On the Recruiting Front: Q&A with Eloheim Palma

Q: When did you come to your decision?

A: Well, it was [April 16], and I asked the [NCSU] coach [Carter Jordan] to come over to my house and my family and I started asking questions. We had kind of narrowed it down between N.C. State and Carolina because by then I had decided that I wanted to stay in-state. I talked to him. I already had a good feeling I was going to go to N.C. State but made sure I had all my questions answered so Thursday I signed with them.

Q: After getting interest from prominent out-of-state schools, what was it that made you put them aside for an in-state one?

A: It's interesting, I've been hearing a lot of people giving me advice. First of all, I should be looking to go out-of-state, that's where I should want to go if I have to achieve my dreams of a national champion. Then I was hearing a lot of people talk about the senior standouts in North Carolina were looking out of state. And they kept saying 'that's the problem with North Carolina, we have good potential but everybody just keeps leaving.' So I started thinking about that and that's when I kind of decided, "you know, there's nothing actually luring me out-of-state. It'd be nice to go to a big wrestling school but I've spent most of my life here and I would enjoy representing a university in North Carolina. It came down to that. I wanted to represent for North Carolina and change things around here. 

Q: Did seeing Darrion Caldwell win a national title help you realize, everybody says you can't win a national title (at an in-state school) but he just did?

A: Well I'm different from a lot of people - I always knew. It doesn't matter where you go, who the coaches are, of course the stuff is going to be a little easier and stuff will help you, but ultimately if you're willing to sacrifice to be a champion it can happen. At least it helped other people to see nothing is impossible.

Q: Where did you take your visits? I believe you took some really long trips.

A: Actually I didn't go. I visited Appalachian, Carolina and N.C. State. I had started talking to Duke. It was kind of bad on my part, I kind of waited until after the season thinking I was going to have more time but by then coaches were telling me 'you've got to sign with us right now or the deal is done.' It was a little tough, but I was looking around at all my options so I could make a very responsible choice.

Q: Give me the full list. It was Carolina, Appalachian, State...

A: Right. And out-of-state it was Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wyoming, Iowa, Iowa State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Northern Illinois and a couple more I can't remember right now, but those were the schools I was looking at.

Q: What was it like for you winning the national title?

A: Oh, it was great. After states, I took that Sunday day just to rest and then Monday I was back in the gym working doing what I had to do to win a national title. I trained with my brother (former ACC Champion Jainor Palma) for a month and a half straight and it was tough but it definitely changed me a lot. Going to nationals, I knew what I had to do and I knew I could do it. It was a good experience definitely.

Q: You had some close ones at nationals. Coach [Jerry Winterton] said you looked a little sick and had lost some weight.

A: I wasn't trying to lose weight. It just came down to the wire, the last two weeks and I pushed it all the way, made sure I did all I had to do to feel confident and in doing so I trained really hard, lost a couple of pounds.  It was just the first match of the tournament. That was probably my toughest one. It's a crazy bracket, you go and you see 65 guys, it gives you a weird feeling. Just to get that match out of the way, I focused myself again, did what I had to do and won.

Q: Did it help you decide on State having already been familiar with their coaches when your brother (Jainor) wrestled there for coach Jordan?

A: Yeah, I've been going to that mat room since I was 12, my brother being there, going there and training with him. It felt comfortable, it felt right, but one thing I wanted to make sure I didn't do is go there for the wrong reasons. Just because I felt comfortable there didn't mean I couldn't go out and experience something different - that would've been a little irresponsible. So I made sure of my decisions, I went to all other universitites and when it came down to it, I'm a Wolfpack fan.

Q: What about UNC (where his sister Norjai is a standout in throws for track & field) was appealing to you?

A: It's a great university, there's no going around it. I respect the coaches a lot, they've got a good staff there. I've been there for Carolina wrestling club. I like how things are done there. It was kind of a no-brainer. If I'm going to stay in North Carolina, it's one of the schools I need to consider.

Q: State has signed two other national champion wrestlers for next year. Did you know of those other two before you signed?

A: Coach Jordan was telling me he was going to bring in a really good recruiting class, probably No. 1 in the nation so he started to mentin names but I didn't know they had signed. It's pretty exciting to know that my freshman year I'm going to be walking in with such great recruiting class and it's going to put the pressure on to do big things, so I kind of like that. Ultimately, whatever university I was going to do my best to be the best I can be.

Q: It's interesting that State had a national champion wrestler but probably the worst dual=meet record in awhile. Did that ever affect you?

A: A lot of people they were telling me 'try to stay clear from N.C. State' because they were struggling a little bit. But you know, I've known that program for awhile and I know they lost some key wrestlers here and there and I knew there were some problems around. But I know it's a good program, the coaches are good, they train the guys hard and they're just good guys. It really didn't chang my opinion at all because I knew if you had it, you had it, there's no way going around it.

Q: Are you looking forward to starting something there with this incoming class?

A: Yeah, coach Jordan was telling me we're going to be really good in two years, but I was like 'why do we have to wait for two years? Why can't we do something this year coming up?'  It's going to be exciting. I know I'll be starting and some of those other guys are going to be starting. We're freshmen, but we're going after it so it should be fun.

Q: What has your brother told you about the changes in wrestling at the college level?

A: One thing he told me, we trained pretty hard for nationals, and he said 'remember what it took to be at that level, you've got to take it up a few notches for college.' We've been training in nationals for what I need to do in college to also be successful. I know there's a big change but then again I know what it takes to be at that level so it's not too much of a surprise. I just have to put in the work and hopefully turn out another national championship.