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November 15

We are fortunate in the Carolinas to have several college wrestling programs that offer opportunities for the area high school wrestlers to continue their growth and development not only as student-athletes but also as young men. These programs also offer wrestling fans and enthusiasts the opportunity to see exciting teams and individual college wrestlers in action.

We have at least 8 Division I teams in the Carolinas that we can cheer for and support. Four are in the Southern Conference with Appalachian State, The Citadel, Davidson and UNC-Greensboro competing with strong programs at V.M.I. and Univ. Tennessee at Chattanooga. Three more compete in the A.C.C. with Duke, North Carolina State and the University of North Carolina while one team in the C.A.A. at Campbell University competes with schools in Virginia and Washington D.C. Gardner-Webb is also looking to compete in Division I by next season at the latest. The team had competed in Division II as Anderson College and UNC-Pembroke continue to this year.

There are also several schools with non-varsity or club programs at Belmont-Abbey, which has been the most successful so far, UNC-Charlotte, Wake Forest, Chowan and possibly Coastal Carolina, and ECU in the near future. To find out more information about these programs check the national organization's link at http://www.ncwa.net. With this in mind we strongly urge fans of wrestling on all levels to plan ahead to see a local match and support a true sport which has not been tainted by becoming a training ground for a professional level. Attending a college meet can be refreshing and encouraging as a chance for scholastic wrestlers and coaches to relax and be a fan of the sport. Free parking, inexpensive tickets and a great seat are almost a guarantee at a college match.

Let's look at the upcoming season of home events for teams in the Carolinas.

There are three open tournaments this month in North Carolina that serve as early season tune-ups for veteran wrestlers and a chance for newcomers to learn and sort out whether college level wrestling is for them. Open meets are the only chance to see wrestlers who are 'red-shirting' this season, alumni wrestlers, even old men and several wrestlers from the same school competing in the same event. This weekend Appalachian State will host an Open Meet on Saturday while UNC-Pembroke's tournament will be held over two days of Friday and Saturday. The Saturday after Thanksgiving has traditionally been the date of the Carolina Open which has been renamed the VerticalNet Open after that company's sponsorship.

Campbell is the only team in North Carolina with home dual meets before Christmas with a Dec. 1st match at noon against Kent State and a quad match of four teams, (including UNC-Pembroke) the next day in The Campbell Duals. Appalachian State visits Campbell on Wed. Dec. 6th which will be a slow night for high school matches, thus a good chance to see two in-state teams. After that the home mats are quiet until Jan. 2nd with Low Country Duals at The Citadel and Pensacola Christian College visiting Gardner-Webb in G-W's only home match of the season. P.C.C. is the best college team in Florida since the Division I schools don't make enough money from football to fund other sports. (That is a sarcastic comment)

On Jan. 7th national power Lehigh wrestles in a unique Sunday double header with an afternoon match at UNC-Chapel Hill and then an evening match at NC State. On Jan. 9th Duke hosts a quad match in the fabled Cameron Indoor Stadium, when it will be much easier to get seats and more friendly than during those loud basketball games. Pensacola Christian College continues their road trip with matches on the 9th and 10th at UNC-P and Anderson College respectively. On Jan. 11th Big 10 power Illinois visits UNC-Greensboro. Appalachian State travels to Duke on the 12th while the famous Virginia Duals, with five tournaments in one building, is close by for northeastern NC wrestling fans. Fans could see the Belmont-Abbey Invitational or the North Carolina State Duals on the 13th.

On Jan. 16th UNC renews its rivalry at NC State in the first of two duals this year. These neighboring teams have had heated battles over the past 25 years with coaches Bill Lam and Bob Guzzio at the helm of the teams. Campbell visits UNC-Greensboro on the same day. The unofficial 'South Carolina College Championship' will be decided when The Citadel visits Anderson College on the 18th. U.T.-Chatt. visits conference rival Appalachian State on the 20th while The Citadel hosts UNC-Greensboro and UNC-Pembroke hosts their 'Braves Open' on the same date. All Virginia colleges will be wrestling in the Virginia State Championships @ George Mason while The Citadel visits Appalachian State on Jan. 21st to complete that weekend's action.

The Longwood College team, which has been informed that their athletic director wants this season to be their last, will wrestle at UNC-P on the 23rd. On Jan. 27th the team schedules show UNC at Appalachian State, Howard @ Davidson, UNC-G @ UNC and Anderson College @ UNC-Greensboro. The National Wrestling Coaches Association will host the All-Star Dual of top level wrestlers in Lancaster, Pa. On the 29th On the 31st UNC-G visits Appalachian State, Gardner-Webb wrestles at Duke University while Campbell Univ. is at NC State with a high school match as a double header.

The February calendar has 1st; Anderson @ UNC-P, 3rd Virginia @ UNC & Appalachian State @ NC State, 6th UNC @ Duke & Appalachian State @ Davidson, 7th G-W @ UNC-P, 9th ODU @ Campbell, 10th Gardner-Webb @ Campbell, Maryland @ Duke Univ., 11th Maryland @ UNC, 14th Campbell @ Duke Univ., 15th App. State with Anderson College and Carson-Newman in a tri-meet, NC State visits UNC, 17th Davidson @ Gardner-Webb, 18th U.-Tenn.-Chatt at UNC-G, 20th North Carolina State at UNC-G, 22nd Duke @ NC State which is a Thursday night match just before the high school state tourney in Charlotte.

The NWCA -Southeastern Regionals Qualifying tournament for nationals will be held @ Belmont-Abbey on the 24th. All Division I teams will wrestle in three conference tournaments on March 3rd in one location at UNC in a unique event. A great opportunity to see lots of wrestling action when it counts most.

Future columns will look more at teams, individuals and results as they happen. Now is the time to plan ahead to attend matches and support the college wrestlers. One can look at the full schedule at http://www.geocities.com/flemdogtdr, while future college rankings will be at http://www.geocities.com/tdrcollegetms/index.html.

To learn the results of previous open meets and meets contact the TDR to subscribe!