Tariq Wilson's third-place finish surprises everyone but NC State wrestling
Unseeded 133-pound redshirt freshman Tariq Wilson surprised everyone at the NCAA Wrestling Championships with his third-place finish — except for himself and his coaches. Sixth-year head coach Pat Popolizio and his assistants had been telling him all year he could do something special.
“It’s not a surprise to me or anyone that’s been working with me,” Wilson said. “They all believed at the beginning of the season I was going to All-American, and I came here and did it.”
The NCAA run wasn't anticipated by most, not only because Wilson entered the tournament 22-9 on the year and had to face the No. 5 seed in round one — he didn’t even start the year in the starting lineup.
However, that never affected his confidence. Wilson opened the year 17-2 with the only two defeats coming to teammate Jamel Morris. After Wilson placed second at the Reno Tournament of Champions Dec. 17, he began to believe his coaches, who made the change to insert him into the starting position after the breakout performance that came one month into the season.
“I always knew it was possible,” Wilson explained. “Maybe the second month into the season, I knew I was going to accomplish big things — even when I wasn’t starting. I never doubted myself or got down about it. I just continued to work — a lot of hard work paid off. That’s what I did during the season and I will continue to do.”
After moving into the lineup, Wilson’s first match came against Oklahoma State in Italy — but he was walloped by then-No. 5 Kaid Brock by technical fall, 16-1. He responded with a pair of ACC victories, including a 9-4 triumph over Virginia's then-No. 5 Jack Mueller, an All-American last year.
That was the breakthrough, but the ACC was so good at 133 that Wilson faced an opponent ranked among the top 20 nationally in every match except for one after moving into the lineup … and the one who wasn’t ranked still qualified for NCAAs.
Though Wilson went 1-3 in his final four regular-season appearances, the largest margin of defeat was by four points to then-No. 3 Luke Pletcher of Ohio State. He was right there with some of the best wrestlers in the country and entered ACCs the No. 3 seed before placing fourth in the conference.
The NCAA draw looked tough, with the Steubenville, Ohio, native opening the tournament in his home state against the No. 5 seed. But he entered his Homecoming with postseason dreams that would make Jimmy V. proud.
“Anything is possible,” he said. “If you set your mind to it, have no doubt, believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything you want.
“I just learned from every last loss. … I came out here to show everybody that I am the real deal, I’m here, and I’m ready to compete against anybody you throw me out there against.”
Wilson certainly made that statement heard. He didn’t just squeak by the No. 5 seed, who entered NCAAs 27-4. He announced his presence with a pair of takedowns in the first period en route to an 8-3 win and the tournament’s first big upset.
He followed with a 7-1 decision in round two and a 13-5 major decision in the quarterfinals over Brock, who beat him by 15 points two months earlier. The only thing that surprised Popolizio was how dominantly Wilson was beating his opponents.
“The biggest thing that he was doing was being aggressive, wrestling his style and not being afraid to go out and win,” the coach said. “That’s something that a lot of times guys get to this tournament and get a little timid, hesitate and are scared to actually go out and beat guys they’re not supposed to.
“That’s something he did not do — he attacked right away and put himself in position to win every match.”
That set up the ultimate Cinderella story — the unseeded redshirt freshman vs. top-seeded Seth Gross of South Dakota State, whose only loss this year came when he bumped up to 141 pounds to face Bryce Meredith of Wyoming, the 2016 and 2018 NCAA finalist at the heavier weight.
Nobody gave Wilson a shot, but he didn’t get the memo. He pushed Gross to the limit and tallied a trio of takedowns in the final 1:15 to force overtime before losing.
Despite the outcome not going in his favor, the exciting back-and-forth match captured the attention of all 18,680 in attendance. One FloWrestling analyst called it the match of the tournament. Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs became the president of the Tariq Wilson fan club, going as far as to unofficially nominate him for the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler (OW) honor.
Not surprisingly after all of the adversity he had already overcome this year, the loss didn’t hold Wilson back at all. Popolizio even thought the performance gave Wilson even more confidence, not that he ever lacked it.
The results support the coach’s assertation. Wilson blew through the rest of the competition on his way to the bronze medal with a 13-3 major decision and a 17-8 major decision in the consolation finals against Ohio State’s Pletcher to extract revenge for his Feb. 18 loss.
Beating a foe from the biggest school in his home state who beat him a month ago makes for a great story, but it didn’t matter to Wilson who his opponent was — he was focused on simply continuing to win.
“The school where the guys from doesn’t really mean anything — he’s in my way, he’s in my path,” Wilson said. “If I want to accomplish something I have to get through him. I just go out there and have that mindset against any wrestler.
“I’m excited for the next three years. Wrestling here [at NCAAs], wrestling against the elite guys — Seth Gross, Kaid Brock, Luke Pletcher — it just makes me want to go out there and next year I know I’ll be able to win it. I know that for a fact. That’s what my mindset is … getting it done next year.”
If Wilson wins it all next year, it won’t be a surprise to anybody any more.
NC State has two wrestlers in the NCAA finals, which start tonight at 8 p.m. Follow our live updates on The Wolves' Den message board.
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