No. 3 NC State (17-0, 2-0 ACC) brings the country’s longest active winning streaks — as both a team (17 consecutive) and an individual (two-time NCAA Champion heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski has won 75 bouts in a row) — into its home dual with No. 14 North Carolina (9-2, 0-1) Monday night at Dorton Arena.
The Wolfpack, off to the best start in program history, are one of just three teams still undefeated and lead the nation with 17 dual wins (the next-highest total is Iowa’s 13). They are just two victories away from tying the school record of 19, set in 1988.
“Obviously, you get defined on your wins and losses so being where we’re at right now is exciting and very rewarding for these guys, for the work they’ve been putting in,” fourth-year head coach Pat Popolizio said. “That’s our goal — to keep winning as many competitions as we can, and we face a very tough schedule coming up here soon so we’ve got to be at our best.”
Monday’s rivalry matchup will continue the Pack’s season-ending stretch that started Jan. 17 against No. 17 Virginia (a convincing 35-7 victory) and includes six nationally ranked foes in the final seven bouts, including three of the nation’s top 11 squads.
It’s likely the country’s toughest schedule, but that was by design according to Popolizio, who is trying to prepare his guys to be at their best when the NCAA Championships roll around March 17-19 in New York City.
“When we finish with the teams we’re going to compete against — with [No. 11] Nebraska, [No. 4] Missouri, [No. 10] Virginia Tech, every one of those guys is going to be competitive through their entire lineup — if we can win matches like that back-to-back-to-back, we know we’re going to be ready going into the National Tournament,” he said.
Popolizio has wasted no time transforming a program that finished 7-9 overall and 1-4 in ACC duals in the final year before his arrival. That squad placed fourth at the ACC Championships and 44th nationally.
After a rebuilding season where the coaching staff established their culture and expectations, the Pack has since reeled off consecutive top-20 NCAA finishes (19th in 2014, followed by 16th last season) for the first time since 1992-93.
This year, the Pack took the success to the next level right off the bat — shellacking traditional powerhouse Minnesota, 31-3, on opening weekend and then besting No. 4 Oklahoma State — the 36-time National Champions and Popolizio’s alma mater — less than a month later on the road.
“[The win over Oklahoma State] put into perspective that we can compete with anybody in the country at any given time,” the coach noted. “I think it just solidified the confidence that we’ve been talking about and it was a stamp of approval.”
One would think those two season-defining victories would force a team to reassess its goals — they certainly put the wrestling world on notice if observers had not been watching the rebirth in Raleigh closely — but instead it simply reinforced why Popolizio and his squad had set the bar so high this preseason. They knew those landmark victories were stepping stones to their intended finish line, but not the target they set out to accomplish.
“We set them so high at the beginning of the year that now it’s just getting to that point where we’re getting close to being able to see the end is in sight,” Popolizio explained. “We set them as a coaching staff and they set them as a team, and the goals are ultimately to bring home an NCAA Trophy — whether it’s first, second, third or fourth; they know what they’ve got to do to bring one of them home.”
Along with the speedy restoration of the Pack’s proud tradition on the wrestling mat, the ACC as a whole has stepped up in the sport. Although only six schools compete, five are currently ranked in the nation’s top 25 — and tonight’s rivalry will show how far the Tobacco Road schools in particular have come.
Another sign of the times was when NCSU — displaced for the season by the renovation to historic Reynolds' Coliseum — moved the dual from the Holshouser Building on the fairgrounds to Dorton Arena, in order to accommodate what could be one of the larger crowds to witness a college wrestling match in the state’s history.
“I think it’s going to be very exciting,” Popolizio noted. “Our goal is to pack in that whole side [of Dorton Arena’s stands], we were close to doing it against Virginia.
“I think you’re going to see some action-packed wrestling. I think it’s the first time in a very long time that both teams have been highly ranked, and we’ve got to keep the streak alive so there will be some exciting matches and a great atmosphere.
“The rivalry makes it even more exciting…there are going to be some surprises across the board on both sides.”
Ranked individual matchups (NC State vs. UNC)
141: #3 Kevin Jack vs. #11 Joey Ward
165: #7 Max Rohskopf vs. #10 John Michael Staudenmayer
184: #15 Pete Renda vs. 17 Alex Utley
197: #17 Michael Boykin vs. #23 Chip Ness
Notes
• Eight of the Pack’s 10 starters were listed in the first edition of the NCAA Coaches’ Panel rankings:
R-Fr. Sean Fausz — #24 at 125 pounds
R-Fr. Jamal Morris — #28 at 133 pounds
So. Kevin Jack — #3 at 141 pounds
R-Sr. Tommy Gantt — #4 at 157 pounds
Jr. Max Rohskopf — #7 at 165 pounds
Jr. Pete Renda — #15 at 184 pounds
So. Michael Boykin — #17 at 197 pounds
R-Sr. Nick Gwiazdowski — #1 at 285 pounds
• The last two matches between NC State and North Carolina have been close affairs with a single match (worth up to six points with a pin) determining the final outcome. NCSU won 19-16 in 2014, and they went on the road last year to top their rivals, 22-18.
• NCSU is 4-0 against teams ranked in the top 25 at the time of match this season, winning by a convincing margin of 111-40 against No. 16 Minnesota (neutral site), at No. 4 Oklahoma State, vs. No. 24 Old Dominion and against No. 17 Virginia.
They also beat current No. 25 Appalachian State on the road, 21-14, although the Mountaineers were not ranked in early December.
• The Wolfpack is 2-0 in the ACC, beating Duke on the road and Virginia at home by a combined scored of 69-16.
• NCSU boasts two of the league’s three undefeated wrestlers — heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski (20-0 with wins over six ranked foes) and fellow redshirt senior Tommy Gantt (15-0 with four ranked wins) at 157 pounds.
Gwiazdowski has won 75 straight matches, his last loss coming during the 2013-14 season, while Gantt, who redshirted last year, is 37-1 in his last two campaigns.
• The NCSU-UNC match will be streamed live for free on GoPack.com.
• The Wolfpacker contributor Tim Peeler wrote a piece on Gwiazdowski last week about where the heavyweight stands among NC State’s all-time greatest athletes, regardless of sport.
• We also ran a podcast, featuring an interview with head coach Pat Popolizio on his team's historic start and what is to come, last Friday.
