As coach Carter Jordan exited the Reynolds Coliseum wrestling mat following N.C. State’s intense 22-17 victory over Greensboro, he let out a sigh.
He was somewhere between heaven and a heart attack after watching his Wolfpack pull out an 11th-hour victory.
“I need an aspirin,” Jordan said with a laugh.
Though State had a 19-17 lead heading into the last bout of the night, a loss in the match would have meant a loss for the team, as Greensboro would have been awarded three team points. Luckily for State, they had an experienced veteran in heavyweight junior Jainor Palma walking out on the mat.
Palma was pitted against the Spartans’ Tyler Shovlin, who was ranked as the No. 13 wrestler in the nation. While many wrestlers in Palma’s situation would be intimidated, Palma was ecstatic.
“To be honest, I was itching to get out there and have a chance to beat a quality guy,” Palma said.
Against the Reynolds Coliseum floor’s will, the match began and the two Goliaths clashed in the middle of the mat.
Palma jumped to a 1-0 lead with an early escape and then scored a takedown by kicking Shovlin’s legs out from under him. That gave Palma a 3-1 advantage heading into the final round of the night.
After Shovlin scored an escape point, the score went to 3-2 with 15 seconds left in the match.
With mere seconds remaining, Shovlin pounced on top of Palma and was in position for a take down when the buzzer sounded — the match was over.
Palma had held on to give himself and his team a victory in dramatic fashion.
“I was happy to pull this one out for the team,” Palma said. “The guys have all been working ridiculously hard, and they deserved a win like that.”
The win moved Palma to 21-6 on the year and should earn him a national ranking.
Palma wasn’t the only Pack wrestler who delivered a last-minute victory. Rick Brownlee, a 174-pound junior, registered a 6-5 win with an electrifying take down in the last 30 seconds of his match. Brownlee said the move was purely instincts.
“We were in a scramble, and I knew I had to hit a big move at the right time,” Brownlee said.
The move couldn’t have come at a better time for Jordan.
“The turning point of the night was Rick Brownlee’s 174-pound [bout],” Jordan said.
While Brownlee’s match served as the turning point for the night, it was Jeremy Hartrum’s 133-pound match that served as the catalyst. Hartrum earned an instant six points for the Pack when he pinned his opponent in the night’s opening match.
“I just tried to set the stage for the other guys and get them pumped up,” Hartrum said.
State was also aided by Kody Harmrah, who delivered an annihilating 11-1 major decision victory in the 157-pound bout. Hamrah, who’d only wrestled in five matches all season, appears to be rounding into last season’s form, in which he was named ACC Rookie of the Year.
Freshman Joe Caramanica continued his impressive freshman campaign with an 8-5 victory in the 149-pound match. Sophomore Jeremy Colbert also wrestled a disciplined match, earning a 5-1 victory in the 184-pound bout.
Jordan said he was extremely proud of how hard his team fought, giving each wrestler an “A” for effort on the night.
“Effort is all we care about,” Jordan said. “We can fix errors, but we can’t fix effort — that’s something that’s got to come from within the kids. And our effort tonight was exceptional.”
