DURHAM — The effort coach Carter Jordan did not see from his wrestlers in Friday’s 24-18 loss to North Carolina was clearly evident in Sunday’s match when State wrestled Virginia, according to Jordan.
“You won’t stay up all night when your team wrestles like that,” he said. “That’s all you’re looking for.”
Unfortunately for the Pack, the outcome of Sunday’s match remained the same, as N.C. State fell 30-12. The match was held at Durham’s Riverside High School because of the Hoops for Hope event at Reynolds Coliseum.
The Pack started fast, winning the first two bouts and taking a 9-0 lead.
Junior Joe Caramanica, ranked sixth nationally in his weight class, won a 6-0 decision in the first match of the day. Sophomore Darrion Caldwell followed that performance with a pin in the first period of his match at 149 pounds.
Caldwell, the ninth ranked grappler in the country in his weight class, improved his record to 27-3 on the season while tallying his 17th pin.
At 157 pounds, State freshman Colton Palmer held a lead through most of his match before succumbing to Drew DiPasquale and losing a 9-7 decision.
Virginia would go on to win the next four matches, scoring decisions at 165 and 174 pounds and securing pins in the 184- and 197-pound classes.
State’s five straight losses came as it was missing two starters, 174-pound senior Randy Goodman and his brother, 184-pound redshirt junior Ryan Goodman.
“We’ve got three true freshmen in the lineup. And we’ve got two guys that are filling in, and we’re wrestling some really solid programs,” Jordan said.
Following the four losses, freshman heavyweight Bobby Isola rebounded from a loss Friday and scored a win by decision in one of the closest matches of the afternoon. The win pushed Isola’s record to 14-12 on the year and put him good position to secure the No. 2 seed at the upcoming ACC Championships in Maryland.
“If I win against Virginia Tech, that means I’ll get a two seed, which will put me on the opposite [side] of the bracket from the UNC guy,” Isola said. “Then I’ll see him in the finals and hopefully get some payback at him.”
In the final two matches State’s Taylor Cummings and Darrius Little lost, Cummings by a close decision and Little by pin at the very end of the first period.
The State wrestlers look to keep improving when they take the mat again Wednesday night against UNC-Greensboro at 7:30 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum.
Although the Pack could not get the win against the Cavaliers and fell to 8-9-1 on the year and 1-3 in the ACC, many positives were taken away from the match, most notably improved effort, according to Caldwell.
“The guys here are showing a lot of character by coming out and actually competing,” he said.
