When senior heavyweight Jainor Palma steps on the mat for this Saturday’s ACC championships, it could be the last time he ever dons a Wolfpack uniform. Palma enters the tournament with a record of 23-5 and a top-10 ranking, but isn’t guaranteed a bid to the NCAA championships unless he wins the ACC title.
“If it’s going to be my last match, I just want to wrestle the best I can,” Palma said. “I want to show the best that I can wrestle.”
N.C. State enters this season’s ACC championships seeking its 14th team title, its first since 2004. The Pack (13-7, 4-2) will host the conference tournament Saturday in Reynolds where it is 9-2.
The winners in each of the 10 weight classes on Saturday get automatic bids to the NCAA championships. Additionally, four wrestlers from around the conference are selected for at-large bids.
Last season, State finished second overall in the tournament with three wrestlers winning ACC championships and another receiving an at-large bid. Coach Carter Jordan expects this tournament to be even more successful than 2006.
“The sky is the limit,” Jordan said. “There are some wide open weight classes. I wouldn’t be shocked if we qualified six, and I would be disappointed if we had less than four.”
Jordan said one of the biggest factors favoring the Wolfpack is the luxury of wrestling at home in Reynolds Coliseum. Without the complication of traveling, State wrestlers are able to stick to their routine and feel more comfortable.
“We’re sleeping in our own beds. That’s always an advantage,” Jordan said. “Our guys don’t have to go on the road. We get to practice on Friday afternoon, we wake up Saturday and we go. It’s just like a home meet. It’s a really big advantage.”
Palma, a Cary High graduate, is particularly excited about his final ACC matches being near his hometown.
“It’s exciting because it’s my last year, and it’s going to be at Reynolds,” Palma said. “Having the home crowd there, having my family there, having a lot of people I know being there, it’s going to be pretty exciting.”
In addition to Palma, Coach Jordan believes State has several other wrestlers who are favored to win their weight classes. Junior Kody Hamrah was last year’s champion at 157 pounds, and has posted a 19-6 record this season.
Redshirt sophomore Ryan Goodman is the returning ACC champion at the 197 weight class, and was named “Most Outstanding Wrestler” at last year’s ACC championships. Goodman said State is definitely one of the teams that have a chance to take home the team title.
“We definitely have a chance to win it,” Goodman said. “We just got to wrestle hard and have all of our guys step up, including myself.”
Freshman Darrion Caldwell enters the championships with a 15-4 record and a team-leading eight pins. Despite his youth, Caldwell is not nervous about the pressure of the conference championships.
“I have nothing to lose. I’m still just a freshman. I’m going to go out here and make things fly,” Caldwell said. “I’ve always done really well against big competition, at big shows you know; I just rise to the occasion.”
Junior Jeremy Colbert returns as defending champion for the 184 division, and sophomore Joe Caramanica was selected as an at-large participant for the NCAA Championships last season.
With so many wrestlers at or near the top of the conference, the Pack is optimistic about its chances to take the team championship. Palma said every point is going to count, but State is in an excellent position to win the title.
“Everybody, individually, is going to have to wrestle,” Palma said. “We’re going to have to put forth our best effort and be willing to work to be able to get those extra points, those majors, those techs, and when they can, those pins. If everybody is working for those extra points, if everyone is wrestling hard, we’re going to have a good shot at winning it.”