Each of the last two years, NC State and Virginia Tech wrestling have met with identical 4-0 records in the ACC and the league’s dual championship on the line. Both times, the bout was decided by six team points or less, with the Hokies taking the narrow victories.
It was the same situation Friday night and a third straight regular-season crown would be decided by a close one.
With the No. 6 Wolfpack celebrating Senior Night at Reynolds Coliseum, the teams traded momentous runs. The Pack won four of the first five bouts before the No. 8 Hokies reeled off four in a row.
Fittingly, it all came down to senior heavyweight Michael Boykin with NC State clinging to a 16-15 lead.
The ACC giants were literally on top of each other in the national rankings — Boykin checking in at No. 19 and Virginia Tech’s Andrew Dunn at 18th. And to top it all off, the two met earlier this year, with Dunn prevailing in overtime.
“Pretty intense dual meet across the board,” head coach Pat Popolizio said. “We knew it was going to be a dog fight with a team like Virginia Tech.
“Momentum shifted after the break and everything was basically in favor of them. I was just like, ‘This can’t happen again.’
“We’ve been in this situation the last few years and we haven’t done it — we haven’t capitalized. Even as good as a team as we had two years ago, we didn’t get the job done. I’m sitting here watching this thinking, we’re in the same situation, we’ve got to win one more, who’s going to do it?”
After seven minutes of regulation, Boykin and Dunn headed to extra time once again.
That’s when everything started changing for the Pack. Boykin got the takedown in sudden victory to seal the win and allow NC State to capture its first ACC dual championship since 2004 and its first perfect ACC campaign since 2000.
“It was good to get that one,” Boykin mused afterwards. “He did the same thing he did when we wrestled before, and it was frustrating. This time, I was just more active.
“I can’t imagine a better Senior Night. It actually hasn’t hit me yet. It was just business as usual. I don’t know if it will hit me honestly. … Hopefully in 10 years I look back and can be like, ‘Wow, it really come down to me.’ I hope the people who took pictures got a good shot of me.”
The senior class that was honored before the start of the match has been able to accomplish a lot during its time on campus, including an impressive 50-4 mark over the last three years, which is the second-best record in the land during that time period.
They had been a part of the first team ever in college wrestling to go to national powerhouses Oklahoma State and Iowa, and win at both in the same season.
They had beaten every team they had faced the last three seasons at least once — except for ACC rival Virginia Tech, who was responsible for two of those four defeats over the past three seasons and had won 19 league matches in a row.
After Boykin locked up the 19-15 win, Reynolds Coliseum exploded and the normally stoic sixth-year coach even let himself go a little bit to celebrate with his team.
“Boykin came out and got it done,” Popolizio said. “We lost to that kid early in the year and that kid’s gotten better, he’s a freshman … and Boykin has obviously gotten better too to pick up that win and win the dual.”
NC State had not topped Virginia Tech on the wrestling mat since 2008, and Popolizio’s lack of success against the Hokies even predated his time in the ACC. He remembers losing to them when he was the head coach at Binghamton.
“There’s one team in my career I haven’t been able to beat, and since I’ve been here they’ve dominated the series,” he admitted. “I’m like the guys, I don’t like losing and this program has made us lose the last six years. … I’ve never gotten that monkey off my back and that’s probably why it meant that much more altogether for everybody involved.”
Boykin admitted it meant a lot to the seniors as well, but was quick to note there’s no time to reflect back on the class’ accomplishments, at least not yet. A huge test awaits Sunday, when the Pack hosts No. 2 Ohio State at 4:30 p.m., and then the postseason — where the most meaningful hardware is handed out — starts in March.
But for at least a few hours, the Pack will savor this victory.
“I’ve got to get ready for Sunday so I can enjoy it tonight, but tomorrow I’ve got to regroup and focus on Ohio State,” Boykin said. “We’re going to wrestle Ohio State Sunday and get back to it Monday. It’s not over yet, we’ve still got the ACC Tournament and we’ve still got Nationals.”
He and the rest of the senior class know they only have a few more chances to make memories that will last a lifetime, and they want to take advantage while they still can.
#6 NC State 19, #8 Virginia Tech 15
125: #5 Sean Fausz (NCSU) tech fall Kyle Norstrem; 15-0 – 5-0
133: #18 Dennis Gustafson (VT) dec. #13 Tariq Wilson; 9-7 – 5-3
141: #2 Kevin Jack (NCSU) tech fall Brent Moore; 15-0 – 10-3
149: #13 Beau Donahue (NCSU) dec. #16 Ryan Blees; 6-4 (SV1) – 13-3
157: #3 Hayden Hidlay (NCSU) dec. Solomon Chishko; 8-4 – 16-3
165: #4 David McFadden (VT) dec. Brian Hamann; 6-2 – 16-6
174: #15 Hunter Bolen (VT) dec. Daniel Bullard; 5-3 – 16-9
184: #8 Zack Zavatsky (VT) dec. #3 Pete Renda; 3-2 – 16-12
197: #2 Jared Haught (VT) dec. #7 Michael Macchiavello; 2-1 – 16-15
285: #19 Michael Boykin (NCSU) dec. #18 Andrew Dunn; 3-1 (SV1) – 19-15
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