Although the wrestling season may be over, the work for several N.C. State wrestlers continues in preparation for the FILA Junior National Championships to be held next week in Las Vegas, Nev.
Four freshmen — Bobby Isola, Colton Palmer, Greyson Mills and Mike Moreno — will represent the Wolfpack in the junior national tournament while assistant coach Jerrod Sanders will compete in the national championship tournament with an opportunity to make the Olympic team.
“It’s invaluable experience,” coach Carter Jordan said of the wrestlers’ and Sanders’ opportunities. “It’s always been extremely helpful to their careers and their confidence, so we’re real excited about it.”
The experience for the four freshmen, according to Palmer, will be something that helps them when the regular season rolls around in the fall.
“It’s a tough tournament so you get some good experience,” he said. “I’m definitely looking forward to it.”
Although the competition in Las Vegas will be extremely tough, Palmer said he feels like there is a little less pressure because he is not officially representing N.C. State.
“It gives you a chance to be a little more relaxed going into it because you’re not wrestling for the school, just for yourself really,” he said.
If Isola, Palmer, Moreno and Mills wrestle well, they can put themselves in position to make the national team and compete for the United States in the division for people under 20-years-old.
Jordan said the chance to get to represent America is a great opportunity for the four State underclassmen.
“This is the under-20 world team that they are trying to make,” he said. “This is tough competition, but it is confined to their age group, so it makes it a little bit more of a level playing field.”
For Sanders, the competition at the national level is something he’s experienced before, but still proves to be invaluable for his continuing wrestling career.
“I’ve been to the world team trials before so I got a little experience being out there,” Sanders said. “It’s real important to wrestle in the off season. It can only help you.”
If he can win his weight class at the U.S. Open, Sanders will be the top seed at 147 pounds for the Olympic Trials in June. A win there would put Sanders on the Olympic Team, one of seven wrestlers who would represent the United States in the upcoming Beijing Olympics.
“He will be the number one seed if he wins the [U.S. Open],” Jordan said. “If he wins, he will be in the driver’s seat to make the Olympic team.”
Sanders said he knows that the next two months of competition will be crucial for his career and he said he cannot wait to get started with his journey towards Beijing.
“I’m just going to train hard for this next month, get my mind right and go out there and give it all I’ve got, and hopefully be in Beijing in a couple months.”
