Feb. 3, 2008

NC State Wrestling Takes Out Drexel, 22-15

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - NC State won four of the first five matches to take a 16-3 lead, then won two of the last three to nail down a 22-15 victory over Drexel in college wrestling action at the Palestra. The Wolfpack won its second match in a row to move above the .500 mark for the second time this season at 8-7-1. Drexel, which also lost 26-12 to North Carolina as part of a doubleheader, fell to 9-10.

NC State wrestled for the second match in a row with multiple starters out of the lineup. Senior 174-pounder Randy Goodman, out with a mild concussion, and junior 184-pounder Ryan Goodman, out with a knee injury, also missed Wednesday night's victory at Campbell. Subsitutes for the Goodmans lost both at 174 and 184, including a technical fall by Justin Weiller over Dane Coffee at 184. Even without the Goodmans in the lineup, the Wolfpack wrestled well enough to please head coach Carter Jordan for the second match in a row.

Notes: Sophomore 149-pounder Darrion Caldwell pinned Drexel's Lewis Baker at 1:38 to improve to 25-3 for the season. Caldwell, ranked No. 9 nationally, now has 15 pins for the season, which ties Tab Thacker for fourth most pins in a single season in NC State history. Thacker had 15 pins in both 1981-82 and 1983-84. With 25 wins on the season, Caldwell now has the third most victories in a single season ever by an NC State sophomore. Caldwell, whose 25 career pins ranks fifth in school history, now has won nine matches in a row, which is a career high.

Virginia Wrestling Rolls Past Newberry, Campbell

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Virginia wrestling team quickly dispatched of Newberry (37-3) and Campbell (48-0) Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium. The Cavaliers dropped just one individual bout in coasting to the dominating victories. The 48-point bulge over Campbell is the fifth-largest margin of victory in program history.

Virginia (16-4) posted six falls in its two matches, with 12th-ranked Rocco Caponi (Jr., Uniontown, Ohio) recording two at 184 pounds as he improved to 32-2 this season. The Cavaliers also earned five major decisions and a technical fall.

Ross Gitomer (So., 125, Flemington, N.J.), Eric Albright (Jr., 133, York, Pa.) Nick Nelson (Fr., 141, Pittsburgh, Pla.), Shawn Harris (Fr., 149, Cleveland, Ohio), Drew DiPasquale (Jr., 157, Bloomsburg, Pa.) and Brent Jones (So., 197, Burke, Va.) all posted two victories on the day for Virginia.

No. 19 Chris Henrich (Fr., Lansdale, Pa.) scored a 7-6 decision over Newberry's Bryant Blanton at 174 in the opener to win his 12th straight bout and up his record to 20-6 this year. Mike Sewell (Jr., Bothell, Wash.) added a major decision over the Indians' Dustin Harvey to also notch his 20th win of the year, giving UVa 10 wrestlers with 20 or more wins this season.

Carolina Splits Wrestling Doubleheader In Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - In a non-conference wrestling doubleheader, North Carolina downed Drexel, 26-12, and lost to No. 25 Penn, 24-14, Saturday at The Palestra. Junior Keegan Mueller, redshirt freshman Nick Stabile and sophomore Dennis Drury each won both of their matches on the day for the Tar Heels (7-5).

Mueller extended his unbeaten streak at 165 pounds to 16 bouts and improved to 22-3 and 12-0 in dual action, while Stabile moved to 20-4 and 10-2 in duals at 141. Drury is now 14-10 and 7-3 in duals on the season at 197.

In the opener against the Dragons, sophomore Danny Lopes got UNC off to a fast start at 133 pounds with his first pin of the season over John McDermott in just 2:07. Stabile followed with an 8-2 decision over Morgan Remillard at 141, and junior Vincent Ramirez tacked on a 10-4 decision over Lewis Baker at 149 to give the Tar Heels a 12-0 lead.

After Drexel's first victory of the day, the 13th-ranked Mueller scored an 8-1 decision for his 15th straight win and a 15-3 Tar Heel advantage. Freshman Nick Tenpenny followed two matches later with a 4-3 decision at 184, and Drury and No. 18 Justin Dobies added major decisions to close the scoring for the Tar Heels. Drury posted an 8-0 win over Brian Stouffer at 197, and Dobies followed with a 14-6 decision over Bryant Deinhardt at heavyweight.

With a 9-0 major decision against Penn's Phil Boyer, Stabile gave Carolina a brief 4-3 lead against the Quakers after two bouts. Three matches later, Mueller cut the lead to 9-8 with a 9-0 major decision over No. 17 Zack Shanaman, but Penn took four of the final five bouts matches to post the 10-point victory.

Penn Defeats No. 21 Maryland, 19-16

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - With the dual tied after nine matches, Penn's nationally ranked Rollie Peterkin won by decision at 125 pounds to give the Quakers a 19-16 win against the No. 21 Maryland wrestling team on February 2 at The Palestra.

The Terps opened the match with two wins to take an early 9-0 lead. Sophomore Steven Bell won by decision, 11-6, in the opening contest at 133 pounds before classmate Jon Kohler picked up his fourth pin of the season, this one in the first period, to give Maryland the nine point lead.

Cesar Grajales, ranked No. 14 at 149 pounds, started the Penn comeback with an 8-2 decision and then the next two matches were also won by the Quakers with decisions to tie up the dual, 9-9.

Sophomore Mike Letts returned the lead to the Terps with a 14-4 major decision at 174 pounds to make it 13-9, but then Lior Zamir picked up a 2-0 decision in the next match to pull the Quakers within one.

Sophomore Hudson Taylor earned a decision at 197 pounds to push the Maryland lead to 16-12, but Trey McLean won by major decision at heavyweight to tie the dual for the second time, 16-16.