NC State
NCAA Championships
Caldwell's Quest Ends With Injury Default
3/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 17, 2011
NCAA Wrestling Championships bracket 
NCAA Wrestling Championships site
NCAA Championships Live Stats
PHILADELPHIA -- NC State senior Darrion Caldwell, the 2009 NCAA champion in the 149-pound weight class, suffered a shoulder injury in his second-round match against Michigan's Eric Grajales Thursday at the NCAA Championships at the Wells Fargo Center.
The injury default ended his quest to become NC State's first ever two-time NCAA champion in wrestling. He finished the season with a 15-1 overall record, including his 18-7 first-round win earlier Thursday over UNC Greensboro's Ivan Lopouchanski.
Caldwell, who won the NCAA title in the 149-pound weight class in 2009, sat out last season with a shoulder injury and returned to action midway through this season, with the hopes of defending his title from two years ago.
But against Grajales, Caldwell made a move that caused his shoulder to pop out of its socket again, ending the match and his well-decorated career.
"It was surprising because it was such an innocuous looking move," Wolfpack head coach Carter Jordan said. "It's not like he threw the left hand and arm making a shot. He had [Grajales] from behind and was just trying to reach around. We've been training him to do that with his right arm, but he used his left and only moved it a little ways and the shoulder popped out."
Caldwell, who certainly is on a brief list of candidates for greatest wrestler in Wolfpack history, finished his career with a 109-13 record. The loss dropped his final career winning percentage to .893, which is second in school history to Sylvester Terkay's .897. Caldwell also finished his career second in school history with 109 career victories and 58 career pins.
There is little question that had he been fully healthy this season, he would have finished as the NC State record holder in victories and winning percentage, and would have challenged the school record for pins. He missed the entire fall as the coaching and medical staffs opted to give the shoulder extra time before allowing him to wrestle. He made his season debut Jan. 8, but wrestled the season using extra caution in how he used his left arm for fear of reinjuring the shoulder. Naturally lefthanded, the limitation was significant for Caldwell. The fact that he won his first 15 matches speaks to his remarkable skills as a wrestler.
Caldwell ended his career having not lost to an opponent on the mat since March 27, 2008, during the medal round of that year’s NCAA Championships. He wrestled 56 matches since then without losing to an opponent. He also had a medical default at Oklahoma on Jan. 30, 2009.
A two-time All-American, Caldwell has a career record of 12-5 at the NCAA Championships. Even as a freshman when he fell short of earning All-America, his memorable bout with top-seeded Ryan Lang of Northwestern drew a standing ovation from the sellout crowd and became a cult favorite among wrestling fans on YouTube.com. His most talked-about match, of course, was his 11-6 dismantling of previously unbeaten and heavily favored Brent Metcalf of Iowa in the 2009 championship bout.
Caldwell will have surgery to repair his left shoulder, then will move on to the international wrestling circuit and a berth with the United States National team.
"He'll get over this," Jordan said. "He's disappointed now, but he's the most mentally tough kid around, and he'll get over the disappointment and move on from here. He still has a very promising career ahead of him. I fully expect him to be an Olympic champion and a world champion at some point in the not-too-distant future."
NC State's Darrius Little lost twice on Thursday and was eliminated from the tournament. Little lost his opener in the 141-pound weight class to No. 2 seeded Michael Thorn of Minnesota. He then lost to Casey Thome of Army 2-1 in the wrestleback bracket Thursday evening.
