Coach Carter Jordan had lost his team.

The loss wasn’t in the traditional respect, in which a coach’s athletes stop following him. Jordan literally couldn’t find his team.

With four of his wrestlers on the verge of the NCAA Tournament, Jordan thought it would be a good idea to take the group to his house at Holden Beach over spring break.

The trip was supposed to be a break from the team’s monotonous routine of 3 p.m. practices at Weisiger-Brown. It was also a prize of sorts for the four NCAA qualifying wrestlers — Joe Caramanica, Kody Hamrah, Jeremy Colbert and Ryan Goodman.

As Jordan frantically paced around his oceanfront property, he began to question his decision to take a group of college students to the beach.

“I woke up that morning at 8 a.m., and none of them were in their beds,” Jordan said. “I thought they had taken the van down to Myrtle Beach.”

After scouring every inch of his property, Jordan wandered up to the crow’s nest at the house’s apex. It was here he found his intimidating group of wrestlers, most of them ACC champions, peacefully asleep.

Jordan’s frustration quickly departed as he began thinking of his own kids, who had slept in the same spot on their first visit to the house.

“I think the guys had a great time down there,” Jordan said. “It gave them a chance to bond as teammates even more. It was a very positive experience, and it’s something I plan on doing every year.”

While the trip gave the wrestlers a break from Raleigh, Jordan made sure they remained somewhat focused on the upcoming NCAA Championships.

The wrestlers rose every morning for a five-mile jog up the beach. Later in the day, the team would travel to nearby West Brunswick High School for an afternoon workout session.

“There was a little bit of practice, but we mainly just relaxed,” freshman Joe Caramanica said. “It helped to get wrestling off our minds for a little bit, and made us come back to school even more focused.”

Caramanica and company will need to be as focused as possible this week. The team will begin wrestling in the 2006 NCAA Championships Thursday and continue through Saturday. The tournament is being held in Oklahoma City.

The wrestlers, who are all underclassmen, will collectively be making their first trip to the NCAA Championships. With 20,000 spectators expected to be on hand, Jordan is preparing his team mentally as well as physically for the event.

“We won’t allow them into the wrestling area until it’s time for their match,” Jordan said. “We want to try and prevent them from getting wide-eyed out there.”

While Jordan didn’t want to give a prediction as to where he thought his wrestlers might finish, he was 100 percent certain of one thing.

“These four guys will all compete as hard as they can,” Jordan said. “That’s the only thing I’m sure of.”