NC State
Wolfpack Open
Darrius Little Wins at 141 at Wolfpack Open
11/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 14, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. ­— In his first-ever action at 141 pounds, Darrius Little swept through five matches to take the championship at his new weight in the Wolfpack Open, held Sunday at Reynolds Coliseum.
The tournament, which officially broke the seal on the 2010-11 season for NC State, was an open tournament and did not feature any team scoring. All wrestlers officially wrestled unattached.
A 133-pounder his entire career at NC State, Little moved up to 141 for the 2010-11 season and on Sunday defeated three Atlantic Coast Conference rivals in his run to the championship. Little bested Duke’s Riley Adamson 3-2 in the second round, then defeated Zach Neibert of Virginia Tech 5-2 in the third round. Little won a 5-2 decision over Duke’s Mike Bell in the finals.
Redshirt-sophomore Pedram Rahmatabadi won his first three matches at 125 pounds before losing in the championship bout to take second place. Redshirt-junior 125-pounder Mike Moreno lost in the second round to eventual champion Manuel Ramirez of UNC Greensboro, but won five straight in the consolation round to take third place.
Redshirt-junior Colton Palmer advanced to the semifinals at 157 pounds before losing to eventual champion Taylor Knapp of Virginia Tech. Palmer went to the consolation bracket and defeated Matt Tusick of the NRV wrestling club and Ryan Harding of Duke to claim third place.
“I was really pleased with our effort,” Wolfpack wrestling coach Carter Jordan said. “We have a lot of mistakes to correct, which is typical for the first weekend of the season, but we really got after it today. That was an NC State wrestling team out there today. They wrestled hard and the wrestled aggressively.
“It was good for Darrius Little to win like he did. Some of his matches were probably closer than they could have been, but it was his first action at 141 and this should give him confidence. Mike Moreno had his best day since he’s been at NC State, and Colton Palmer and Quinton Godley both wrestled their rear ends off.”
NC State will be off the next two weeks before heading to Norman, Okla., on Nov. 27 for the Oklahoma Open.
