2007 ACC Coach of the Year and ACC Champions

Jordan went from administrative assistant to full-time assistant coach in 1998-99, and took over as recruiting coordinator a year later. He became associate head coach in 2002, then began to prepare seriously to take over the program as Guzzo’s retirement plans took shape during the 2003-04 school year.  When Guzzo finally hung up his whistle following the 2003-04 season, he left a big pair of shoes to fill, but he groomed Jordan for the job and made sure that his protege was ready for the job. The program that Jordan took over couldn’t possibly have enjoyed more success or had a richer tradition than that established by Guzzo.
Jordan’s coaching career began after he left NC State in 1986 at Princess Ann Middle School in Virginia Beach, Va. In seven years as the school’s head coach, 1990-96, Jordan guided Princess Ann to a 35-5 dual-meet record. In 1994, his team won the first city championship in any sport in Princess Ann Middle School history. Before long, however, Jordan felt the need for a bigger challenge, and in 1997 he returned to NC State.

Building on the Wolfpack program’s recent run of success will be Jordan’s short-range goal; building a consistent national contender and re-establishing the success of the 1980s will be his long-range goal. Reaching the pinnacle of the sport will be his ultimate goal.  “We want to win the national championship,” Jordan says. “If you’re not in this to reach the highest level, then you’re in the wrong business. This is the
purest form of competition. That’s what’s beautiful about being involved in college athletics — the finality of it, either you win or you lose. You certainly compete in the private sector, but the outcome can take months, or even years, and it’s exciting in its way, but there is nothing like the finality of going into a wrestling competition and knowing two hours later whether you won or lost, what mistakes you made, what you have to correct. It’s extremely exciting.”

The 42-year-old Jordan and his wife Janie live in Raleigh and have three children, Chris, 21; Cole, 18; and Caroline, 16.

Jerrod Sanders is in his fifth season in the Wolfpack wrestling program as an assistant coach. Sanders wrestled at Oklahoma State from 1999-2000 through 2002-03 and was an All-American on the Cowboys’ 2003 NCAA championship team, taking fourth place at 149 pounds at the
‘03 NCAA Championships. Sanders finished his career with a 78-22 record, including a 25-5 mark as a senior. He won 20 or more matches three times, and participated in two NCAA Tournaments, earning All-America honors as a senior and missing by one just match as a junior after posting a 24-12 overall record. 

In addition to his success at the collegiate level, Sanders has been a standout freestyle wrestler, earning FILA All-America honors at the 1999 Junior National Freestyle Championships. He was a University Free-Style All-American in 2003, and placed at the 2004 Sunkist International Championships. In 2005, he placed at the U.S. Open Championships and qualified for the 2005 World Team Trials. He continues to compete on the Senior Freestyle Wrestling circuit.  In his three seasons at NC State, Sanders has been instrumental in the development of several Wolfpack wrestlers, including 2005 ACC Rookie of the Year and 2006 ACC champion Kody Hamrah, 2006 NCAA qualifier Joe Caramanica, 2005 NCAA qualifier Alex Hernandez, and 2004 ACC champions Scott Garren and Jake Giamoni.

Sanders was a high school All-American at El Reno High School in El Reno, Okla., finishing with a 126-10 overall record. He won one state championship and was state runner-up twice.

Noel Loban

Former Clemson national champion Noel Loban joined the NC State wrestling program as an assistant coach for the 2007-08 season.  Loban, who went unbeaten in dual matches for three years for the Tigers, won the national championship at 190 pounds in 1980, was named Clemson’s Outstanding Athlete of the Year for 1980, and later was inducted into the school’s athletics hall of fame.  After his collegiate career, Loban enjoyed a lengthy international wrestling career. He wrestled in a pair of Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal for the U.K. at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. He was a six-time British national champion, and placed fourth in the World Championships at Budapest, Hungary.  Loban has 10 years of experience in high school coaching, and has assisted with the collegiate programs at Howard University, American
University, and Boston University.

The 45-year-old Loban and his wife Debra have been married for 15 years. They have two children, Bailey, 11; and Drake, 8.

Steve Anceravage

Steve Anceravage, a two-time All-America wrestler for Cornell, joined the NC State coaching staff as an assistant coach in June 2009.

A four-time NCAA qualifier, Anceravage capped off his stellar collegiate career with a fifth-place finish at 174 pounds at the 2009 NCAA Championships. He finished sixth at 174 in 2008. Anceravage finished his career with a 119-28 overall record at Cornell, including a 35-3 mark as a senior in 2009.

A Bloomsburg, Pa., native, Anceravage was a four-time EIWA finalist and a four-time All-Ivy League honoree. In 2009, he earned the EIWA’s Fletcher Award, given annually to the wrestler who earned the most points for his team over his career at the EIWA Tournament. He broke the Cornell school record for falls in a season by pinning 17 opponents during his junior campaign. He also holds the Cornell record for career pins with 37, after notching nine more than Travis Lee, an NCAA champion for the Big Red in 2003 and 2005.

Anceravage completed his time at Cornell ranked fifth in career wins with 119 and was just the 11th Cornell wrestler to finish with more than 100 career wins. Prior to Cornell, Anceravage enjoyed a highly successful career at Bloomsburg High School by capturing the state title at 152 pounds as a senior after helping his team win the Class AA state dual championship. He was a state runner-up as a junior and earned fourth- and sixth-place finishes at the 2003 junior nationals in Greco-Roman and freestyle, respectively.