Darton State College to host Cavalier Duals Saturday

ALBANY – The Darton State wrestling program will host its annual Cavalier Dual meet, Saturday, in the Cavalier Arena.

Weigh-ins begin at 11 a.m., and competitions will follow at noon. Darton will face the University of Central Florida in the first session before wrestling Shorter College at 2 p.m., and then Truett McConnell College at 4 p.m. 

The event will be free to the public. 

Darton will be the only NJCAA program in the meet, and Cavalier Head Wrestling Coach James Hicks expects his young team to do very well against its four-year program competitors.

“Shorter will be our toughest match, for sure,” he said. “They were a top-15 NAIA team last year.” 

Darton has already seen some big wins this season and will bring momentum into the meet. Jamel Sharp, a 125-pound freshman, is 10-1 and won the Patriot Open at the University of the Cumberlands. Freshman Howard Earl is 8-2 and, wrestling 133 pounds, made it to the finals at the Citadel Open and the Patriot Open. Cavalier heavyweight Henry Floyd placed in the top four at the Patriot Open and the Central Florida Open. 

“Those guys will compete to win it,” Hicks said. 

The meet will be broken into three, two-hour sessions on two mats, so spectators can expect non-stop wrestling until the final matches come to a close.