Two Wolfpack wrestlers, redshirt senior Darrion Caldwell and redshirt junior Darrius Little, traveled to Philadelphia, Pa., to compete in the wrestling Nationals and ended their respective seasons in disappointing fashion.

Caldwell entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed in the 149-pound weight class and was the favorite to win his second NCAA Championship. Caldwell proved why in his first match as he defeated Ivan Lopouchanski from UNC-Greensboro by a final score of 18-7.

However, his second match didn’t go as planned.

After a dominate start to the tournament, Caldwell would face Eric Grajales from Michigan, who compiled a mediocre 18-14 record on the season. At the 1:30 mark in the first period, Caldwell injured his shoulder and was forced to take an injury timeout.

Caldwell seriously injured the same shoulder following the 2009 season that caused him to sit out all of last year. He popped the shoulder out of the socket after trying to put a move on Grajales with his left hand.

The injury default loss was Caldwell’s first loss on the season, going 15-1, and an unfortunate end to the career of arguably one of the greatest Pack wrestlers of all time. With a .893 winning percentage and 109 overall wins, both second in N.C. State history, Caldwell was attempting to cement his place at the top with a second NCAA Championship, a feat that has never been accomplished in school history.

Little did not fare any better than Caldwell, as he lost both of his matches on Thursday and was knocked out of the tournament on its opening day. Little fought hard to lose 2-1 in both matches, but just could not get the scoring going to overtake his opponent.

This was the second trip for the redshirt junior who will be one of the Pack’s best returning wrestlers next season for coach Carter Jordan. 

Penn State University won the overall team portion of the tournament after compiling 107.5 overall points in the tournament.