While the wrestling team’s season has been filled with unexpected obstacles in the form of injuries and other circumstances, junior 149-pounder Darrion Caldwell, who is ranked No. 3 nationally, and senior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica, who is ranked No. 14 nationally, have consistently earned points for the Wolfpack.
While their records attest to their talent–Caldwell is 28-1 and Caramanica is 11-3–coach Carter Jordan said their value to the team is cannot be measured by just the talent they display when wrestling.
“They’ve done a great job of taking a leadership role this year,” Jordan said. “It’s been very helpful to us as a staff and its key [to being able] to continue to build on what weíre doing here.”
The nickname “The Duo” was provided by Caldwell, who has also used the same term to describe another partnership with a star athlete. Caldwell is very close with current Louisville star forward and NBA prospect Earl Clark, and the two shared the nickname during their high school basketball days together.
Caldwell said he quickly recognized that he and Caramanica were a very strong combination at the 141 and 149 pound weight classes, and he felt like “The Duo” did more justice to describe them than simply “one-two punch.”
“We’ve always been a one-two punch for the team, so we thought instead of one-two punch we should phrase it up with some swagger to it and call it “The Duo,” Caldwell said.
Both Caramanica and Caldwell have enjoyed championships and success up to this point and both are on track to put their marks in the N.C. State record books. Last year, both Caramanica and Caldwell notched more than 30 victories, the first time this has happened in 20 years.
According to Jordan, Caldwell in particular has a very good chance to finish his career as one of the most prolific wrestlers in the history of N.C. State wrestling.
“We have never had a multiple-time national champion and he certainly has the opportunity to do that,” Jordan said. “He’s way ahead of where anybody else was in this stage of their career at N.C. State. He could very well shatter the all-time victory record.”
Caldwell began his career by recording a pin in just 13 seconds in his first collegiate match, and he has since accumulated a long list of records and awards, including winning ACC Wrestler of the Year as a freshman and winning 35 matches as a sophomore. Both marks are firsts in the history of the wrestling program.
Caramanica, who is in his final season, finished 3rd in the ACC Championships as a freshman, won the ACC Championship at 141-pounds as a sophomore and was tied for 18th in school history in career victories after his junior year.
The success ìThe Duoî had prior to this season has given them the confidence coming into this yearís campaign to strive for a very lofty goal–individual national championships at both 141 and 149.
When asked about the goals of “The Duo”, Caldwell did not hesitate to say that he and Caramanica intend on winning not one, but two national titles this season.
“We both have a real good chance of making it to the national finals and winning a national title,” Caldwell said. “We are ready to get this campus two national titles in the same season, not the same year, weíre talking same season, same team, and that’s what weíre hoping to do.”
According to Caramanica, although he and Caldwell have a tremendous amount of respect for each other, the tightness of their relationship does not prevent them from competing like hated rivals when they workout and wrestle one another.
“In the [mat] room, he’s my worst enemy, and we’ll get mad at each other. We’ll get in fights at practice and we beat each other up,” Caramanica said. “But once we leave the room, we’re best friends again.”
Caramanica said Caldwell’s presence on the team has had an enormous impact on his own wrestling career.
“I don’t think I would have done half as well as I’ve done if he wouldn’t have come to school here,” Caramanica said. “I could not imagine if he didn’t come how I would have been wrestling.”
Senior Joe Caramanica won the 2007 ACC Championship.
