The entire wrestling season has now culminated into one tournament, and two Wolfpack wrestlers have made the trek to Philadelphia, Pa, to compete in Nationals starting today.

Redshirt senior Darrion Caldwell and redshirt junior Darrius Little are the only two N.C. State wrestlers in the competition, but they have both proven they are there for a reason. Both wrestlers competed in the 2009 Nationals and Caldwell came away with a National Champion.

Coach Carter Jordan will also be making the trip to the Wells Fargo Center along with all of the other assistant coaches. He says that experience plays a big part in the competition and that is something that both wrestlers and Jordan have.

“This is my 14th or 15th time going to Nationals,” Jordan said. “The more experience that you get, the better you are at preparing your wrestlers. Once you’ve coached in the semis and the finals, you know how to deal with pressure in this tournament.”

Jordan also said the experience Caldwell gained from the 2009 competition, along with his record against top-10 opponents (16-4), will be helpful this time around.

“Darrion [Caldwell] has seen it all,” Jordan said. “There won’t be any surprises for him when it comes to wrestling in the Nationals. He has been here and won the whole thing, so he has plenty of experience. The only people that say that experience doesn’t matter are people who don’t have experience.”

Though this may be Little’s second trip to Nationals, he is a much different wrestler than the last time that he competed on this stage.

At the end of the 2009 season, Little was 17-17 and finished second in the ACC competition. While he made it to Nationals, he did not advance very far before coming back home. This year, he has led the team in wins with a 26-10 record, but yet again fell short in the conference championship match.

Little says not much has changed for him since 2009, but he feels a lot more confident going into his match today.

“I feel about the same as I did the last time we came to Nationals,” Little said. “But I feel a lot more confident in my abilities after the season that I have had, but I guess we will see [today] how much I have improved since two years ago. It’s do or die at this point, and I want to win bad.”

The Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia is a much bigger stage than any of the stadiums that the two wrestlers have competed in thus far this season. Jordan compared the stadium to the RBC Center rather than Reynolds Coliseum.

Though the lights may be shining brighter, Little said that he will treat each match just as he has any other match he has wrestled in this year.

“I try to look at it as just another match,” Little said. “I just shut out the fact that we are in a bigger atmosphere and treat it as just competing against the guy that is across from me. Wrestling is an individual sport, so you have to be mentally strong to win.”

While Little may not have ended the way he wanted to in his last appearance to Nationals, Caldwell couldn’t have been more pleased with his finish. But after his National Championship, Caldwell had to sit out the entire 2009-2010 season due to injury.

But Caldwell said that making it back to Nationals has proved that all of the rehabilitation has been worth it.

“Making it back to Nationals has proved to me that all my hard work to get back to the sport has paid off,” Caldwell said. “There are a lot of people who maybe would not have come back from an injury like I had, but I feel like it was all worth it now that I’m here.”

Caldwell continued to say that making it back was not enough. He feels that not winning it all again would be falling short of what he wants for himself.

“My expectations are nothing less than a National Championship,” Caldwell said. “I want to go out on top, and I feel like anything less than that will leave me unsatisfied.”

Jordan said Caldwell winning a second National Championship would not only do a lot for the school, but also put Caldwell on another level as far as a wrestler.

“We’ve never had a multiple-time National Champion,” Jordan said. “That would not only make Darrion the best wrestler in N.C. State history, but it would also put him into a legend status as a wrestler at the collegiate level.”