NC State Wrestling will take on rival UNC-Chapel Hill on Friday in a top-10 matchup. The No. 3 Wolfpack (12-0, 2-0 ACC) is coming off a big top-10 road win against Pittsburgh, while the No. 8 Tar Heels (11-1, 2-0 ACC) beat Bucknell 25-9 this past Saturday. 

North Carolina has rebounded after dropping its second match of the season at Stanford, winning its last 10 bouts. The Tar Heels have an impressive record versus the top 20, with wins against then-No. 17 Michigan and then-No. 3 Virginia Tech on the road and then-No. 12 Princeton at home.

A key bout in this top-ten matchup will be at 157 pounds, with No. 2 redshirt junior Hayden Hidlay from NC State taking on No. 15 redshirt senior A.C. Headlee from Chapel Hill. Hidlay has been near unstoppable this season, compiling a 23-1 record. Headlee has also had an impressive season, amassing a 14-5 record including an upset win over No. 9 Will Lewan of Michigan.

Another matchup to watch is at 141 pounds, where NC State’s No. 11 Tariq Wilson will take on the Tar Heels’ No. 10 Zach Sherman. Wilson has compiled an impressive season thus far, boasting an impressive 21-4 record on the year. Sherman has been equally impressive, putting up 22 wins and only 3 losses. This bout looks like a coin flip, and could certainly determine the outcome of the match. 

The match against the Tar Heels will be the second of three straight games against top-ten opponents. The Wolfpack will have to continue to show aggression to beat North Carolina, especially from its top-ranked upperclassmen. The match will be at 7 p.m. on Friday in James T. Valvano Arena at William Neal Reynolds Coliseum, and the event will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra.