There’s a quote on a poster inside of head wrestling coach Pat Popolizio’s office that has served him well in his wrestling and coaching career: “Nothing changes if nothing changes.” It’s a mentality profound in its simplicity and accuracy.
“If you keep doing the same thing, you’re going to end up in the same situation,” the fifth-year coach explained. “When we came in here day one, we knew we had to change a lot of different things with the program. Obviously you can’t control the results that guys are putting up, but you can control the work ethic, the mentality, the lifestyle; those are the things I feel like within our coaching staff we can get a good grasp on and handle day to day. We’ve done that, and the guys buying in start having success with it, and it ultimately comes full circle for those guys.
“It’s a quote that always stuck because it made sense to me. It’s simple, but it’s done pretty good for a lot of guys in this room.”
Most everything has changed around the NC State wrestling program since last year’s historic campaign that included a No. 2 finish in the regular season (the highest rank in school history), an ACC Championship (the program’s first since 2007) and an 11th-place finish at NCAAs (NCSU’s best since 1993).
All three All-Americans from last season — which tied a school record — are gone. Three-time NCAA finalist heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski and 157-pounder Tommy Gantt have graduated, while senior 184-pounder Pete Renda, who placed third at nationals, is redshirting. Senior Max Rohskopf, who was ranked among the top 10 at 165 pounds all of last year and dropped to 157 for his final campaign, was also lost for the year due to injury after appearing in just three duals.
So in a season of change, Popolizio has put a new twist on one of his favorite quotes — when everything changes, nothing changes.
Despite having just three out of 10 starters back from the 2015-16 squad (two of whom did not return to their proper weight classes until second semester), the Pack’s aim of winning ACCs and reaching for unprecedented heights at NCAAs remains unchanged. The way they approach trying to accomplish those lofty goals is also the same as last year.
That had to be the case after losing nearly half the starting lineup and four of the top five grapplers on the team — but the results aren’t all that different for the No. 7 Wolfpack, either. The team has gone 12-2 this year, with the lone defeats to No. 5 Virginia Tech and No. 6 Nebraska.
Additionally, all 10 starters appeared in the Feb. 10 coaches’ panel rankings of the country’s top 33 grapplers at every weight class — something that did not happen last season. NC State was also selected to host their NWCA National Duals Championship Series match — the school’s second straight bid — Friday against Michigan at 7 p.m. The event is college wrestling's version of bowl games, where the nation's best squads have a single match against another top team before the postseason tournaments begin, which are contested with double-elimination brackets by weight class, so there is more of an individual focus (although team scores are still kept based on those results).
“At the beginning of the year to say that we would be able to host and be in the national duals again, we set it as a goal — but when we first started with our lineup, it was a little iffy,” Popolizio admitted. “To be back in the position and be competitive at this level again, I think it is a testament to the guys buying in and working hard; the staff doing a lot of things right.
“We’ve still got some work to do, but I think it’s all going in the right direction, and the attitude, the philosophy and the mentality is right there.”
The makeup of the team is much different with the lone returning starters at the three lowest weight classes in 125 pounds (redshirt sophomore Sean Fausz), 133 (redshirt sophomore Jamal Morris) and 141 (junior Kevin Jack). In most duals this year, the next five slots have alternated between an athlete coming off a redshirt year (149-pound redshirt senior Sam Speno, 165-pound redshirt junior Brian Hamann and 184-pound redshirt junior Michael Macchiavello) and true freshmen (157-pounder Thomas Bullard and 174-pounder Nick Reenan). The last two spots are occupied by backups who moved into starting roles for the first time this winter (197-pound redshirt sophomore Malik McDonald and redshirt senior heavyweight Mike Kosoy).
Coming into the year, the proven studs were few and far between — although Jack was an All-American as a true freshman, he was coming off a disappointing NCAA finish last year that saw him miss placing (top eight) at nationals.
Now, the defending ACC champion is ranked second nationally with a record of 26-1, including 24 straight victories (the lone loss was on opening weekend in overtime), and has taken his wrestling to a new level. He proved the latter by soundly defeating No. 3 Joey Ward of North Carolina 10-4 on Jan. 23 and posting a major decision against No. 7 George DiCamillo of Virginia six days later.
Jack provides the blueprint NC State has followed with most of the wrestlers currently in the lineup. The only three that were top-100 recruits coming out of high school are the two freshmen that helped headline the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class and Fausz. The rest have scrapped and worked their way into the national rankings — currently, three are in the top 10 of the coaches’ panel listing and eight are among the top 25.
“I think it’s definitely a hard-nosed, hard-working team — and that’s why you see those guys have success. They are able to come in here and work harder than most kids are willing to … and it’s showing,” Popolizio said. “That obviously branches out to the new guys that are here, who are a little more talented as far as where they came in as freshmen — not that they’re any better, but they at least have been at the national level in high school. Now, they’ve got to do it at the college level, but I think the mentality is helping everybody raise their game.”
Much has changed for the Pack in 2017, but at Friday’s National Duals bout they’ll be the same ACC program looking to make another statement on the mat for all to see and start the momentum going into the postseason. This year’s challenge is another Big Ten power with miles of history — although it doesn’t present the same historic opportunity as last year.
“I think the biggest thing is being able to compete with a program that historically, year-in and year-out, is a top-10, top-five program,” Popolizio said. “That’s ultimately where we want to be.”
NC State is quickly becoming that — even after losing three All-Americans — thanks to the numerous changes brought on by Popolizio and his staff.
Probable matchups for No. 16 Michigan (8-6) at No. 7 NC State (12-2)
Friday, 7 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum (live broadcast available on ACC Network Extra)
125: R-Sr. Conor Youtsey vs. No. 23 R-So. Sean Fausz
133: No. 7 R-Fr. Stevan Micic vs. No. 16 R-So. Jamal Morris
141: No. 26 R-Fr. Sal Profaci vs. No. 2 Jr. Kevin Jack
149: R-So. Zac Hall or R-So. Malik Amine vs. No. 10 R-Sr. Sam Speno or R-Jr. Beau Donahue
157: No. 10 Sr. Brian Murphy vs. No. 24 Fr. Thomas Bullard
165: No. 2 R-Fr. Logan Massa vs. No. 28 R-Jr. Brian Hamann or R-Jr. Chad Pyke
174: No. 9 R-Fr. Myles Amine vs. No. 33 Fr. Nick Reenan
184: R-Jr. Ernest Battaglia vs. No. 10 R-Jr. Michael Macchiavello
197: No. 32 R-Fr. Jackson Striggow vs. No. 25 R-So. Malik McDonald
HWT: Fr. Dan Perry vs. No. 20 R-Sr. Mike Kosoy
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