Big-time Tobacco Road rivalries are nothing new to the sports world, but they are on the wrestling mat.
NC State (No. 3 in the Feb. 4 coaches’ poll) and North Carolina (No. 8) are set to square off with both ranked among the nation’s top 10 for the first time ever, and Friday night’s dual at Reynolds Coliseum (7 p.m., streaming on ACC Network Extra) is starting to gain the attention normally reserved for the rivalry on a basketball court.
Although both teams have enjoyed a strong tradition in wrestling — from 1981-97, the Tar Heels never finished outside of the nation’s top 30 and were lower than 20th just four times during that stretch, while the Wolfpack notched 11 top-20 showings in the 14 seasons from 1980-93 — the early 2000s were not kind to either program.
UNC was unable to finish in the top 20 from 1998-2017, before rebuilding under head coach Coleman Scott — tying for 20th in 2018 and finishing 19th last season.
NC State had arguably fallen off even further with just a single top-20 finish from 1994 until head coach Pat Popolizio’s arrival prior to the 2013 season. But after a 63rd-place showing in his first year at the helm, the squad quickly developed into a national powerhouse.
He has now led the Pack to a school-record six straight top-20 NCAA finishes, a pair of ACC titles and more dual wins than any other team in the country over the last five seasons with a sparkling 79-8 mark. The program also had its best-ever national showing with a tie for fourth in 2018 that landed the conference just its second team trophy. This year, NC State is one of just two remaining undefeated teams in Division I wrestling.
After the rivals shared last year’s ACC dual championship, many eyes in the wrestling world will briefly look away from Big Ten country for what’s happening in Raleigh Friday night.
“I think it’s a perfect time to have a big dual in Reynolds,” Popolizio said. “We’ve been working hard to promote wrestling in this area, and it’s grown tremendously over the years.
“If there’s ever a mismatch in dual meets, people aren’t really going to come and support it. When you have high-level teams competing against each other, you’re going to bring out fans that maybe just want to watch high-level competition. That’s important to grow our sport and fan base here at NC State.
“I’ve been to a lot of different sporting events and I think wrestling is an exciting two-hour event — there’s high-level intensity, craziness, drama; it’s like a soap opera.”
Team captain and star Hayden Hidlay, the nation’s No. 2-ranked grappler at 157 pounds, has been through two NC State-UNC duals and is familiar enough with the rivalry to know the two would command local attention playing competitive tic-tac-toe — but this matchup is starting to generate national buzz.
“Although our preparation and mindset is the same, you still feel a different vibe,” the redshirt junior admitted. “Everyone on campus knows UNC is coming to town. They know it’s a big match for us, and we feel that from our fans.”
It also might feel different because although the two squads had a competitive match last year — when the No. 10 Wolfpack went on the road to top the No. 13 Tar Heels, 20-14 — some expect this year to be even tighter.
UNC made a national statement by going on the road and not just upsetting No. 3 Virginia Tech Jan. 24, but also dominating en route to a 23-10 shellacking where they won seven of 10 matches. FloWrestling even lists the Tar Heels as the favorite, ranking them No. 4 in their national dual team rankings, one spot ahead of the Wolfpack.
“People are saying it’s close on paper and it could go either way,” Hidlay noted. “I know for one this team is not really a team that looks at paper. … We’ve set the standard in years past about how these Carolina-NC State matches go, and we’ve got to keep that up.
“I know two years back it was supposed to be a really close match when they came here and we won [eight of 10 matches]. We have to have that level of confidence coming in that we can dominate because I believe we have a team that can. We can’t listen to what people want to predict on paper.”
According to the NCAA coaches’ panel rankings, each of the 10 matchups feature at least one competitor ranked among the nation’s top 33 at their weight class. Five bouts will pit ranked grapplers against each other, and in four of those the competitors are listed within seven slots of each other.
“We’re excited for it,” Hidlay said. “The better that they get, the better it is for the conference as a whole … the more we can show how good the ACC is. It’s a small conference known for basketball, but I think the more elite these matchups get, the more exposure we get as a program.
“It’s good they’re competing at a high level and it’s going to be even better when we can get a win over a team like that.”
“It’s a great opportunity to showcase where we’re at as a team,” redshirt freshman Trent Hidlay, ranked third nationally at 184 pounds, added. “I know they’re gunning for us and want to beat us really bad, but I think we want to beat them even worse.”
Probable Matchups: No. 8 North Carolina (11-1, 2-0 ACC) at No. 3 NC State (12-0, 2-0)
Rankings from the Jan. 24 coaches’ panel
125: R-Fr. Joey Melendez (8-4) OR R-Fr. Jeremiah Derby (4-6) vs. No. 21 R-Fr. Jakob Camacho (15-6)
133: R-So. Jaime Hernandez (12-7) vs. No. 26 R-Fr. Jarrett Trombley (16-6)
141: No. 11 R-So. Zach Sherman (22-3) vs. No. 12 R-Jr. Tariq Wilson (21-4)
149: No. 2 R-So. Austin O'Connor (18-1) vs. R-So. A.J. Leitten (17-7) OR R-Fr. Matt Grippi (17-6)
157: No. 20 R-Sr. A.C. Headlee (14-5) OR R-Jr. Josh McClure (18-5) OR R-Fr. Michael Goldfeder (3-6) vs. No. 2 R-Jr. Hayden Hidlay (23-1)
165: No. 15 R-Jr. Kennedy Monday (18-5) OR R-Jr. Sawyer Davidson (15-7) vs. No. 12 R-Jr. Thomas Bullard (20-5)
174: No. 21 R-So. Clay Lautt (15-5) vs. No. 14 R-Jr. Daniel Bullard (21-5)
184: R-Fr. Joey Mazzara (16-10) vs. No. 3 R-Fr. Trent Hidlay (20-2)
197: So. Brandon Whitman (10-11) vs. No. 24 R-Jr. Nick Reenan (5-4) OR So. Tyrie Houghton (10-7)
285: No. 27 R-Jr. Andrew Gunning (9-8) OR R-Fr. Keaton Kluever (4-3) vs. No. 32 So. Deonte Wilson (15-8)
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