The wrestling team will once again open up its ACC conference schedule, taking on Duke (4-4 overall) in Durham tonight. The Wolfpack, 4-5 overall, has won its last three non-conference matches, all at the N.C. State Duals which took place on Jan. 5.
Coach Carter Jordan said that he was pleased with the teams overall performance during their non-conference part of the schedule, but is interested to see how the team will continue to perform.
“We’ve [had] some bright spots,” Jordan said. “We’ve had some low spots as well. [That is] pretty typical for what we call the second period of the season. Overall, I’m optimistic about what we can do individually and as a team.”
State edged Duke last year in Reynolds Coliseum, winning the match 26-15, but Jordan was not pleased with the team’s performance and made it known by having the team report to practice after the match.
Jordan said he talked to the team about being ready and making sure that they are prepared for the match.
“Their intensity level is up and [the match is] on the road, it’s [at Duke],” Jordan said. “Even though it’s just right down the street, it’s still an away match. Hopefully [they] understand, there can’t be any slip ups. It’s going to be a tight match. They’ve got some talented kids. Unless we wrestle really well, we’re going to struggle.”
Sophomore Darrion Caldwell, whose overall record this season is 19-3, also talked about how the team needs to perform against the Blue Devils.
“I think that we are going to do pretty well against Duke,” Caldwell said. “They’re tough but if we’re looking to be top-15 in the country like we think we are, we have to dominate Duke.”
As for the freshmen on the team, this is the first ACC match of their career, and junior Joe Caramanica said he didn’t have much to say to the freshmen, but said they know what to do.
“They treat every match hopefully the same,” Caramanica said. “They know what they have to do. It’s a big match, an ACC match. So they’ll go in there and hopefully beat up some guys and make a statement for this year.”
Jordan said he is impressed with how his freshmen have been looking and is excited to see how they will look tonight, especially freshmen starters Darrius Little who wrestles at 133 pounds and Bobby Isola, who wrestles at heavyweight.
“Isola has really picked it up at heavyweight,” Jordan said. “He had a great weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing him wrestle on Wednesday. And Darrius has had his ups and downs, but he continues to work really hard.”
Though Duke and State are ranked second to last and last in the ACC respectively, Caldwell said the freshman know it is a big match. “Coach has been stressing that we have to win our conference matches,” Caldwell said. “Just because they’re Duke, don’t think that they are going to let up on you. They have pretty good wrestlers so everyone is going to have to be on their toes. The freshmen are really looking forward to it.”
