In its first dual of the new year, the No. 5 NC State wrestling team trounced the No. 19 Princeton Tigers in a 32-9 road victory. With the win, the Pack improves to 6-1 on the year, including a 2-1 record against ranked squads.
Winning eight of 10 bouts, half of them with bonus points along with a key injury default from Princeton (0-2), the team got back in the win column after a great, but ultimately losing, showing against Iowa, the top team in the country.
The match began at heavyweight, and junior Tyrie Houghton gave NC State a lead it would never relinquish with a 6-3 decision. No. 10 redshirt sophomore Jakob Camacho and No. 1 Patrick Glory would have provided one of the more interesting bouts of the dual at 125 pounds, but Glory injury defaulted, further ballooning the team score in the Wolfpack’s favor.
With typical starter No. 18 redshirt freshman Kai Orine out of the lineup, redshirt sophomore Jarrett Trombley took the mat at 133 pounds, combining with No. 15 freshman Ryan Jack at 141 pounds for back-to-back major decisions; Trombley’s was by an eight-point margin while Jack took his bout 14-3.
At 149 pounds, No. 3 graduate Tariq Wilson faced off against an unranked Marshall Keller, but their match was no cakewalk for Wilson, who eked out a 6-4 decision. In the most anticipated matchup of the day, No. 11 freshman Ed Scott took a 6-4 decision over No. 5 Quincy Monday.
Scott is on a hot streak, which has caused his rise in the rankings. Against Binghamton, the then-No. 23 Scott tech fall’d his unranked opponent, then he took a 3-2 decision over then-No. 15 Jarrett Jacques of Missouri before pinning then-No. 8 Kaleb Young of Iowa. Scott should be seen as a top 10, perhaps even top 5 wrestler at 157 pounds come the next rankings update.
With No. 23 graduate Thomas Bullard still dealing with an injury suffered during the Southern Scuffle, freshman A.J. Kovacs moved up a weight class. Kovacs was competitive, losing a tight 5-4 decision.
The Hidlay brothers did Hidlay brother things. No. 5 graduate Hayden Hidlay won by technical fall, 17-2, while No. 3 redshirt sophomore Trent Hidlay dominated with a 17-4 major decision over No. 22 Travis Stefanik. No. 13 freshman Isaac Trumble closed the match with a surprising loss. Up 4-1 and in control, Trumble was reversed and pinned.
The victory over Princeton closes nonconference play for NC State. It has a big test on the horizon in No. 10 Virginia Tech, the last ACC opponent to hand it a loss. The Pack has 12 days off before the Hokies come to town, and that dual in Reynolds Coliseum will serve as the team’s first home competition in over a month.
