Redshirt junior Michael Macchiavello holds the leg of a Duke wrestler. The NC State wrestling team beat Duke 34-6 in the ACC opener at Reynolds Coliseum on Jan. 11." />
Logan LaBo
Redshirt junior Michael Macchiavello holds the leg of a Duke wrestler. The NC State wrestling team beat Duke 34-6 in the ACC opener at Reynolds Coliseum on Jan. 11.
It came down to the final bout between the No. 5 NC State wrestling team and No. 3 Oklahoma State in Naples, Italy Friday evening, with the Cowboys coming away with a 19-16 win to hand the Wolfpack its first loss of the season.
The Pack (10-1) and the Cowboys (6-0) each won five bouts in the match, but extra points from a technical fall and two major decisions helped to push Oklahoma State past the Wolfpack. The match, held at the Naples Naval Base, was the first NCAA dual meet to ever take place outside of North America.
The teams were tied at 16-16 entering the final bout of the day between the Cowboys Jacobe Smith (12-3), ranked 10th nationally, and Pack redshirt freshman Daniel Bullard (11-4), but a 7-2 decision in the 174-pound bout for Smith won the match.
Despite the loss, NC State picked up a few huge victories, highlighted by an upset from redshirt junior Sean Fausz and a tightly-contested top-five win for senior Kevin Jack. No. 8 Fausz (10-1) faced off against No. 3 Nick Piccininni (10-2) at 125 pounds, with Fausz coming away with a big 9-5 victory. The win was powered by a strong first period for Fausz, where he picked up two early takedowns.
For No. 4 Jack (13-1) it was a 141-pound matchup with No. 3 Dean Heil (14-2). After going down early, Jack battled back to tie things at 2-2 after the second period. In the third, Heil earned an early escape to go up 3-2. With just 15 seconds remaining in the match, Jack worked a takedown of Heil to capture two points and secure the 4-3 win.
In the 157-pound bout, Pack redshirt freshman No. 3 Hayden Hidlay (14-0) continued on his blistering start to the season, grabbing the Wolfpack’s only major decision of the match with a 12-4 win over Jonce Blaylock (10-5). Hidlay had four takedowns in the bout.
Hidlay’s victory gave NC State a 16-12 lead with just two bouts remaining, but 13-1 major decision for Oklahoma State’s Chandler Rogers (11-2), ranked eighth, over Pack redshirt senior Brian Hamann (13-4) and Smith’’s win over Bullard swung the dual meet back to Oklahoma State.
Before Hidlay’s win, the Pack got another exciting victory from redshirt senior No. 17 Beau Donahue (14-2). Donahue outlasted Boo Lewallen (17-2) in overtime, getting a takedown 25 seconds into the extra period to secure three points for the Pack.
NC State started the match with a 3-0 decision win from redshirt senior No. 3 Pete Renda (15-0) in the 184-pound bout, before Oklahoma State took the next two. No. 4 Preston Weigel (3-0) topped Pack redshirt senior No. 7 Michael Macchiavello (12-1) 5-4 at 197 pounds, before No. 8 Derek White (12-1) picked up an 8-0 major decision over redshirt junior Malik McDonald (14-3).
Perhaps the biggest difference maker in the meet came at 133 pounds. Oklahoma State’s Kaid Brock (14-2), ranked fifth, garnered a 16-1 technical fall over Pack redshirt freshman Tariq Wilson (17-4).
NC State will now return to the United States before kicking off its ACC slate against Duke on Jan. 19.