The majority of NC State fans probably aren’t that familiar with the best athlete on campus.
He isn’t a household name and will never be taken in the first round of a draft — although there are likely some currently suiting up for the Wolfpack that will be. This particular athlete will never make as much money in his athletic career as his counterparts in more visible sports, either.
However, wrestler and NCSU graduate Nick Gwiazdowski, a two-time NCAA champion and one of the ACC’s greatest — if not THE greatest — in the sport, continues to work in relative anonymity in Raleigh. Despite competing in the sport’s biggest weight class, 125 kilograms (275.6 pounds), he finds a way to mostly avoid the limelight.
Head coach Pat Popolizio has made the NC State wrestling program a Little New York of sorts, with numerous members of the Pack sharing ties to his and Gwiazdowski’s home state, and the Wolfpack’s Regional Training Center (RTC) has become the star grappler’s second home.
Gwiazdowski turned down more established programs and their lucrative offers to stay and train at NC State for his post-college career. Despite it never being done before, he was convinced he could become a World and Olympic champion from the campus of his alma mater. Last year he came two steps from the top, placing third in his World Championships debut.
Since then, he has lost a one-point match to the 2017 world champion last December and amassed several medals at international tournaments — he won the Pan American Championships, and placed third at the prestigious Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Russia and Yasar Dogu International in Turkey — to earn the No. 1 seed at Worlds.
It’s his first time in a major international competition occupying the top line on the bracket, a spot he started many high school and college tournaments at, but he could care less. He’s never paid much mind to predictions, rankings or seeds before and isn’t about to start now.
“It really means nothing to me,” he said. “There are so many tough guys. You can look through the entire field, and there are a lot of guys that have a lot more credentials than I do.”
In addition to as many as six past World or Olympic medalists in his weight class, there’s also an imperfect seeding system used by United World Wrestling. Points are earned throughout the year at certain tournaments, such as the Yarygin and Dogu. Some of the best wrestlers in the world decline to participate in those competitions for various reasons, and therefore do not earn seeding points and are just randomly drawn into the bracket, which seeds only the top four competitors.
At Gwiazdowski’s weight class, for example, Turkey’s Taha Akgul — the 2014 and 2015 World champion, 2016 Olympic gold medalist, 2017 World runner-up and betting favorite this weekend — will be randomly placed into his starting point, meaning Gwiazdowski could see him in the first round or not at all.
That’s not to say Gwiazdowski doesn’t think he can win a world championship. That’s exactly what he’s been training for and intends to do in Budapest when the action begins Saturday at 4:30 a.m. ET.
He looked better than ever when he dominated Michigan’s Adam Coon, who he beat by just one point for his second NCAA title in 2015, at Final X this summer to win the starting spot for Team USA.
Since then, he’s only continued to grow, thanks to the arrival of former Duke All-American heavyweight Jacob Kasper at the Wolfpack RTC. There have also been Team USA training camps and the addition of NC State’s 2018 NCAA Champion Michael Macchiavello — also in Budapest as a Team USA training partner at 97 kilograms — among others as full-time athletes with the RTC to push Gwiazdowski on a daily basis.
That doesn’t even count Gwiazdowski traveling to train with others across the country and some, such as fellow Team USA members J’Den Cox, an Olympic bronze medalist, and Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder — yes, that Kyle Snyder who snapped Gwiazdowski’s 88-match winning streak in the 2016 NCAA finals — traveling to Raleigh, as both did in September.
“I’d say I was close to my best [at Final X], but that was June 23 and now we’re at Oct. 23,” he said. “Three months is a lot of time when you have high-level athletes with high-level coaches and preparation time.
“It’s the Worlds. There are a lot of good wrestlers in the world. But I feel like I’m where I need to be. My execution has been pretty good in practice and training. It’s improved since Final X, and it’s improved since the tournament in Turkey.”
“He’s the most experienced he’s been and the most focused,” Popolizio said. “You implement Kasper and all the other guys he goes and sees, and those that come here, and it’s been a perfect storm for him.”
The 25-year-old Gwiazdowski’s post-college career so far has been comprised of disappointments — like not making the 2016 Olympic team or losses at different international competitions — followed by rapid improvement, and that trend is only going to continue, according to the coach that knows him better than any other.
“I can say with confidence if he’s not a world champion he won’t be satisfied,” Popolizio said. “He’s working towards his prime. The scary thing is I don’t think age-wise he’s at his prime, but he’s getting there. You’re a peak athlete at a certain age [that Gwiazdowski hasn’t reached yet] in wrestling, and you combine that with his experiences and how good he is, and that gets dangerous.
“Timing is everything in careers, and I think he’s going to hit the right time to be at his best from here on until he decides not to wrestle.”
Gwiazdowski may be seeded first, but he enters the World Championships ranked 12th internationally at his weight by FloWrestling, and has a simple and clear goal this weekend.
He’s out to expand his superlatives beyond being America's top heavyweight. He proved last year he was one of the best 125-kilogram wrestlers on the planet, and now he aims to leave no doubt that he’s the best.
“I want to win,” he said. “I think I’m capable of it. I trust what I’ve done.”
Schedule For The 125 kg Weight Class
All will be streamed by TrackWrestling
Saturday, Oct. 20
4:30 AM (ET) - 9:30 AM (ET) — Preliminary round
10:45 AM (ET) - 11:45 AM (ET) — Semifinal round
Sunday, Oct. 21
4:30 AM (ET) – 9:30 AM (ET) — Repechage (consolations)
1:00 PM (ET) - 3:30 PM (ET) — Finals (also broadcast live on the NBC Olympics channel)
UPDATE: Gwiazdowski won a bronze medal, with only a one-point loss to an eventual finalist.
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