Following up on NC State women’s basketball’s gutsy win over UNC-Chapel Hill the night prior, NC State wrestling made it two straight nights of wins over Carolina blue in Reynolds Coliseum, dismantling the Tar Heels 33-6 for the 11th straight win in the series.
Despite suffering losses in two of the first three matches, the Wolfpack (12-2, 2-0 ACC) won the final seven bouts in dominating fashion and never looked back against the Heels (8-7, 0-2 ACC), who have not won in Reynolds since 2011.
“This speaks to the culture of our program, the way that we train,” said No. 4 redshirt senior Trent Hidlay. “Anybody that comes to the UNC-NC State matchup every year gets reminded of the difference between the two programs. We’re disciplined. We do things the right way. We wrestle hard, and we expose them when it comes time.”
Another sold-out crowd gathered to watch what was a highly anticipated match. The matchup is always anticipated because of the rivalry, but there was a little extra spice to this year’s rendition because of comments made by UNC’s first-year head coach Rob Koll during the offseason.
“You can feel it, as coaches sitting here, you can’t hear anything,” said head coach Pat Popolizio. “You can feel the floor shake. … It’s one-on-one, and it’s a gladiator sport.”
In an interview back in September, Koll said that there is a “normal order of things” in which UNC is above NC State and that Popolizio would have to be “brought down a few pegs.” Koll also said in another interview that he planned to convert NC State wrestling fans to UNC fans.
So far, it does not appear that either of Koll’s wishes have come true.
“Focus on ourselves, everything that we do every day,” Popolizio said. “We have blinders on here at NC State. We don’t get caught into what goes on with other programs. All we do is show up, put our head down, bust our tail every day, try to get better week-to-week.”
Carolina came out swinging and pulled a stunning upset in the opening 157-pound match. No. 5 junior Ed Scott traded takedowns with Sonny Santiago early, before going to overtime. It was there that Scott suffered the unthinkable and lost to unranked Santiago.
After the initial setback, the Pack got on the board thanks to No. 14 redshirt sophomore Derek Fields. In the 165-pound bout, Fields scored a big takedown in the second period and two takedowns in the third period to earn a 10-1 major decision over Isaias Estrada, putting NC State on top 4-3.
The Wolfpack stumbled again in the 174-pound bout, when the Tar Heels yet again pulled one out in overtime. No. 27 fifth-year senior Alex Faison locked into a tight battle with No. 29 Tyler Eischens. A third period reverse briefly gave Faison the lead, but Eischens escaped to force overtime, where he quickly disposed of Faison.
Once again, the Pack responded to the Heels’ win with another major decision. In the 184-pound bout, No. 10 redshirt freshman Dylan Fishback scored four total takedowns to earn a 14-3 win over UNC’s No. 23 Gavin Kane, and NC State regained the lead 8-6.
The highlight event for Wolfpack fans came in the 197-pound bout. Hidlay put on a show for the home crowd, tossing No. 26 Max Shaw around like a rag doll. Hidlay took a 14-1 lead into the third period, before slamming Shaw to the ground for a 17-2 tech fall, extending the Pack’s lead to 13-6.
“I had a feeling that I was gonna get someone that was pretty strong and athletic,” Hidlay said. “I just needed to wear him down a little bit. I was able to do that, get the momentum back with us and carry that into the rest of the matches.”
In the heavyweight bout, No. 15 redshirt junior Owen Trephan made it back-to-back tech falls for NC State, scoring six takedowns and a near-fall to earn a 20-5 win over UNC’s Cade Lautt in the second period. This gave the Pack an 18-6 lead through six bouts.
Once the 125-pound bout came around, it was clear that NC State would win —- the only question was by how much. Graduate student Jarrett Trombley earned a narrow 1-0 victory in the bout, refusing to allow his opponent an escape to clinch the bout and extend the lead to 21-6.
The Pack got its third tech fall of the night when No. 6 redshirt junior Kai Orine dominated UNC’s Jace Palmer in the 133-pound bout, earning a 20-3 win and giving NC State a 26-6 lead with just two bouts remaining. At this point, the match was all but in hand for the red-and-white.
The 141-pound bout was the only top five matchup of the evening, as No. 4 junior Ryan Jack squared off with No. 5 Lachlan McNeil. A first-period takedown proved decisive, giving Jack the lead for good. However, McNeil came close to stealing the bout when he nearly earned a takedown — instead after review there was no takedown. Jack earned the red-and-white’s sixth consecutive win of the night.
“Me and [McNeil] wrestled in five matches already, and we wrestled a couple of times in high school,” Jack said. “He’s very, very good. I know it’s gonna be a close match every time we wrestle, so just trying to stay smart the whole time.”
To cap off the night, No. 3 sophomore Jackson Arrington handled business in the 149-pound bout, earning the Pack’s seventh-straight win of the night with an 8-1 decision.
The win marks the largest margin of victory for either team in the series in at least 25 years. Still, NC State is not where it wants to be yet, but for a team to be unsatisfied after a 26-point win over a rival is frightening for opponents.
“We’re still not in peak shape; we know that,” Popolizio said. “We’ve got to get our whole team to be able to attack for seven minutes, and I think we’re dangerous when we do that.”
Next up, NC State will host Virginia in Reynolds Coliseum once again next Friday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.
