PHILADELPHIA,
Pa.
–
NC State
won four of the first five matches to take a 16-3 lead, then won two of the
last three to nail down a 22-15 victory over Drexel in college wrestling action
at the Palestra.
The Wolfpack won its second match in a row to move above the
.500 mark for the second time this season at 8-7-1. Drexel, which also lost
26-12 to North Carolina
as part of a doubleheader, fell to 9-10.
NC State
wrestled for the second match in a row with multiple starters out of the
lineup. Senior 174-pounder Randy Goodman, out with a mild concussion, and
junior 184-pounder Ryan Goodman, out with a knee injury, also missed Wednesday
night’s victory at Campbell.
Subsitutes for the Goodmans lost both at 174 and 184, including a technical
fall by Justin Weiller over Dane Coffee at 184. Even without the Goodmans in
the lineup, the Wolfpack wrestled well enough to please head coach Carter
Jordan for the second match in a row.
“We really wrestled well, and that’s two matches in a row,” Jordan
said. “I’m really pleased to see that. We were aggressive and took the match to
them. I can feel us starting to get on a little bit of a roll here, but we have
to continue to work hard and not let up. This can be a really good team with a
chance to score points in the postseason, but everybody in the lineup has to
stayed focused and not let up.”
Notes: Sophomore 149-pounder Darrion Caldwell
pinned Drexel’s Lewis Baker at 1:38 to improve to 25-3 for the season. Caldwell,
ranked No. 9 nationally, now has 15 pins for the season, which ties Tab Thacker
for fourth most pins in a single season in NC State history. Thacker had 15 pins in
both 1981-82 and 1983-84. With 25 wins on the season, Caldwell now
has the third most victories in a single season ever by an NC State sophomore. Caldwell,
whose 25 career pins ranks fifth in school history, now has won nine matches in
a row, which is a career high.
Junior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica also won his twenty-fifth
match of the season, improving to 25-4 after a 7-0 blanking of Morgan
Remillard. Caramanica is now tied for the sixth most victories ever by a
Wolfpack junior. His 68 career wins puts him two shy of breaking the school’s top 20 for career wins.
With four matches plus the postseason remaining, Caldwell
and Caramanica have a great shot at becoming only the second pair of NC State wrestlers
to win 30 matches each in the same season. Brian Jackson (38) and Michael
Stokes (34) both won more than 30 matches in 1989.
NC State 22, Drexel 15
133: Darius Little (NCS) dec. John McDermott, 6-3
141: Joe Caramanica (NCS) dec. Morgan Remillard, 7-0
149: Darrion Caldwell (NCS) pinned Lewis Baker, at 1:38
157: Ryan Hluschak (Drexel) dec. Colton Palmer, 5-1
165: Jalil Dozier (NCS) major dec. Billy Haydt, 15-7
174: Scott Hunter (Drexel) dec. Ray Ward, 12-5
184: Justin Wieller (Drexel) tech fall Dane Coffee, at 6:18
197: Mark Jahad (NCS) dec. Brian Stouffer, 9-3
285: Bobby Isola (NCS) dec. Bryant Deinhardt, 3-2
125: Steve Mytych (Drexel) major dec. Taylor Cummings, 13-3
Courtesy: NC State
