Caldwell, a two-time All-American and the 2009 NCAA champion at 149 pounds, pinned Derek Royster at 2:14. The pin improved his career winning percentage to .8974, moving him past Sylvester Terkay (.8971, from 1990-93) and into first place in school history.
Jones pinned eighth-ranked Turtogtokh Luvsandorj at 6:00 in the 165-pound bout. Jones, who improved to 7-17 overall and 3-7 at 165, controlled the entire match. He got a takedown and a near fall in the first period and held a 9-6 lead at the time of the pin. Luvsandorj, who dropped to 34-7, had won eight consecutive matches prior to the pin.
In the opening match of the night, The Citadel’s Richard Alarcon got a takedown and a reversal against NC State 125-pounder Pedram Rahmatabadi, then put Rahmatabadi on his back for a pin at 6:23 to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead.
Tyler Sims won by forfeit at 133 pounds to make it 12-0 before Darrius Little got the Wolfpack on the scoreboard with an 8-7 decision over Jordan Dix at 133 pounds. The two wrestlers combined for nine points in the second period. Little, who improved to 25-8 for the season, won for the 10th time in his last 12 matches, and the 14th time in his last 17.
Little’s decision cut the lead to 12-3, and Caldwell made it 12-9 when he pinned Royster. Caldwell improved to 11-0 for the season and 105-12 for his career. He trails only Terkay in career victories (122-105) and career pins (64-58). Caldwell has 49 first-period pins for his career and has wrestled 51 consecutive matches since his last on-the-mat defeat. Caldwell lost by a medical default in January 2009.
Colton Palmer tied the team score at 12-12 after five bouts with a 3-1 decision over Pierre Frazille at 157 pounds. Palmer got the match-winning takedown with 39 seconds remaining in the match and rode Frazille the remainder of the period. Palmer improved to 26-10 with the decision.
Nijel Jones’s pin of Luvsandorj gave NC State an 18-12 lead in the team scoring, and the Wolfpack pushed its lead to 24-12 when Quinton Godley pinned Kenneth Radford at 6:54 in the 174-pound match. Godley took control of the match with three takedowns in the second and third periods, then got the fall just ahead of the buzzer in the third. Godley improved to 19-15 overall and 18-13 at 174.
Justin Sparrow finally ended the slide for The Citadel with an 8-3 decision over Pat Carey at 184 pounds. That cut the Wolfpack lead to 24-15.
Kelby Smith broke open a close match with a takedown and a pair of near falls in the third period to take a 7-0 decision over KaRonne Jones at 197 pounds. Smith’s decision pulled The Citadel to within six points at 24-18, but Wolfpack heavyweight Eloheim Palma won a 16-6 major decision over Luke Johnson to give the Wolfpack a 28-18 victory in the team scoring.
Results:
125 - Richard Alarcon (CIT) pinned Pedram Rahmatabadi at 6:23
133 - Tyler Sim (CIT) won by forfeit
141 - Darrius Little (NCS) dec. Jordan Dix, 8-7
149 - #1 Darrion Caldwell (NCS) pinned Derek Royster at 2:14
157 - Colton Palmer (NCS) dec. Pierre Frazille, 3-1
165 - Nijel Jones (NCS) pinned #8 Turtogtokh Luvsandorj at 6:00
174 - Quinton Godley (NCS) pinned Kenneth Radford at 6:54
184 - Justin Sparrow (CIT) dec. Pat Carey, 8-3
197 - Kelby Smith (CIT) dec. KaRonne Jones, 7-0
Hwt - Eloheim Palma (NCS) major dec. Luke Johnson, 16-6
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now