Darrion Caldwell was the ACC Rookie of the Year as well as ACC Wrestler of the Year in 2007. Caldwell is the first person in N.C. State history to win both titles in the same season. He also won the ACC tournament at the 141-pound weight class.
This season Caldwell, now a sophomore and ranked No. 8 in the nation after moving to the 149 weight class, wrestles with confidence, according to coach Carter Jordan.
“He has a positive attitude and tremendous confidence,” Jordan said. “Darrion has a love to perform and a lot of guts. He’s a great athlete.”
Caldwell said he has a unique style of wrestling. From any position, Caldwell is known to contort his body to get out of tough spots.
“I just think my style is different than a lot of people. I’m more of a gymnast wrestler,” Caldwell said. “I can do things that most people can’t do on a mat. For instance, I can do a back flip to get out of a move.”
Caldwell’s confidence does not just stay with him; it caries over to everyone on the team, according to sophomore Joe Caramanica.
“The biggest thing Darrion brings to the team is confidence,” Caramanica said. “My confidence has gone up because of Darrion. Wrestling, a lot of it is mental confidence, and Darrion has a whole ton of it.”
Caldwell is from Rahway, N.J., and started wrestling at age 5. He liked to play many sports growing up, including football and basketball.
“I actually played basketball and wrestling, which are in the same season, up until seventh grade,” Caldwell said. “I got serious about wrestling my eighth grade year.”
Even though Caldwell wasn’t always 100-percent dedicated to the sport, Jordan said he is still among the nation’s best.
“Darrion didn’t work much in high school and still was one of the best wrestlers in the country,” Jordan said. “He is the best natural wrestler I’ve ever seen.”
Caldwell said wrestling has always come easy to him.
“Basically, what I have is God-given,” Caldwell said. “God blessed me with the ability to out-maneuver, out-muscle and have more speed than my opponent, and I’m using it all to my advantage.”
This season Caldwell is 29-3. Caldwell gained his 19th pin against Virginia Tech on Feb. 15, which gave him the most in the country at the time.
Caldwell will enter the March 8 ACC tournament looking to gain another title. Jordan said he expects Caldwell to win the ACCs again.
“My goal for Darrion is to qualify for the national tournament and put himself in a position to win it,” the coach said.
Caldwell is also setting high goals for himself during the postseason.
“I’ve said it before, and I’m going to say it again: anything less than a national title will be an unsuccessful year,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell’s strengths on the wrestling mat are plentiful, according to his coach.
“He has tremendous leverage, speed and mat presence,” Jordan said. “He has a tremendous amount of savvy, and [he has an] amazing ability to be able to anticipate what his opponents are going to do.”
According to Caramanica, Caldwell is strong from all positions.
“He’s dangerous from every position,” Caramanica said. “He’s dangerous from his feet. He’s dangerous from bottom. He’s dangerous from top; he’s dangerous from his back — he’s just dangerous from everywhere. He doesn’t have a weakness.”
Caramanica said Caldwell has a great personality off the mat.
“He is very outgoing, loyal, a good friend and always looks out for his teammates,” Caramanica said. “He’s a lot fun to be around. He’s a character.”
He added that Caldwell’s character really shows at practice.
“He likes to dance. He likes to sing. He likes attention,” Caramanica said. “He makes life fun.”
According to Caldwell, his fun personality is rooted in his childhood.
“When I was a kid, I was really outgoing and hyper,” Caldwell said. “I’ve calmed down a little bit, but not too much — I’m still a crazy guy.”
Darrion Caldwell: By the numbers1 ACC championship, a season ago in the 141-pound weight class9-0 against ACC opponents as a freshman19 pins going into ACC Tournament20-6 record during freshman season29-3 record this seasonSource: N.C. State Athletics
