Final Wrap Up
10:07 p.m. — It is officially official, NC State finished in 17th place.
2:10 p.m. — Unofficially, I don't think anybody behind the Wolfpack can catch NC State in the team score during tonight's finals (but we're 99.99 percent sure on this). That means NCSU will finish 17th at NCAAs, its sixth straight top-20 national finish, which extends its school record.
Prior to the start of that streak in 2014, the Wolfpack had not placed in the top 20 nationally since 2009 — and that was its only such placement since 1993. In program history, NC State had just 12 top-20 NCAA finishes prior to the start of its current run.
Unfortunately, the team finished 0.5 points behind No. 16 Iowa State, meaning if they had not been penalized for throwing the challenge brick too late after Hayden Hidlay's semifinal loss, they would have placed 16th.
As it is, after losing six starters from last year's squad, the Pack shared the ACC dual title and won the ACC Championship over Virginia Tech, who is likely to finish 10th or 11th this weekend and is the only team from the league to finish higher than NC State.
With Hidlay's fourth-place finish, the Pack also extended its streak with an All-American grappler to six straight years. The program boasts 12 top-8 national placers during that span, compared to 27 in its entire history prior to that.
Day Three Updates
1:01 p.m. — Hidlay up now on mat 2. Hidlay tries a headlock, but Pantaleo counters for the takedown, quick escape for Hidlay. 2-1 Pantaleo at the end of the first.
Hidlay starts on bottom, quick escape. Crazy scramble, but no points either way.
Pantaleo starts the final frame on bottom. Quick escape for Pantaleo. Pantaleo adds a late takedown, Hidlay escapes, but trails 5-3. He can't score. Pantaleo wins. Hidlay finishes fourth.
11:33 a.m. — Hidlay vs. Deakin is up now on mat 3.
Hidlay strikes first with a takedown, quick escape for Deakin. Another Hidlay takedown after a strong finish from Hidlay, but Northwestern is challenging. The call is reversed, but Hidlay hits another takedown about two seconds after the restart and then adds two near-fall points for good measure. Hidlay leads 6-1 entering the second.
Deakin starts on bottom. Hidlay gets a tilt, but only one swipe so no points. Deakin escapes. A long scramble ensues, but Hidlay finishes the takedown with about 5 seconds left. He'll take 1:18 of riding time into the final frame.
Hidlay starts on bottom and can't get out. However, it's still an 8-2 victory for Hidlay. He'll face Michigan's Alec Pantaleo again for third place. He beat Pantaleo 5-3 in overtime in the quarterfinals and is 2-0 against the Wolverine in his college career. That match will happen later this session.
11:00 a.m. — The consolation semifinals are beginning now. The winners of these matches wrestle for third, while the losers go for fifth.
157-pound redshirt sophomore Hayden Hidlay will be up midway through the round, taking on Northwestern's Ryan Deakin, who entered as the 3 seed. They have not wrestled in college, but they did wrestle last offseason for the starting spot on Team USA at the U-23 World Championships. Hidlay won that best-of-three series, but it was in freestyle wrestling, where the rules are a bit different than what they do in college and is called folkstyle.
NC State AD Debbie Yow also weighed in on Hidlay this morning:
Day Two Updates
10:50 p.m. — At the end of day two, NC State sits in 17th place as a team.
10:32 p.m. — Hidlay will face No. 3 Ryan Deakin of Northwestern tomorrow morning in the consolation semifinals. The two have never met in college.
One final note on Hidlay-Nolf and a tweet on the Hidlay takedown that got reversed to no points from a neutral observer…
First, the note: According to the always-excellent WrestleStat.com, before tonight Nolf has not had a one-point match when healthy (he had to medically forfeit a match last year, but we're not counting that) since he lost 6-5 at the 2016 NCAA Championships as a redshirt freshman. Without counting the medical forfeit, that is one of only two losses in his official college wrestling (he also lost once as a redshirting freshman). Since that 2016 NCAA loss, he has had just one match in the last three years closer than four points. Hidlay pushed him to the brink, and nearly beat him (or one might even say, did beat him — except for on the scoreboard).
And the tweet from FloWrestling's Christian Pyles:
9:36 p.m. — That completes NC State's involvement at tonight's session; they will finish with one All-American. Hidlay will drop to the consolation semifinals tomorrow morning. The only thing left for the Wolfpack to watch for tonight is who Hidlay's opponent will be — No. 7 Larry Early of Old Dominion (who was one of two to beat Hidlay in the regular season) or No. 3 Ryan Deakin of Northwestern.
9:08 p.m. — Hidlay is up now on mat 1 in a rematch of last year's championship bout, taking on two-time defending champion Jason Nolf.
Hidlay strikes first with two ticks left in the first period, but official review coming. The call is reversed after the review, 0-0 going into the second.
Nolf escapes to open the frame, then gets a quick takedown. Just as quickly, Hidlay escapes to make it 3-1.
Hidlay starts the final frame on on bottom and is out immediately. Hidlay nearly tallies the takedown at the very end, but no call. He falls 3-2 and drops to the consolations, but it was an incredible effort. That is likely the tightest match Nolf wrestled (and will wrestle) all year.
A sampling of national experts on the no-takedown reversal:
Nolf even admitted he felt Hidlay got the takedown in the first period:
8:14 p.m. — Wilson vs. Erneste is up now, and Wilson wastes no time tallying the first takedown. Wilson rides Erneste out and racks up 2:54 of riding time.
Another quick Wilson takedown opens the start of the second period. Erneste reverses Wilson this time, and then picks up a four-point near fall just before the buzzer to go up 6-4. Wilson still has 2:46 of riding time entering the final period.
Wilson goes upper body to a trip and gets the takedown on the edge with 19 seconds left. Riding time is clinched, so he just can't let Erneste escape. Wild scramble at the buzzer, Erneste is awarded an escape, which would tie it up at 7-7. Missouri is challenging it was a reversal.
The call stands we got to OT. Both guys were close to a takedown in a scramble flurry at the end, but we head to the tie breakers with no points scored.
Wilson elects to choose neutral to start the tiebreaker. Another Wilson shot, another scramble with no points. Erneste gets 30 seconds on bottom. No points, we head to another sudden victory period.
Erneste gets a takedown right at the buzzer. Referee review to see if it happened with time remaining. But like I said on Twitter (before it ended): "It stinks that someone has to lost this Wilson-Erneste match. It’s bonkers, crazy scrambles, two high-level guys going toe to toe."
So, they just announced the call on the mat was no takedown, but upon review it was reversed to Erneste got the takedown. Wilson battled valiantly but is eliminated in the blood round. Still was an incredible effort, but NC State will have just one All-American in Hidlay, who wrestles in the semifinals in a bit.
8:04 p.m. — Fausz and Arujau are underway on mat 4.
Arujau strikes first with the takedown after a crazy scramble on the edge. Arujau turns Fausz for a two count and a 4-0 lead. Fausz escapes, but trails 4-1 going into the second period.
Fausz escapes to cut the lead to 4-2. Fausz nearly gets a takedown, but Arujau ends up on top near the end of the frame and now has a 6-2 lead. He also has over two minutes of ride time.
Arujau adds another takedown, Fausz escapes, another Arujau takedown. Ride time makes it an 11-3 final score, and Fausz is eliminated in the blood round for the second time in his career.
8:00 p.m. — Both 125 Sean Fausz and 133 Tariq Wilson will be up back to back on mat 4, so NC State fans might just want to tune in there on WatchESPN. Both are in the blood round, so a loss eliminates them and a win guarantees them All-America status.
No. 14 Fausz faces for the first time in his college career No. 8 Vitali Arujau, a redshirt freshman from Cornell. Meanwhile, No. 11 Wilson takes on No. 8 John Erneste of Missouri, who he beat at NCAAs last year at NCAAs 8-3. Erneste is a three-time NCAA qualifier who reached the blood round last year, while Wilson will look to claim All-America honors for a second straight year.
Of course, 157 Hayden Hidlay is in the main event, wrestling in the semifinals against two-time defending champion Jason Nolf of Penn State, the undefeated and top-seeded wrestler.
There should be a pile of great matches tonight, many (myself included) consider this the best round in college wrestling — there's so much on the line.
2:35 p.m. — NC State action is done for this session.
The Wolfpack still has three alive. 157-pound redshirt sophomore and No. 5 seed Hayden Hidlay has clinched All-America honors for the second straight year. After a rematch from last year's NCAA semifinals in this season's NCAA quarterfinals, he'll have a rematch of last year's national championship bout in the semifinals, when he faces top-seeded and two-time defending champion Jason Nolf of Penn State. Nolf prevailed in the final last year, 6-2.
In the consolations, 125-pound fifth-year senior Sean Fausz is in the blood round and one win away from All-America honors. He'll face No. 8 Vitali Arujau, a redshirt freshman from Cornell. They have never faced each other in college.
Also in the blood round tonight will be 133-pound redshirt sophomore Tariq Wilson, last year's third-place finisher. He faces No. 8 John Erneste of Missouri, a three-time NCAA qualifier who reached the blood round last year. Wilson did beat Erneste 8-3 at the NCAA Championships last year.
The evening session begins at 8 p.m. At the end of the session, NC State currently sits in ninth place, 0.5 points behind No. 8 Rutgers.
2:21 p.m. — 149-pounder Justin Oliver is now up on mat 2 against No. 18 Jared Prince of Navy. Oliver strikes early with a takedown. Prince escapes, Oliver adds another takedown.
In the second, Prince escapes, but Oliver gets another takedown. A reversal and four near-fall points put Prince ahead 8-6 going into the third.
No points were scored, and it's a 8-6 final for Prince. Oliver is eliminated at 2-2.
2:15 p.m. — 141-pounder Jamel Morris takes mat 4 to face No. 11 Tristan Moran of Wisconsin. Morris strikes first with a takedown, and then adds a four-point turn for the 6-0 lead. Another four-point near fall makes it 10-0. Moran reverses Morris and adds a two-point near fall, so this one has been wild so far and it's 10-4 Morris at the end of the first. Morris does have over a minute of riding time.
A Moran reversal opens period two and closes the gap to 10-6 Morris. Morris gets hit for stalling, just a warning since it's the first. Now Morris gets cradled, four points for Moran to tie it at 10-10. Moran turns Morris for four again and takes a 14-10 lead into the final frame.
Morris can't escape and is hit for stalling again. Moran ends up with a 16-10 victory and over two minutes of riding time.
2:06 p.m. — 133-pounder Tariq Wilson takes mat 6 to face No. 14 Korbin Myers, who he beat 6-1 earlier this year. A first-period takedown and two back points give Wilson a 4-0 lead at the end of the opening frame.
Wilson adds another takedown for a 6-0 lead, then forces a stall warning against Myers. Right before the end of the period, Wilson gets a two-point turn. He's hunting for bonus points now.
Takedown and two-point near fall to open the third give Wilson a 12-0 lead. It's a 13-0 major decision victory for the bonus points. Wilson will next face No. 8 John Erneste of Missouri in the blood round.
2:00 p.m. — We roll right into the final round of consolations for this session. The winner moves onto the blood round, one round away from All-America honors, and they will go quickly with all eight mats going.
Fausz is up now on mat 7, taking on No. 21 Jay Schwarm of Northern Iowa, and strikes first with an early takedown. Fausz rides him out for 2:35 of riding time and a 2-0 lead going into the second.
Fausz gets a reversal for the 4-0 lead, and then forces a stall call. He takes over two minutes of riding time into the final period.
Another Fausz reversal gives him a 6-0 lead, but then Schwarm gets a reversal of his own. Fausz hangs on for the 7-2 victory, moving on to the blood round to face No. 8 Vitali Arujau of Cornell.
1:50 p.m. — At 197, No. 13 Malik McDonald is taking on No. 19 Tanner Orndorff on mat 8.
McDonald strikes first with a takedown. Orndorff escapes, but McDonald is at exactly a minute of riding time. McDonald leads 2-1 going into the second.
McDonald chooses neutral, but gets taken down and then is hit for stalling on bottom. McDonald is hit again for stalling, so it's a 4-2 lead for Orndorff going into the final frame.
Orndorff quickly escapes to make it 5-2. Another Orndorff takedown and it's 7-2 now. Orndorff tacks on a two-point near fall, followed by one with all for backs points. With the riding time point, it's 14-2 to eliminate McDonald at 1-2.
1:38 p.m. — At 184, No. 7 Nick Reenan is taking mat 1 to face No. 9 Taylor Venz of Nebraska. Reenan beat Venz by 2 points in the dual earlier this year.
Venz strikes first with a quick takedown. Reenan can't get off bottom and is ridden for 2:52 of the first three minutes.
Venz chooses bottom, but Reenan elects to allow him up and go netural, so Venz leads 3-0. Reenan tries for a headlock, but Venz ducks it and tallies the takedown. Reenan can't escape again, and Venz is over four minutes of riding time entering the third, to go along with a 5-0 lead.
Reenan notches a third-period takedown and has to let Venz up. No other points are scored, and It's a 7-2 win for Venz. Reenan is eliminated at 1-2.
1:06 p.m. — At 174 pounds, Daniel Bullard is now up with the brother wrestling right next to him. Bullard, the No. 23 seed, is taking on No. 9 Devin Skatzka of Minnesota. Bullard hits the first takedown, but gives up an escape and is then taken down to make it 3-2 Skatzka. Skatzka adds four near-fall points to extend his lead to 7-2. That's the score after the first, and Skatzka has about 2:00 of riding time.
No points in the second.
Skatzka gets a third-period takedown and wins 10-2. Bullard is eliminated at 1-2.
1:01 p.m. — At 165 pounds, No. 16 Thomas Bullard is taking on No. 18 Gordon Wolf of Lehigh now on mat 2.
Bullard strikes first off a double about 30 seconds in. Wolf hits a reversal to tie it at 2-2. Wolf turns Bullard for a quick two count, and then Bullard gets a reversal of his own to tie it up at 4-4. Bullard jumps ahead with a four-point turn. At the end of the first, Wolf has 30 seconds of riding time, but Bullard has an 8-4 lead.
Bullard opens the second with another two-point turn. Wolf escapes to make it 10-5. Wolf hits a takedown to make it 10-7.
Wolf opens the period with an escape to close the gap to 10-8. A takedown now ties it up. Wolf gives up the escape with just over a minute left. Wolf gets the takedown to go ahead by one. Wolf pulls out the 12-11 win and Bullard is eliminated at 1-2.
12:12 — TV break is over, Hidlay vs. Pantaleo in the quarterfinals starts now. Remember, this was a semifinals match last year, which Hidlay won by a 10-2 major decision. Oliver is about to start on mat 7 at the same time.
Hidlay is taken down, but escapes in two seconds. Hidlay trails 2-1 after the first.
Hidlay ties it up at 2-2 with an escape early in the second, and that's the count going into the finale frame.
Hidlay concedes a quick escape, he'll have to get his offense working in the final two minutes. Pantaleo is called for hands to the face, and that ties it up at 3-3. Michigan challenges, but the call stands. We are going to OT.
Hidlay scores the winning takedown after a nice counter, and he moves on to tonight's semifinals to take on two-time defending national champion and No. 1 seed Jason Nolf of Penn State. Nolf beat Hidlay 6-2 in the championship bout last year.
The win also guarantees Hidlay an All-American finish for the second straight year, and puts him on track to become the school's first-ever four-time All-American.
Oliver scores first with a takedown and rides him out for a 2-0 lead at the end of one.
Oliver escapes for the 3-0 lead and still has 1:01 of riding time. He adds another takedown and then Maruca reverses him.
It's 5-2 Oliver entering the third, after a Maruca escape he adds another takedown for a 7-3 lead. Oliver finishes with a 9-5 win.
Later this afternoon, Oliver will face No. 18 Jared Prince of Navy. The winner faces No. 3 Mitch Finesilver of Duke in the blood round. Oliver beat Finesilver twice during the 2016 season, including once at the NCAAs, but Finesilver won their lone meeting this season 10-0.
12:09 p.m. — It's likely that 149 Oliver (consolations) and 157 Hidlay (quarterfinals) will be wrestling soon at the same time. Oliver is on deck on mat 7 vs. No. 23 Josh Maruca of Arizona State, while Hidlay will be up on mat 5 vs. No. 4 Alec Pantaleo of Michigan after the TV break ends. I'll be focused on Hidlay if that happens.
11:49 a.m. — 141 Morris is up on now on mat 8 against No. 4 Josh Alber of Northern Iowa. Alber scores a takedown on the edge of the mat with about 15 seconds left in the opening frame.
Quick escape for Morris, then he takes Alber down to his back and secures four back points for a 7-2 lead. Another turn gives Morris another four near-fall points for an 11-2 lead. Alber escapes near the end, but not before Morris eclipsed a minute of riding time.
Morris is taken down at the start of the third, and Alber quickly takes the riding time under a minute. Morris leads 12-5 after an escape. Alber tries a headlock, but Morris slips it and gets the takedown on the edge of the mat.
Morris wins a 15-5 major decision and stays alive. Three matches this morning for the Pack, three bonus point victories.
Later this afternoon, Morris will take on No. 11 Tristan Moran of Wisconsin. If he wins there, he'll face No. 7 Mitch McKee of Minnesota tonight in the blood round. A win in the blood round clinches All-America status.
11:26 a.m. — 133 Wilson is up now on mat 7 against North Dakota State's Cam Sykora. Wilson strikes first with an early takedown, but Sykora is out fairly quick. Wilson scores another two for a takedown, and Sykora escapes again. Wilson adds a third first-period takedown and then forces a stall call while on top. He leads 6-2 at the end of the first and has 1:40 of riding time.
Neutral start in the second and another takedown for Wilson. He's looking great. Sykora is out, but another Wilson shot results in a stall call, which is an additional point. He then tallies another takedown. Sykora escapes, but it's 11-4 Wilson, who has over two minutes of riding time. Another Wilson takedown and he's got Sykora on his back … he can't get the pin, but he does pick up four back points. Wilson leads 17-4 going into the final frame and is hunting for bonus points.
A Wilson reversal completes the technical fall victory. More bonus points for the Pack, and the have gotten off to the exact type of start they needed. Bonus points are necessary at this point with so many guys in the consolations.
Later this afternoon, Wilson will face No. 14 Korbin Myers of Virginia Tech. Wilson beat him 6-1 in the dual earlier this year. The winner moves on to the blood round and will be one win away from clinching All-America honors. If Wilson wins, his blood round foe would be No. 8 John Erneste of Missouri.
11:04 a.m. — Fausz is in immediately and finishes the takedown for a quick 2-0 lead, and that's the count going into the second.
Fausz escapes quickly enough to retain over two minutes of riding time.
Fausz gets the pin and some major bonus points in the third period. To give an idea of how much that means for the team score, it launched NC State from tied for 12th to eighth (but again, team scores are very, very fluid at this point).
Later this afternoon, Fausz will take on No. 21 Jay Schwarm of Northern Iowa. The winner moves on to the blood round to face No. 8 Vitali Arujau of Cornell.
11:00 a.m. — Again, team scores don't mean much at this point, but NC State enters the day in a tie for 12th. Here's setting the stage for today, who everybody has next and some info. on their first opponent:
Championship Quarterfinals (A win guarantees an All-American finish)
157: No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (22-2) vs. No. 4 Alec Pantaleo, Michigan (20-7)
• Pantaleo is a two-time All-American (sixth in 2016 and fifth in 2018) who Hidlay beat 10-2 in the semifinals last year.
Consolations — Second Round (A loss eliminates each wrestler)
125: No. 14 Sean Fausz (12-3) vs. No. 20 Gabe Townsell, Stanford (19-11)
• Townsell is a three-time NCAA qualifier
133: No. 11 Tariq Wilson (15-4) vs. No. 21 Cam Sykora, North Dakota State (21-9)
• Wilson beat Sykora 6-3 last year; Sykora is a three-time NCAA qualifier.
141: No. 14 Jamel Morris (23-4) vs. No. 4 Josh Alber, Northern Iowa (31-5)
• Alber is a four-time NCAA qualifier that was a round of 16 guy in 2017 at 133 pounds.
149: No. 9 Justin Oliver (19-6) vs. No. 23 Joshua Maruca, Arizona State (17-13)
• Oliver beat Maruca 8-5 at Midlands and 9-4 at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite last year, when Oliver was at Central Michigan. Maruca is a two-time NCAA qualifier and made the round of 16 in 2017 as a redshirt freshman.
165: No. 16 Thomas Bullard (21-9) vs. No. 18 Gordon Wolf, Lehigh (20-7)
• Wolf is a three-time NCAA qualifier.
174: No. 23 Daniel Bullard (21-10) vs. No. 9 Devin Skatzka, Minnesota (27-9)
• Skatzka is a three-time NCAA qualifier.
184: No. 7 Nick Reenan (16-5) vs. No. 9 Taylor Venz, Nebraska (22-8)
• Reenan beat Venz 8-6 in the dual Dec. 16 (before Reenan was hurt). Venz is a two-time NCAA qualifier who placed fourth nationally last year.
197: No. 13 Malik McDonald (19-10) vs. No. 19 Tanner Orndorff (19-13)
• Orndorff beat McDonald 12-10 in a dual earlier this year on Dec. 30; he's a three-time NCAA qualifier.
Both consolations and quarterfinals will be going on at the same time. Fausz is up on mat 8 immediately.
10:25 p.m. — Here is where things stand for NC State as a team after day one and who they face first thing tomorrow … more thoughts on the matchups tomorrow morning. The Pack is currently tied for 12th at the end of day one:
Championship Quarterfinals
157: No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (22-2) vs. No. 4 Alec Pantaleo, Michigan (20-7)
Consolations — Second Round
125: No. 14 Sean Fausz (12-3) vs. No. 20 Gabe Townsell, Stanford (19-11)
133: No. 11 Tariq Wilson (15-4) vs. No. 21 Cam Sykora, North Dakota State (21-9)
141: No. 14 Jamel Morris (23-4) vs. No. 4 Josh Alber, Northern Iowa (31-5)
149: No. 9 Justin Oliver (19-6) vs. No. 23 Joshua Maruca, Arizona State (17-13)
165: No. 16 Thomas Bullard (21-9) vs. No. 18 Gordon Wolf, Lehigh (20-7)
174: No. 23 Daniel Bullard (21-10) vs. No. 9 Devin Skatzka, Minnesota (27-9)
184: No. 7 Nick Reenan (16-5) vs. No. 9 Taylor Venz, Nebraska (22-8)
197: No. 13 Malik McDonald (19-10) vs. No. 19 Tanner Orndorff (19-13)
ELIMINATED
None
10:09 p.m. — 184-pounder Nick Reenan, who entered as the 7 seed but was upset round one, is now up on mat 1, facing No. 23 Jackson Hemauer of Fresno State (23-12).
Reenan makes it quick with a headlock and pin in 1:05. Those bonus points are nice to have.
But another tough test awaits — Reenan will face No. 9 Taylor Venz of Nebraska (22-8) tomorrow morning. Venz is an All-American after placing fourth at nationals last year, but Reenan did beat Venz 8-6 in mid-December — however, that was before Reenan got hurt.
9:56 p.m. — At 174 pounds, No. 23 Daniel Bullard is up now against No. 26 Drew Hughes of Michigan State on mat 5.
Bullard strikes first with the takedown and leads 2-0 going into the second. Bullard racked up 1:20 of riding time in the first frame.
Bullard can't get off bottom and is ridden the entire second period, giving Hughes 39 seconds of advantage time.
Hughes chooses to start the third on top, but is hit for stalling since he's just been riding parallel. Now, Bullard is hit for stalling, just his first so no harm yet. He just can't get hit again in the final 25 seconds because that would tie things up (Hughes has the riding time point locked up).
Bullard hangs on for the 2-1 win, an ugly win, but a win nonetheless.
Tomorrow morning he'll face No. 9 Devin Skatzka of Minnesota.
9:43 p.m. — The Pack may have finally caught a break. Oklahoma State's No. 7 seed at 149, Kaden Gfeller, was just upset in the consolations by No. 23 Joshua Maruca of Arizona State. That means NCSU 149-pounder and 9 seed Justin Oliver will face Maruca tomorrow morning. It guarantees nothing, but on paper Maruca is a better matchup for Oliver than Gfeller.
9:10 p.m. — 141-pounder Jamel Morris is up now on mat 4. The Pack's 14 seed is taking on No. 30 Nate Limmex of Purdue. Limmex strikes first with a takedown late in the first, but Morris escapes and gets two of his own. Morris leads 3-2 going into the second period.
Morris is riding tough on top to start the second and gets a two-point turn. He later adds a four-point near fall to go up 9-2. That's the count going into the final frame, Morris has 2:05 of riding time.
Morris chooses top, but is penalized for locked hands … that's a point for Limmex. Limmex then escapes and gets in deep on a shot, but Morris fends it off and they go out of bounds. Limmex eventually gets a takedown, but too little, too late. Morris wins a 10-6 decision.
Much-needed, important win for Morris and the Pack. However, the tough draws continue. Morris will next face fourth-seeded Josh Alber of Northern Iowa after he was upset in the round of 16 by 13 seed Kyle Shoop. Shoop is clearly not unbeatable, but that's another tough break in a tourney full of them for NC State.
8:50 p.m. — No other way to put this — that was not a good round for the Wolfpack, who now have just one remaining in the championship bracket going into tomorrow morning's quarterfinals, Hayden Hidlay at 157.
It's worth noting that the Pack was favored on paper in only one of tonight's championship round of 16 bouts, but they had chances in a few matches and couldn't get it done.
NCSU has three matches remaining tonight in the consolations: 141 Jamel Morris, 174 Daniel Bullard and 184 Nick Reenan. As of right now, with the championship round of 16 finished and heading into one more round of consolations, the Pack sits in a tie for 12th place as a team. They've got a ton of work to do to be able to hang on to even that standing.
8:35 p.m. — 197-pound fifth-year senior Malik McDonald is the final Wolfpacker going in the championship round of 16. He's up on mat 6 against fourth-seeded Patrick Brucki of Princeton.
McDonald shoots, but Brucki counters for the takedown and early lead. McDonald escapes before the period ends.
McDonald is riding tough on top after Brucki takes bottom. The NC State coaches want a stalling call against Brucki. Brucki nearly escapes, McDonald gets hit for stalling, and then gives up the escap anyway. Brucki leads 3-1 going into the third.
McDonald starts the third on bottom and quickly escapes. He has to find a way to get a takedown here. McDonald gets in deep on a shot, but weirdly falls to his butt, and no points scored. McDonald can't muster any more offense and falls 3-2.
McDonald drops to the consolations. Tomorrow morning, he'll face the winner of tonight's match between No. 30 Jacob Seely of Northern Colorado and Utah Valley's Tanner Orndorff, the No. 19 seed.
8:02 p.m. — 165-pound redshirt sophomore Thomas Bullard is up now on mat 3 taking on top-seeded Alex Marinelli of Iowa.
Marinelli scores first with a takedown, Bullard escapes, then the sequence repeats itself. 4-2 Marinelli at the end of the first.
Marinelli adds a pair of takedowns in the second, Bullard escapes once to make it 8-3.
Bullard starts the final period on top. Marinelli escapes before adding another takedown. Bullard escapes, but it's a 12-4 win for Marinelli after he adds the riding time point.
Tomorrow morning he'll face the winner of tonight's match between No. 18 Gordon Wolf of Lehigh and No. 31 Evan Delong of Clarion.
7:54 p.m. — 157-pound redshirt sophomore Hayden Hidlay is up now on mat 2 against 21 seed Justin Thomas of Oklahoma.
Hidlay wastes no time scoring a takedown less than 10 seconds into the bout. Thomas escapes, Hidlay gets another takedown on the edge. He then adds four near-fall points before the period ends. He'll take 2:24 of riding time into the second period.
Quick escape for Hidlay and right back to work in neutral. It doesn't take long for him to score another takedown for an 11-1 lead. Another turn nets Hidlay two near-fall points.
Hidlay is right back to work in neutral. He forces a stall for a point, and then secures a takedown to complete the technical fall victory.
He'll face fourth-seeded Alec Pantaleo of Michigan in the quarterfinals tomorrow morning. That was a semifinals match last year, which Hidlay won by a 10-2 major decision.
7:41 p.m. — 149 fifth-year senior Justin Oliver, the 9 seed, is up now on mat 5, taking on 8 seed Jarrett Degen of Iowa State.
Very quick takedown for Oliver and a 2-0 lead. Degen escapes, but Oliver adds another takedown. Degen scores a reversal with about 12 seconds left in the period to make it 4-3, but Oliver gets an escape before the buzzer. He also takes 1:12 of riding time into the second.
Degen with another reversal to tie it up at 5-5 and start eating into Oliver's riding time. Oliver escapes to go back in front, 6-5, and that will be the count going into the final frame.
Oliver starts on bottom and midway through the period scores a reversal, but not until after Degen got two back points. With 20 seconds to go, Degen escapes and then wins it with another takedown and the riding time point (he had 1:01 showing) for the 11-8 victory.
Oliver falls to a tough line on the consolation bracket. Tomorrow morning he'll face the winner of tonight's match between No. 7 seed Kaden Gfeller of Oklahoma State, who was upset round one by 26 seed Ryan Blees of Virginia Tech, and No. 23 seed Josh Maruca of Arizona State.
7:23 p.m. — It's All-American vs. All-American on mat 8 with 133-pounder Tariq Wilson (15-3), the 11 seed, taking the mat against 6 seed Ethan Lizak of Minnesota (29-5).
Wilson opens with two shots, but Lizak scores with a counter for the first takedown. Wilson can't escape, is ridden for 2:11.
Wilson chooses to start the second period in neutral. Wilson shoots, forces a stall call and then adds the takedown for good measure. That ties things up at 2-2, which is the count after two periods.
Lizak still has 1:07 of riding time, chooses to start on top. He scores a quick two near-fall points. Huge reversal for Wilson ties things back up. He has to cut and go for another takedown. Lizak leads by one, but also has riding time.
Wilson is in deep on a shot, but no takedown is called as time expires. NC State is challenging the call. A reversal would send it into OT, but the call is confirmed. Wilson falls to the consolation bracket. Friday morning, he'll face the winner of Kent State's Tim Rooney, the No. 28 seed with a 24-14 record, and North Dakota State's Cam Sykora, the No. 21 seed with a record of 20-9 … those two wrestle later tonight.
7:15 p.m. — 125-pound fifth-year senior Sean Fausz, seeded 14th, is taking mat 7 now. He faces the defending champion Spencer Lee of Iowa, the No. 3 seed with a mark of 19-3 on the year. Fausz is 12-2.
Lee strikes quickly and notches the first takedown. Fausz is out. Nice scramble, but no points. Lee in on another shot, Fausz dives under and scrambles to avoid giving up any points. Same thing, Lee leads 2-1 going into the second.
Lee starts the second on bottom and is able to eventually escape after Fausz rode for about a minute. Lee picks up another takedown with about 15 seconds left in the frame, he leads 5-1 going into the third.
Lee picks up four near-fall points. Fausz can't escape, and Lee picks up the 10-1 win with the riding time point. Fausz will drop to the consolations and tomorrow morning he'll face the winner of 20 seed Gabe Townsell of Stanford (18-11) vs. 29 seed Christian Moody of Oklahoma (13-10), who wrestle tonight.
7:00 p.m. — Session two is about to start. Each guy will wrestle one more time tonight, regardless of whether they are in the championship or consolation bracket.
The order of events is as follows: consolation pigtails (no NC State guys are involved here, but 141 Jamel Morris' opponent will be decided in this round), followed by championship second round, followed by the first round of consolations.
If you missed anything from the morning session a full update is below:
3:25 p.m. — ROUND ONE RECAP:
NC State went 6-3 overall in the first round, outscoring their foes 56-32 overall. They end the first round of action in 12th place as a team (although team scores at this point are completely meaningless).
157-pound redshirt sophomore Hayden Hidlay was the only Wolfpacker to score bonus points in the session, posting a 16-1 technical fall. That made him the Pack's top performer for the round, in my opinion.
One of the keys for NC State to finish in the top 10 (or higher) will be having all nine entrants score team points. That means the three in consolation brackets — 141-pound fifth-year senior Jamel Morris, 174-pound redshirt sophomore Daniel Bullard and 184-pound redshirt sophomore Nick Reenan — must win their matches tonight. A loss tonight would eliminate each, but all three enter their first consolation match as the better seed.
It's also worth noting that in my eyes, Bullard wrestled really well despite dropping his first match.
"There is a lot of wrestling left in this tournament," NCSU head coach Pat Popolizio said. "You’ll see true warriors that lose early, but come all the way back to finish third. We’ll see what we’re made of with those guys."
On the top half of the bracket, six are still alive for national titles, and there are some really tough matchups on paper — but success at NCAAs usually requires some upsets.
"There were a lot of positives to that first round. … There were a couple of letdowns, but [it's a] new round tonight and a couple of guys got to step up, be ready to compete," Popolizio said. "It’s the NCAA Tournament, everybody here is going to be competitive and good. We have to go out, set the tone and have confidence in everything we’re doing. That’s what the tournament is about — who wants it more?"
A look at the next round matches for the Wolfpack, which start at 7 p.m. There will be several statement opportunities for NC State:
125 — No. 14 Sean Fausz (12-2) vs. No. 3 Spencer Lee, Iowa (19-3)
133 — No. 11 Tariq Wilson (15-3) vs. No. 6 Ethan Lizak, Minnesota (29-5)
CONSOLATION 141 — No. 14 Jamel Morris (22-4) vs. No. 32 Chris Sandoval, Northern Colorado (8-11) or No. 30 Nate Limmex, Purdue (18-16)
149 — No. 9 Justin Oliver (19-5) vs. No. 8 Jarrett Degen, Iowa State (25-6)
157 — No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (21-2) vs. No. 21 Justin Thomas, Oklahoma (22-9)
165 — No. 16 Thomas Bullard (21-8) vs. No. 1 Alex Marinelli, Iowa (24-0)
CONSOLATION 174 — No. 23 Daniel Bullard (20-10) vs. No. 26 Drew Hughes, Michigan State (26-14)
CONSOLATION 184 — No. 7 Nick Reenan (15-5) vs. Jackson Hemauer, Fresno State (23-12)
197 — No. 13 Malik McDonald (19-9) vs. No. 4 Patrick Brucki, Princeton (30-1)
2:45 p.m. — No. 13 seed Malik McDonald, the Pack's fifth-year senior at 197 who went 18-9 this season, is now up on mat 5, taking on No. 20 Noah Adams of West Virginia (18-13). McDonald beat Adams 12-6 in January.
McDonald shoots, but Adams scores the takedown off a counter move. McDonald escapes to make it 2-1, and then forces a stall call against Adams. That could be a big one as the match goes on.
Adams starts the second on bottom and escapes, but McDonald ties it up with a nice takedown. It's 3-3 going into the final frame, McDonald has 54 seconds of riding time.
Quick escape for McDonald and then he forces a second stall call for a point. That gives him a 5-3 lead. Big takedown from McDonald to ice it. Solid 8-3 victory with the riding time point.
Up next is Pat Brucki of Princeton, the 4 seed with a 29-1 mark on the season. The sophomore is 58-11 in his college career.
That does it for NC State at session 1. We'll have a recap of the first round up shortly.
2:36 p.m. — The No. 7 seed at 184 pounds, redshirt sophomore Nick Reenan (15-4), is up next on mat 5 (197-pound fifth-year senior Malik McDonald will follow immediately after). Reenan faces who many consider a dangerous 26 seed in Dakota Geer of Oklahoma State (25-5).
Scoreless first period. Reenan nearly scored a takedown about one minute in, but couldn't complete the go-behind.
Geer starts the second period on bottom, escapes and then gets a takedown before riding Reenan out. Geer will have 50 seconds of riding time entering the final period with a 3-0 lead. Reenan is going to have to dig deep to gut this one out.
Reenan nearly starts the third with a takedown, but can't complete it and winds up giving up a counter takedown. That puts him in a 5-0 hole and Geer is now over a minute of riding time.
Reenan is clearly not himself health-wise and falls 6-0 to drop into the consolation bracket. He was close to a few takedowns, but couldn't complete them and gave up counter takedowns.
2:15 p.m. — 174-pound redshirt sophomore Daniel Bullard, the No. 23 seed with a record of 20-9 on the season, is now facing No. 10 seed of Mikey Labriola of Nebraska (26-6). Labriola beat Bullard 13-4 in the regular season, but as we saw from Bullard's brother regular-season results can become much closer — or even be reversed — at NCAAs.
Bullard gets into a scramble and scores the first takedown. Top is his best position, so we'll see if he can get a turn. He can't and Labriola escapes, but Bullard was able to get 56 seconds of riding time before the period ended.
Bullard starts the second on bottom and quickly escapes to make it 3-1. Midway through the period, Bullard is in deep on a shot, but he can't finish before they go out of bounds. Bullard is looking great, but gives up a takedown and it's 3-3 going into the final frame.
Labriola escapes, so Bullard will need to find a way to score in the final 1:30ish. Instead, Labriola hits another takedown. Bullard scores a reversal to close the gap to 6-5 Labriola. Bullard gives up the escape and can't tally a final takedown, he drops to the consolations after a 7-5 loss, but if Bullard can continue to wrestle the way he just did, he'll be a dangerous guy and able to score some points in the consolation bracket.
Up first in the wrestle-backs for Bullard will be Michigan State's Drew Hughes, the No. 26 seed who went 26-13 this year and reached the round of 12 in 2017 and was hurt most of last year.
1:43 p.m. — 165-pound redshirt sophomore Thomas Bullard, the No. 16 seed, is up now on mat 8, facing No. 17 seed Jonathan Viruet, who he beat 17-5 earlier this year in the dual.
Scoreless first period. Viruet starts the second on bottom and escapes, but that's all the scoring for the period.
Bullard trails 1-0 entering the final frame, but escapes immediately and then gets in on a shot right away and finishes. That's good for a 3-1 lead. Viruet escapes, but Bullard hands on for the 3-2 victory. That's the NCAA Championships for you — a major decision in the regular season becomes a one-point match on the sport's biggest stage.
Bullard faces No. 1 seed Alex Marinelli of Iowa (23-0) next in tonight's session.
1:36 p.m. — 157-pound redshirt sophomore Hayden Hidlay is up now on mat 5. The returning NCAA finalist, who received the No. 5 seed after a 20-2 campaign, faces No. 28 seed Hunter Willits of Oregon State (19-8).
Hidlay strikes first with a takedown about 45 seconds in, and then adds a pair of near-fall points for the 4-0 lead. Hidlay rides out the rest of the period to add over two minutes of advantage time on top.
The second period starts with Hidlay on bottom, but he gets a quick reversal before Willits escapes. Hidlay then adds a takedown on the edge of the mat for the 8-1 lead.
Hidlay racks up adds a takedown and then turns his opponent for four back points. That makes it 14-1 with nearly four minutes of riding time. Hidlay forces a stall call for another point and opens his NCAA Tourney with a 16-1 technical fall victory. That is the Pack's first bonus point match of the day.
His expected opponent, No. 12 seed Taleb Rahmani of Pitt — who Hidlay has beaten twice this year and five previous times in his career — was upset in round one, so Hidlay will face No. 21 seed Justin Thomas of Oklahoma (21-9) next.
1:10 p.m. — 149-pound fifth-year senior and former All-American Justin Oliver (18-5) is up now on mat 5. The Pack's No. 9 seed is facing No. 24 seed Corlandt Schuyler of Lehigh (14-9).
Oliver fights off an early near-takedown, and then strikes with one of his own for the 2-0 lead. Schuyler escapes, then gets a takedown of his own. Oliver is out quickly, and then scores two for a takedown; that puts Oliver up 5-3. That's the count at the end of an action-packed first period.
Oliver starts the second on bottom and escapes. Great counter attack from Oliver after another near-takedown, but he can't finish before they go out of bounds. Oliver leads 6-3 going into the final period.
Schuyler escapes, but not before Oliver goes over a minute of riding time (which will be an addition point if he finishes with that). Schuyler ties it up with a takedown and gets the riding time under a minute. They go out of bounds and he lets Oliver up, which gives Oliver a 7-6 lead. Oliver scores a late takedown to ice the match and gets the riding time point for a 10-6 victory.
He had to weather a few scares, but pulls it out and will face No. 8 seed Jarrett Degen of Iowa State (25-6) next.
Also, The Open Mat caught up with 133-pounder Tariq Wilson after his first match:
12:50 p.m. — 141-pound Jamel Morris (22-3) is the higher seed in his first-round match, as the No. 14 seed taking on 19th-seeded Sa'Derian Perry of Old Dominion (23-8) now on mat 5. However, Perry was an All-American last year, placing eighth … but faced Jamel's twin Jamal earlier this year and lost 6-2.
Perry strikes with a takedown about 10 seconds before the first-period buzzer. Morris trails 2-0 entering the second.
Perry adds another takedown in the second for a 4-0 lead, and rides out the period. Perry chooses bottom to start the third period, and Morris forces two stall calls for his first point. However, that's all Morris can do and he falls 5-1 to drop to the consolation bracket.
Morris will have a very winnable match up next, taking on the winner of No. 32 seed Chris Sandoval of Northern Colorado (8-10) and No. 30 seed Nate Limmex of Purdue (18-15). He should be the better seed in his next few consolation matches.
12:40 p.m. — 133-pounder Tariq Wilson, one of the national darlings of the tournament last year after going from unseeded to the semifinals (where he took the eventual champion to OT) and and eventual third-place finisher is up on mat 6.
The 11 seed, who is 14-3 on the year, will take on No. 22 seed Noah Gosner of Campbell (20-8).
Gosner gets in on an early shot, but Wilson fights it off for no points. After a restart, Wilson is in on a shot and it's deep. He finishes for the match's opening takedown, and then rides his opponent out for the rest of the period.
Wilson got ridden out the whole second period, but then he opens the third with another quick takedown for a 4-0 lead.
Wilson returns the favor and rides for much of the final frame. He finishes with a 5-0 victory, thanks to 1:44 of riding time.
Up next will be sixth-seeded Ethan Lizak, who gutted out a 3-1 win in round one over the No. 27 seed.
12:23 p.m. — 125-pounder Sean Fausz, seeded 14th, takes the mat on mat 3, wrestling against No. 19 seed Alex Mackall of Iowa State, who lost to Fausz' redshirting teammate Jakob Camacho earlier this year.
Fausz is in on a shot early and finishes 30 seconds in for a 2-0 lead. Mackall reverses Fausz, then Fausz returns the favor to stay ahead 4-2. Fausz enters the second period with 1:52 of riding time.
Fausz with a quick escape for a 5-2 lead, but that's it for second-period scoring.
Fausz opens the third with a takedown off a re-shot, leads 7-2 and nearly has riding time locked up. He ends the match with over three minutes of riding time and secures the 8-2 victory.
There was some concern about how Fausz would look in his first bout since he's so big and it's so close to weigh-ins, but he dominated and looked good, starting the Pack off with a victory. Up next will be defending champion Spencer Lee of Iowa, who is the No. 3 seed and 19-3 on the year after his opening-round win.
12:00 p.m. — Wrestling is starting, with the 10 pigtails first (NC State does not have any in the pig tails) before the first round begins with all nine Wolfpack wrestlers in action.
Some reading while we wait for wrestling to start:
NC State wrestling sets its sights high for NCAA Championships
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