7-8 at 149 last season and 8-12 overall, will be the most likely starter for the time being.
Redshirt-junior Colton Palmer went 4-7 at 157 a year ago, 5-8 overall, and should be the starter there this season. A quartet of hopefuls is auditioning for the open spot at 165. Sophomores Kasey Young and Colin Genthert, redshirt-freshman Colton Gleason and true freshman Nijel Jones all have the starting spot in their respective crosshairs. Genthert and Young had some experience there a year ago, and Gleason saw some action as an unattached wrestler in tournaments last season. Jones was a high school state champion in North Carolina.
“We’ve got several guys vying for that job, and it’s really wide open at this point,” Jordan says.
Junior Quinton Godley is the returning starter at 174 after seeing action in every dual match and tournament for the Wolfpack a year ago. Godley is a two-year starter and another of the team’s veterans.
“Quinton has just gotten better and better,” Jordan says. “He’s a guy who hadn’t wrestled all that much when he came here, but was athletic and worked hard, and he’s made himself into a very competitive wrestler.”
Freshman Chris Intehar, a North Carolina state high school champion, will most likely take the starting spot at 184, with sophomore Jonathan Becker starting at 197.
Senior Bobby Isola and sophomore Eloheim Palma are locked in their second spirited battle in as many years for the starting heavyweight job. Palma won out last year when Isola, who has had enough physical problems to fill a good medical journal, was unable to continue after just four bouts. Palma finshed the year 23-16, setting a school record for victories by a freshman heavyweight. Both will begin the season in the hunt for the starting job.
“Bobby Isola has done everything he’s been asked ever since he’s been here, but if it wasn’t for bad luck he’d have no luck at all,” Jordan says. “It’s great to see him out there and competing. It means a lot to our program. That said, we’re not playing favorites. Eloheim had a very good season for us last year, and we’ll put the best guy out there.”
Sunday’s tournament will be the Wolfpack’s last home date until the NC State Duals on Jan. 8. Between Sunday and then, the Pack will participate in three demanding and challenging tournaments: Nov. 27 at the Oklahoma Open at Norman, Okla., Dec. 3-4 at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, and Dec. 29-30 at the Southern Scuffle in Greensboro. The dual portion of the season will begin in January.
“I really believe this is a much better team than the last two, both of which were young and hurt by injuries,” Jordan says. “We’re much more experienced and we have much more depth than we’ve had in recent years. We’re really excited about getting the season started.”
Players Mentioned
