When No. 6 NC State wrestling’s fifth-year senior class signed, the Wolfpack was in the midst of or had just wrapped up its debut campaign under head coach Pat Popolizio (there are two signing periods). That season, the Pack went winless in its five ACC duals and finished 63rd at the NCAA Championships.
Friday night, when 184-pounder Pete Renda, 197-pounder Michael Macchiavello, 149-pounder Beau Donahue and 165-pounder Brian Hamann — along with fourth-year seniors heavyweight Michael Boykin and 141-pounder Kevin Jack, plus three other classmates who are not in the starting lineup — celebrate Senior Night against No. 8 Virginia Tech (7:30 p.m. on ACC Network Extra), they will be looking to complete the school’s first undefeated conference season since 2000 and win its first ACC dual championship under Popolizio, now in his sixth year at the helm.
The ACC regular-season title has been decided between the Pack and Hokies each of the last three seasons, and both are top-10 squads once again. NC State has been ranked among the nation’s top 10 in each of the last 39 weeks, dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season.
“During my recruiting trip, they were pretty certain on saying we were going to be in the top five within five years. … Here we are ranked No. 6,” Renda said. "I think it’s really a testament to everyone’s hard work, going down all the way to the guys that aren't starting.
"That’s what makes it special — everyone in the room is so focused and dedicated."
Popolizio concurred.
“When you talk about NC State wrestling and why it’s in the position it is, it’s because of everybody’s involvement from the administration to the coaching staff to these guys,” the coach explained. “But they have done the body of work. … They’ve matured into leaders and winners and great people you want to surround other kids in your program around.”
During that aforementioned fifth-year class’ first season on campus, the Pack went 14-7 overall — up from 5-6 the year before — and 2-4 in the ACC, but then placed dead last for the first of two straight ACC Championships. That means both the fourth- and fifth-year seniors’ careers started from basement of the conference tournament, but Renda noted the squad never lost faith.
“We knew we had a young team and it’d be fun down the road,” he said.
Since that last sixth-place showing in the ACC, the Pack has gone 50-4 overall for the nation's second-best winning percentage over the last three years, 12-2 in the ACC (both losses to Virginia Tech), won the 2016 ACC Championship at the league tournament, and placed 16th, 11th and 17th at the NCAA Championships.
Led by those seniors, the team established lofty preseasons goals this year. They included a 5-0 ACC campaign, which would require the program’s first win over Virginia Tech since 2008; another title at the conference tournament March 3 in Chapel Hill; and then to not only break into the top 10 at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland March 15-18, but leave with a trophy, which requires a top-four finish.
But it all starts with what is perhaps the biggest home weekend in program history. A showdown with the Hokies — who became the first ACC team to bring home an NCAA trophy with a fourth-place finish in 2016 — on Friday night, followed by a Sunday dual with the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes, who took the previously thought-to-be-unbeatable No. 1 Penn State Nittany Lions to the brink before losing by one team point Feb. 3.
With such a senior-laden roster, Popolizio changed his philosophy and wrestled his starters fewer times so that they would peak when it mattered most, at the postseason tournaments.
The coach noted that when former two-time NCAA Champion Nick Gwiazdowski won his first national title in 2014, he finished the year 42-2. Two years later — with several current seniors playing large roles — the team wrestled 24 dual matches, finished the regular season ranked second nationally and won the ACC Championship.
But at NCAAs, the squad finished with what was considered a disappointing 11th-place showing on the big stage. So this year, Popolizio scheduled ‘only’ 17 duals, including this weekend’s big finale — and nobody has wrestled every match.
“You look at Pete, [Macchiavello], Kevin and Hayden [Hidlay, a redshirt freshman 157-pounder ranked third nationally], they’re at 15-19 wins,” he explained. “I changed my mindset.
"Our training has been totally different this year — it’s to focus and peak at the right time.”
That didn’t mean Popolizio wouldn’t test his guys. He always schedules tough, and the final weekend is essentially a dry run of the NCAA tournament.
The Pack will see multiple highly ranked foes over a three-day span, just like NCAAs — if a wrestler wins every bout at Nationals, he will wrestle five times in three days. It will be more if he loses and has to compete in the consolation bracket of the double-elimination individual tournament.
“The national tournament is a three-day grind, and this is going to be a three-day grind for us,” Popolizio explained. “We’re not competing Saturday, but guys are still coming in and working out to keep their weight in check and get ready for a huge match.”
This weekend, Macchiavello will wrestle the nation’s No. 2-ranked wrestler Friday and No. 1 Sunday. Several others will have at least one, if not two, top-10 foes. Ohio State alone boasts four former NCAA finalists, including Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder, who NC State fans might remember for breaking Gwiazdowski’s 88-match winning streak at Madison Square Garden in their epic 2016 NCAA heavyweight championship match.
Nine of 10 Buckeye starters are ranked among the top seven nationally by Intermat, while Virginia Tech boasts seven top-20 grapplers — and that doesn’t include two-time All-American Solomon Chishko.
“A lot of these guys could see these back-to-back matches [this weekend] where it’s either like the first, second round of NCAAs or it could be like your semis and finals [NCAA matches],” Popolizio said. “That’s how we’ve got to treat it.”
A school-record crowd of 2,147 showed up last weekend to watch NC State wallop No. 24 North Carolina in a 26-7 beatdown, but if Popolizio has his way the attendance mark won’t stand for long. A similarly raucous crowd is expected, and the wrestling community across the country is likely to tune in for both the Virginia Tech and Ohio State matches, which by itself shows the growth of the program during the seniors’ time in Raleigh.
“I think we’ve gotten to the point where we’re turning into a big school for wrestling,” Jack said. “It's pretty awesome considering that probably four years ago if you said there’s an NC State wrestling match on tonight, I don’t think anybody would care too much. I think seeing where we’re at now is pretty awesome.”
That’s, in large part, thanks to Jack and his fellow seniors.
The team’s success isn’t going away anytime soon under Popolizio, but several of the building blocks that have allowed the squad to reach the heights it has have no choice but to move on after this year from college wrestling. The coach hopes that on their final home weekend, the seniors feel as much support as they have provided while serving as the foundation on which the Pack's top-10 program has been built.
“This is a great time for people to come and continue to support a special season for these guys and send them off the way they deserve,” Popolizio said. “They’ve done a lot for NC State athletics, not just wrestling, and it’d be great to show support by coming to watch these guys.”
No. 8 Virginia Tech at No. 6 NC State
Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum (live stream on ACC Network Extra)
125: Kyle Norstrem (11-11) vs. #5 R-Jr. Sean Fausz (11-1)
133: #18 Dennis Gustafson (20-7) vs. #13 R-Fr. Tariq Wilson (20-5)
141: Brent Moore (17-9) vs. #2 Sr. Kevin Jack (16-1)
149: #16 Ryan Blees (20-5) vs. #13 R-Sr. Beau Donahue (17-3)
157: B.C. LaPrade (12-10) or Solomon Chishko (8-6) vs. #3 R-Fr. Hayden Hidlay (18-0)
165: #4 David McFadden (28-0) vs. R-Sr. Brian Hamann (15-5)
174: #15 Hunter Bolen (19-9) or Cody Hughes (14-12) vs. R-Fr. Daniel Bullard (13-6)
184: #8 Zack Zavatsky (26-4) vs. #3 R-Sr. Pete Renda (19-0)
197: #2 Jared Haught (23-2) vs. #7 R-Sr. Michael Macchiavello (15-1)
285: #18 Andrew Dunn (20-10) vs. #19 Sr. Michael Boykin (17-4) -OR- R-Jr. Malik McDonald (15-4)
No. 2 Ohio State at No. 6 NC State
Sunday, 4:30 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum (live stream on ACC Network Extra)
125: #4 Nathan Tomasello (6-1) vs. #5 R-Jr. Sean Fausz (11-1)
133: #3 Luke Pletcher (22-1) vs. #13 R-Fr. Tariq Wilson (20-5)
141: #7 Joey McKenna (11-1) vs. #2 Sr. Kevin Jack (16-1)
149: #6 Ke-Shawn Hayes (22-4) vs. #13 R-Sr. Beau Donahue (17-3)
157: #5 Micah Jordan (20-4) vs. #3 R-Fr. Hayden Hidlay (18-0)
165: #14 Te’Shan Campbell (14-8) vs. R-Sr. Brian Hamann (15-5)
174: #3 Bo Jordan (8-4) vs. R-Fr. Daniel Bullard (13-6)
184: #2 Myles Martin (23-1) vs. #3 R-Sr. Pete Renda (19-0)
197: #1 Kollin Moore (19-1) vs. #7 R-Sr. Michael Macchiavello (15-1)
285: #2 Kyle Snyder (8-0) vs. #19 Sr. Michael Boykin (17-4) -OR- R-Jr. Malik McDonald (15-4)
——
• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker
• Like us on Facebook
