NC State's Darrion Caldwell's back to his pinning ways, making more mat history

After a year-and-a-half off the mat, North Carolina State's Darrion Caldwell is pinning down his lasting legacy in collegiate wrestling.

The Wolfpack senior, knocked out of competition after shoulder surgery in fall 2009, is back in full form, with a 6-0 record... with four of those victories by putting his opponent's shoulders to the mat.

Despite being off the mat so long, Caldwell has still managed to make some history, becoming only the second NC State matman to score 100 collegiate wins. (The other is Sylvester Terkey, 1993 NCAA heavyweight champ).

Now Caldwell has his sights set on becoming the school's first two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champ.

Caldwell's first NCAA title was one for the history books. The Rahway, N.J. native stunned the wrestling world with his 11-6 upset of defending champ Brent Metcalf of the University of Iowa in the 149-pound title bout at the 2009 NCAAs.

Now Caldwell is the subject of two recent media profiles:

• North Carolina State's Darrion Caldwell back on the mat, ready to make run at 2nd NCAA title: TheMat.com's Craig Sesker provides fascinating insights into the Wolfpack star, with quotes from his head coach, Carter Jordan, who says, “Darrion’s really talented and really likes to wrestle. But he’s also learned how to work and he knows how to train. That’s pretty frightening for anyone who has to wrestle against him.”
  
• Caldwell cementing his place in history: Cory Smith of The Technician, the student newspaper at NC State, paints a great portrait, incorporating some neat quotes from the subject himself: "I definitely feel like the injury has given me some limitations. But there are also a lot of positions in wrestling, and there are a lot of ways I can open a guy up and impose my will. I feel like I have a wide variety of moves and pinning combinations that I can use even with my injury."

Both articles go beyond college to talk about Darrion Caldwell's freestyle wrestling career, and his plans to participate in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials.