RALEIGH, N.C. — A rivalry match and a match against a top 25 team. NC State takes on North Carolina and Navy this weekend, easily the biggest weekend of the 2006-07 college wrestling season to date.
The Wolfpack (7-4, 1-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) will travel to Chapel Hill on Friday for a 7 p.m. match against the Tar Heels (3-5, 0-1 in the ACC), then will host 22nd-ranked Navy (6-4) at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum.
The match at North Carolina will be broadcast live on ACC Select.
The Wolfpack enters the weekend having won five dual matches in a row, including a 26-15 victory over Duke in the first ACC match of the season.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Following are the probable starters for both of NC State’s matches this weekend (records as of January 18):
NC State vs. North Carolina
January 19, Carmichael Auditorium, Chapel Hill
125 - Taylor Cummings (7-5) vs. Drew Forshey (11-7)
133 - Garrett Cummings (10-7) vs. Evan Sola (8-2)
141 - Darrion Caldwell (7-3) or Jake Smith (0-4) vs. Mike Rappo (9-8)
149 - Joe Caramanica (11-4) vs. Vincent Ramirez (9-6)
157 - Kody Hamrah (11-5) vs. Ben Fiacco (12-9)
165 - Obie Simpson (6-4) or Jalil Dozier (2-6) vs. Keegan Mueller (19-6)
174 - Rick Brownlee (4-5) or Randy Goodman (1-7) vs. Alex Maciag (0-4)
184 - Jeremy Colbert (4-6) vs. Robert McCarthy (9-11)
197 - Ryan Goodman (11-1) vs. David Daschiell (1-1) or Dennis Drury (8-9)
Hwt - Jainor Palma (16-3) vs. Spencer Nadolsky (17-4)
NC State vs. Navy
January 20, Reynolds Coliseum
125 - Taylor Cummings vs. Alex Usztics (20-10)
133 - Garrett Cummings vs. Joe Baker (13-3)
141 - Darrion Caldwell or Jake Smith vs. Brad Canterbury (21-13)
149 - Joe Caramanica vs. John Cox (21-6)
157 - Kody Hamrah vs. John Jarred (22-8)
165 - Obie Simpson or Jalil Dozier vs. Justin Jacobs (10-10)
174 - Rick Brownlee or Randy Goodman vs. Matt Stolpinski (26-5)
184 - Jeremy Colbert vs. Antonio Miranda (22-9)
197 - Ryan Goodman vs. Tyler Moyer (10-14)
Hwt - Jainor Palma vs. Ed Prendergast (24-5)
THE SERIES VS. UNC, NAVY: Unlike other programs in the Atlantic Coast Conference, NC State and North Carolina face one another twice a year, home and away. The two old rivals have combined to win every ACC championship since 1977, and their rivalry has been a good one. UNC has won 36 of 65 matches (with 1 tie) dating back to 1973-74. The Tar Heels hold a 19-12-1 advantage over the Wolfpack in Chapel Hill during that time, while the two teams are an even 16-16 in Raleigh. NC State has won eight of the last 15 matches, one of which ended in a tie, and four of the last eight in Chapel Hill. The two teams tied 16-16 at Carmichael a year ago. The Tar Heels came back and defeated the Wolfpack 20-16 in Reynolds Coliseum.
NC State and Navy have faced one another every year except two dating back to 1977. The Midshipmen hold a 20-8 advantage over the Wolfpack in that time, including a seven-match winning streak. NC State’s last win in the series was a 23-15 victory at Reynolds Coliseum in 1998.
FULL STRENGTH: NC State has not had its regular starting lineup since the Southern Scuffle, the last weekend of December. That should change this weekend as freshman 141-pounder Darrion Caldwell, sophomore 165-pounder Obie Simpson and senior 174-pounder Rick Brownlee appear ready to return to action. In their absence, the Pack went 2-13 at 141, 165 and 174. Caldwell is 7-3, Simpson 6-4, and Brownlee 4-5.
IN THE RANKINGS: Three NC State wrestlers are ranked in the latest NCWA poll. Sophomore 197-pounder Ryan Goodman (11-1 including a 3rd-place finish at the Southern Scuffle) is 12th. Senior heavyweight Jainor Palma (16-3, 5th at the Southern Scuffle) is 17th. Junior 157-pounder Kody Hamrah (11-5, 5th at the Southern Scuffle) is 19th. Hamrah sat out last weekend’s match against Newberry. He won a major decision the previous over Drexel’s previously unbeaten and then-13th-ranked Ryan Hluschak.
VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS: NC State wrestlers so far this season have compiled a 9-20 record against opponents ranked in the national top 20 of their respective weight classifications. The last time Wolfpack wrestlers won that many bouts against ranked opponents in an entire season was 1998-99, when it compiled a 9-37 mark vs. ranked opponents for the season.
A year ago, NC State went 7-31 against ranked opponents, with then-freshman 197-pounder Ryan Goodman accounting for four of the seven wins.
This season, junior 157-pounder Kody Hamrah leads the team with three wins against ranked opponents, while Goodman and senior heavyweight Jainor Palma have two apiece. Freshman 141-pounder Darrion Caldwell and sophomore 165-pounder Obie Simpson each have one victory against a ranked opponent.
NC State wrestlers will have a possible six matches against North Carolina and Navy: Evan Sola (10th at 133), Keegan Mueller (15th at 165) and Spencer Nadolsky (8th at heavyweight) of North Carolina; and Joe Baker (11th at 133), Matt Stolpinski (10th at 174) and Ed Prendergast (9th at heavyweight) of Navy.
That means that seniors Garrett Cummings (133) and Palma (heavyweight) both will have a big weekend. For the record, Cummings has faced Baker just once in his career, an 11-7 loss a year ago. He has never faced Sola. Palma is 2-1 against Prendergast, the most recent being an 8-3 loss in this year’s Southern Scuffle. He is 0-4 against Nadolsky, each a low-scoring bout (1-3, 2-5, 2-3 and 1-3).
The NC State media relations office has tracked wins vs. ranked opponents since the ’98-99 season.
AUSPICIOUS DEBUT: Freshman 141-pounder Darrion Caldwell got his college career off to a quick start, pinning Campbell’s Kelin Bidelspach in 13 seconds. While research is still ongoing, it can be accurately reported that Caldwell’s career-opening fall was the fastest by an NC State wrestler in at least 20 years. Records have been checked all the way back through the 1987-88 season, and the closest was a 14-second pin by Jeremy Colbert a year ago.
Caldwell leads NC State with four pins this season, including a first-period pin of North Carolina’s Vincent Ramirez at the Southern Scuffle. Ramirez was ranked No. 13 nationally at the time. Rick Brownlee and Joe Caramanica have two pins each for the Wolfpack.
WINNING STREAKS: Several NC State wrestlers come into this weekend’s matches with North Carolina and Navy riding winnings streaks. The most significant streak for the Wolfpack is a career-best nine-match winning streak by sophomore 197-pounder Ryan Goodman, who is 11-1 for the season.
Senior heavyweight Jainor Palma, who has a pair of top 10 opponents on tap this weekend, has won six in a row and 10 of his last 11 matches. Palma’s career-longest winning streak was seven matches, which he did twice a year ago.
Junior 157-pounder Kody Hamrah has won five in a row. His career high winning streak is eight matches, which he did once in each of the last two seasons.
Sophomore 149-pounder Joe Caramanica has won four in a row and eight of his last nine matches after starting the year at 3-3. Caramanica’s career best for consecutive wins is seven.
Finally, brothers Garrett and Taylor Cummings have both won three in a row. For Taylor, a redshirt-freshman 125-pounder, the current winning streak is his career best. Garrett, who has won four of his last five in addition to the last three, won seven straight at one point last season.
PALMA CLIMBS WINS LIST: Off to a phenomenal start at 16-3, senior heavyweight Jainor Palma’s career record stands at 67-44 heading into action tonight vs. Duke. Palma needs two more victories to move into a four-way tie with Chris Kwortnik (1991-94), Steve Williams (1989-92) and Gregg Fatool (1982-85) for 20th in career wins at NC State.
Palma’s 16 wins leads the team. Palma set a career best for wins in a season a year ago when he went 23-11. He was 15-4 after 19 matches a year ago.
Courtesy: Peyton Williams/NC State
