Thoughts & Observations: NC State wrestling's tough loss at Virginia Tech

The margin between NC State wrestling and Virginia Tech Friday night was expected to be thin.

But the two ACC powerhouses couldn't have wrestled any closer Friday night. The match came down to criteria, meaning the team score was tied at the end. The first two tiebreakers were even, so the bout went to the third criteria, the aggregate total of points scored in individual bouts.

NC State fell in that category, 49-48, giving the Hokies a victory in the top-10 national showdown.

Virginia Tech won the final match, and therefore the dual, in the closing seconds, when 125-pounder Sam Latona scored a takedown, and — to be honest — a controversial two near-fall points at the last millisecond for the difference. Without the near-fall points, the Wolfpack would have won on the third criteria.

That's how close this one was.

The two programs wrestled as evenly matched as possible, but quite frankly if NC State can win the ACC title at the conference tournament (Feb. 28 in Raleigh) and claim a team trophy at the NCAA Championships — both still legitimate possibilities not impacted by the dual result — this one will be quickly forgotten.

It's not hyperbole to say, with the way this sport is set up, all that matters is the upcoming postseason tournaments.

But if NC State gets the tiniest bit of extra motivation from this result — the team's last loss was a shocking upset by Pitt Feb. 10, 2019, which became a turning point for that squad and, really, the overall program according to those on the inside — that wouldn't be the worst thing heading into the all-important postseason.

Team captain and star 157-pounder Hayden Hidlay had a succinct message after the dual:

Here are four other takeaways from the final result Friday night:

It's no surprise this dual was so tight. That now marks six straight season where the match between the ACC's marquee squads has been decided by six team points or less.

Each of the last four have been decided by no more than four points, and two of the last three have gone to criteria.

For the second straight year, the wrestling world at large — usually focused on the Big Ten and other traditional Midwest powers at this point in the season — was riveted by the down-to-the-wire ACC battle.

Christian Pyles is the senior editor of FloWrestling. On the outlet's three-times-a-week podcast, the co-hosts were mostly in agreement that NC State-Virginia Tech was the best dual of the year last season … and he's already saying this year is no different:

The way the match went has everybody already looking forward to the compact-but-almost-guaranteed-to-be-tight ACC Championships in three weeks (the second tweet is from The Open Mat editor Earl Smith):

Even former college and international wrestling stars Ben Askren, a former UFC fighter who is now also a co-host of the aforementioned FloWrestling podcast, and two-time world medalist wrestler James Green took notice:

The wrestling world is definitely paying attention to the ACC now, and it's thanks to NC State, Virginia Tech and its excellent rivalry on the wrestling mat. That would not have been the case probably as recently as five years ago.

Though coaches and athletes are not likely to take any solace in how close or exciting the dual was, it has the wrestling world fired up and looking forward to the ACC Championships, also likely to be decided by a thin margin. And there were still several notable takeaways for NC State …

Probably leading that list, especially due to its ACC Championships implications, was 197-pound freshman Isaac Trumble staying undefeated. If he can win next week against Duke, he should earn the No. 1 seed for ACCs — at a weight class that came into the year with a pair of national top-five wrestlers.

Trumble pulled out a dramatic 6-5 victory over redshirt junior Stanley Smeltzer of Virginia Tech Friday night. The rookie gave up the first two takedowns of the match — for the second week in a row — but found a way to dig out of the hole and win.

This victory was spurned by Trumble riding out his opponent in the third period — unheard of for a freshman and the second time he's done that against a veteran this year … the first helped provide the winning margin against No. 5 Nino Bonaccorsi of Pitt.

It's also impressive that Trumble was able to do so in that situation — both wrestlers knew what was at stake and the team score implications. He's special; there's just no other way to put it.

Having Trumble the top seed and on the opposite side of the bracket at ACCs as the two top-five 197-pounders in the preseason rankings is incredibly valuable.

Another undefeated wrestler for the Pack, and one who essentially locked up his No. 1 seed for ACCs with his win Friday night, is junior heavyweight Deonte Wilson.

Wilson versus Virginia Tech's John Borst was perhaps one of the hardest bouts to predict going in to the dual — the five major national rankings were split, 3-2, in terms of who the favorite was on paper — and Wilson comfortably won 3-1 despite not tallying a takedown.

According to The Wolfpacker's unofficial records, Wilson and Borst were the only heavyweights who were undefeated in ACC duals this year. When the top two are separated by such a thin margin, and there are other quality wrestlers in the league at the weight, it can't be understated how important earning the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament can be.

NC State didn't have two of the biggest "swing" matches go its way — 125 and 184 pounds — and even just one going their way would've prevented the dual from coming down to criteria.

Although both were won by Virginia Tech, it wouldn't be out of question to see one or even both of NC State's pair "flip" the regular-season results at ACCs:

• At 184, redshirt sophomore Trent Hidlay, ranked No. 4 nationally, fell to No. 2 Hunter Bolen, 2-1. These two are almost sure to meet again in the ACC finals (and probably again somewhere at NCAAs), but it's worth noting two tough breaks that could've changed the result, or at least pushed the match into overtime.

NC State challenged for a locked hands call early in the third period that the color commentator, Rock Harrison — a former NCAA referee — was sure he saw. After review, the no-call stood, but that would've provided Hidlay a penalty point.

Hidlay and Bolen have now wrestled three times in the last two years, and there has been just one takedown, tallied by Bolen in the first matchup. Hidlay was probably closest to notching a two-point takedown in this one, in the final seconds of regulation, though his toe was just barely out of bounds — by an inch or two.

Bot to be a broken record — but it doesn't get any closer.

• The final match between Jakob Camacho and Sam Latona at 125 pounds may have had a final margin of victory of three points at the end, but it was much closer than that.

Camacho tried to funk out of a takedown in the closing seconds and went to his back to do it. Latona took advantage and not only secured the two for the takedown, but also a pair of near-fall points at the last buzzer that decided the team result.

Camacho lost by three in the regular season to Virginia's Jack Mueller in the dual last year, and then responded with a landmark and surprisingly dominant 11-4 victory over Mueller, a former NCAA finalist, in the ACC championship match.

He will not be near as big an underdog in this year's revenge rematch should it happen for conference gold — can history repeat itself?

• Very impressive job by 174-pound fifth-year senior Daniel Bullard to go hunting for bonus points when his team really needed them, and delivering. Bullard is normally more known for his top work, but he notched this 10-2 major decision thanks to his takedowns from neutral.

Bullard has really separated from the rest of the pack in the ACC and deservingly climbed back into the top 10 nationally after being upset in overtime earlier this year.

• Fifth-year senior 141-pounder Tariq Wilson has been in close matches the entire ACC dual season — he came in undefeated, but all three previous conference matches had been decided by three points or less. However, all three foes are nationally ranked and two are securely in the top 15.

Wilson's 5-1 victory was another probably tighter than the final score indicates, but he was in control the entire time over a highly touted freshman. He can lock up the ACC's No. 1 seed if he takes care of business next weekend against Duke.

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