In Carter Jordan’s first year as head coach in 2005, N.C. State went through several growing pains of having a young team. They had only one senior, no returning ACC champion — a rarity for the prestigious program — and did not place in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1977.
But after a 6-1 start to his second year at the helm, the payoff from last year’s young team has started to manifest itself for Jordan and a more experienced Wolfpack team. Jordan said that he is “guardedly optimistic” going into conference play.
“I think we’ve wrestled well in spots. We’ve got a long way to go, but I’ve been pleased overall with the effort of the kids,” Jordan said. “Every ACC match is important — it’s kind of like the old ‘familiarity breeds contempt.’ Even though you may have the advantage over a team match-up-wise, you’ve got to really bring your ‘A’ game because everyone’s going to be ready for you.”
Last year, when the team was young and thin in some classes, Jeremy Hartrum put on weight to wrestle at 133 pounds for the good of the team. His return to 125 pounds, where he joins fellow junior Garrett Cummings, makes the weight class easily the deepest.
Hartrum and Cummings are a combined 19-7 this season and have nearly 60 combined wins in their careers.
“We made moves for the team because we had some holes — it was a lot harder wrestling up. I also had a messed up knee that messed me up a little bit,” Hartrum said of last year’s struggles. “Having a lost year made me hungry for this year because I didn’t get to achieve any of my goals. This year is [another] whole year for me. It made me hungry.”
One surprise for the team early on has been the performance of redshirt freshman Ryan Goodman and true freshman Joe Caramanica.
“I don’t think the general public can appreciate how difficult it is to come into our sport basically not having practice for a year and a half after high school and to compete at such a high level as Ryan has,” Jordan said. “I knew he was good but not that good.”
Goodman, a Cape May, N.J., native, is 15-3 overall and 3-3 versus ranked opponents, which has moved him to No. 12 in the NCAA at 197 pounds.
“Redshirting kind of sucked, having to watch every match and wishing I was out there. But this year coming out, it feels good getting on the mat,” Goodman said.
The impact of Caramanica cannot be overlooked either. In his short time since arriving at State from Nazareth, Pa., he has compiled a 16-4 record.
“I lost to a lot of guys that were ranked, but I’m not happy with how I’m performing right now,” Caramanica said. “[I’ve] got to get more conditioned, got to work on my feet. Everything can be improved.”
Junior heavyweight Jainor Palma, a local product from Cary, has gotten off to a great start, going 17-4 with three of the losses coming against opponents ranked in the top 15, including the defending national champion.
“He’s kind of turned the corner, and we’re real proud of his effort,” Jordan said.
Palma is representative of the rest of team where so many have gotten better with the added experience from going 8-8 last year.
“There were a lot of young guys last year. They learned a lot — this year it’s an advantage,” Palma said. “The experience and the coaches telling me the same things for about three years finally clicked for me.”
One setback has been injuries rearing their ugly heads. Kevin Gabrielson, the 2005 ACC Champion at 174, has yet to wrestle since blowing out his knee last year in the opening minute of the NCAA Championships.
Kody Hamrah, last year’s ACC Rookie of the Year, has also been limited by injury, seeing action in only three matches. Several others are playing through various minor injuries.
“They tend to come in bunches,” Jordan said of his team’s health problems. “Everybody deals with them. You’re fortunate if you don’t. But I’ve been here eight years, and every year we’ve had a lot of little knick things where we’re going to give some guys some time off and let them heal up.”
Among the foes awaiting the Pack are No. 21 Navy and five ACC programs — including two matches with last year’s ACC champ North Carolina, only adding to the target placed on what was already their biggest rival.
“We want to beat Carolina,” Hartrum said, “They got a couple of good guys there.”
State will be on the road for all five January matches starting with Maryland on Friday, followed by four consecutive February matches in Reynolds Coliseum before ending the season at Virginia Tech.