After a letdown against Hofstra Sunday afternoon, the team is looking to bounce back and start off conference play on a winning note when Duke visits Reynolds Coliseum tonight at 7:30 p.m.

It is extremely important that the team recovers from the Hofstra match and wrestle to the best of their ability, according to coach Jordan Carter

“Unfortunately you don’t get to have bad days in our sport because you get your fanny whooped if you have a bad day,” Jordan said. “You cannot win at this level with the lack of intensity and purpose that they went out there with [against Hofstra.]”

The match is also important for the team because it is the first conference match of the season against a strong Duke team. Junior Darrion Caldwell, who remains undefeated in 23 outings this season, talked about the strength of conference competition and the significance of early success.

“It’s not going to be an easy match because Duke is a great competitor,” the 149-pound Caldwell said. “These [conference opponents] are the guys that we’re looking forward to wrestling, because they are the guys that we’re going to have to beat to make it to the big show.”

Another source of intrigue in this match will be the continued resurgence of 12th-ranked 141-pounder Joe Caramanica, who has not lost any of his eight matches since his return from a knee injury in December. Caldwell described how much the senior’s return to the lineup means to the team.

“He’s really big for the team,” Caldwell said. “He’s a great wrestler. He’s a good guy to be around. With his leadership and his encouragement, we should definitely get an ACC title.”

One substantial obstacle that will make it all the more important that the team wrestles well is the fact that they will be forfeiting at the 197-pound weight class.

“In our sport it’s hard to beat anybody if you’re going to forfeit a weight,” said Jordan. “When you’re still missing a guy out of your lineup, everybody else has got to step up.”

Despite the disappointment against Hofstra and the difficulty of wrestling down a man, the team appears very confident that if they wrestle to their potential, they will have a good chance of winning.

Although some of the wrestlers have struggled in the past, Coach Jordan seems to believe that success Wednesday night and throughout the ACC season is well within reach.

“Hopefully, we’ll wrestle incredibly intense on Wednesday and keep that up the rest of the year,” Jordan said. “If that happens, we’ll be good to go and we’ll win the dual going away.”

Caramanica said that it is a matter of confidence, not a lack of ability, and that the younger guys are more than capable of having success against anyone.

“We just need to get the guys some confidence, more confidence than what they have, because they’re right there,” Caramanica said. “They’re just as good as anybody else, but they’re just falling short for some reason.”