RALEIGH, N.C. –The Old Dominion wrestling team (0-1) was defeated in its first dual meet of the season, falling to No. 9 NC State, 22-11. The big wins of the night for the Monarchs came from Killian Cardinale and Shane Jones, who each beat ranked opponents.
"We are proud of the way our guys competed," head coach Steve Martin said after the dual. "We had a lot of bouts that we left out on the table. The bottom line is, we had ourselves in position to take out a top-10 team. This team scrapped hard, but just came up short at the end of the day.Give NC State credit, they found ways to win the tight bouts that determined the outcome of the match."
At 125 pounds, Cardinale, who was named Mid-American Conference (MAC) Wrestler of the Week after last week's performance of defeating the No. 8 wrestler in the country in his weight class, took down another ranked opponent tonight in No. 13 Jakob Camacho. With 32 seconds left and down 5-4, Cardinale flipped the script and earned a takedown of the top-15 wrestler, keeping him down until time ran out to earn a 6-5 win by decision.
Jones faced the No. 10 wrestler in the nation, Thomas Bullard at 165 pounds and won by decision, 3-2. The lone takedown of the bout came in the first period, as Jones took Bullard to the ground midway through the frame and collected 1:32 of riding time before Bullard earned an escape point. The top-10 wrestler evened the score in the third period with another escape, but the riding time was on Jones' side, earning an extra point because of it to give him a 3-2 win by decision.
"Jones beat a nationally-ranked competitor and we liked the way he continued to attack the entire bout. Cardinale again took it to the opposition, taking out another nationally-ranked opponent," Martin said of his two big winners of the night.
Two All-Americans and top-five wrestlers battled it out at 157 pounds, as the Monarchs' Larry Early, the No. 4 ranked wrestler in the country faced off against No. 1 Hayden Hidlay. The two wrestlers looked to be heading to a sudden victory period, but Hidlay earned a takedown with just five seconds remaining in the final frame, earning the 6-4 win by decision.
"Early wrestled the No. 1 guy in the country to a match that came down to the closing seconds," Martin said of his senior. "He is very capable of winning a NCAA Title this year."
The Wolfpack earned a victory in the other ranked matchup of the night, as No. 11 Tariq Wilson defeated No. 14 Sa'Derian Perry, 3-2 in a win by decision.
"Perry battled a returning All-American in a crazy match that was fun to watch and came down to the wire," Martin said.
Senior Kenan Carter earned the 7-2 win by decision to start the night at 149 pounds, while freshman Alex Cramer won his first career dual bout, taking down Jacob Ferreira in a win by decision, 10-4 for the two other Monarch victories on the night.
"Carter wrestled very well, especially in the top position, he found a way to get it done. Cramer is competing at a very high level. He looked great and showed a high level of composure throughout the match," Martin continued to say of his wrestlers.
At 133 pounds, freshman Shannon Hanna was downed, 9-5 by decision while Antonio Agee dropped his match against No. 13 Trent Hidlay by a 12-4 major decision at 184 pounds
NC State won the two remaining battles, as ODU's Tim Young was pinned by Tyrie Houghton in 4:31 at 197 pounds, followed by Will Hilliard dropping a 3-1 decision against Deonte Wilson at 285 pounds.
"We liked the way Hanna competed, as he was leading the entire time but made a freshman mistake at the end of his match," Martin explained. "Our team is only going to get better as the season goes on. We have several guys going in the Wolfpack Open on Sunday and we look forward to another opportunity to wrestle great competition."
Up Next
The Monarchs will remain in Raleigh for a couple more days, as they will be competing in the Wolfpack Open on Sunday, November 17. Action is set to begin at 9:00 a.m.
Box Score
Attendance 1,191
No. 9 NC State 22 | Old Dominion 11
*149: Kenan Carter (ODU dec. over A.J. Leitten (NC State) 7-2
157: #1 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) dec. over #4 Larry Early (ODU), 6-4
165: Shane Jones (ODU) dec. over #10 Thomas Bullard (NC State), (3-2)
174: Alex Cramer (ODU) dec. over Jacob Ferreira (NC State), 10-4
184: #13 Trent Hidlay (NC State) MD. over Antonio Agee (ODU), 12-4
195: Tyrie Houghton (NC State) Fall over Tim Young (ODU), (4:31)
285: Deonte Wilson (NC State) dec. over Will Hilliard (ODU), 3-1
125: Killian Cardinale (ODU) dec. over #13 Jakob Camacho (NC State) 6-5
133: Kellen Devlin (NC State) dec. over Shannon Hanna (ODU), 9-5
141: #11 Tariq Wilson dec. over #14 Sa'Derian Perry (ODU), 3-2
*Dual started at 149 pounds
Jones and Cardinale Earn Ranked Wins in Wrestling's 22-11 Loss to No. 9 NC State
Shane Jones Defeated No. 10 Thomas Bullard on Friday Night