NC State wrestling went 3-0 at Reynolds Coliseum to begin its season undefeated Saturday. The sixth-ranked Wolfpack (3-0) invited Davidson, Reinhardt and UNC-Pembroke to participate in the Wolfpack Duals, easily handling all three.
“I’m thankful for these teams that are able to come here and wrestle us,” seventh-year head coach Pat Popolizio said. “It helps them, it helps us. We want to get mat time this early in the season. It’s really about getting guys in a routine, getting down to weight and continuing to compete.”
NC State comes off an impressive 2018 tournament run headlined by Michael Macchiavello winning the championship at 197 pounds. Popolizio’s 2018-19 edition of Pack wrestling had to replace Macchiavello as well as Kevin Jack (141 pounds), Beau Donahue (149 pounds), Pete Renda (184 pounds) and Michael Boykin (285 pounds).
If that wasn’t enough, the Wolfpack is currently missing the ninth-ranked 125-pound wrestler in the nation in redshirt senior Sean Fausz as well as the second-ranked 157-pound wrestler in the country, redshirt sophomore Hayden Hidlay. Both are competing for the United States in the Under-23 World Championships.
“The next ‘jump’ for our program is, any time we put a guy in a singlet they have to be ready to compete,” Popolizio said. “We’ve got guys that redshirted and other guys that have been in our program for a couple years so they know the system. That’s the goal right now, to continue to put guys in a position that [they] can win right away. The top, elite programs are doing that.”
Popolizio has the Wolfpack in that elite category as NC State won 28 of 30 matchups on Saturday. First, the Wolfpack beat Davidson by a team score of 47-6 with eight wins coming either via fall or technical fall. Next, the Wolfpack beat Reinhardt by a team score of 39-6. Lastly, the Wolfpack dispatched UNC-Pembroke with a perfect 40-0 victory.
One standout for the day was redshirt senior Jamel Morris, who competes at 141 pounds after spending the majority of his time at 133 in the past. Morris won his first match by technical fall, his second by decision and his last by major decision, and credited his success and confidence in the work the team puts in during practice.
“It feels great to see the results from practice, in practice we go really hard,” Morris said. “We push each other all the time, and Pat usually says, ‘Don’t get discouraged, you’re getting beat by really good guys. Once you come out and wrestle different people you’re going to see your results.’ It’s nice to see your hard work paying off.”
Despite the success this program has seen in both the immediate past and present, Popolizio has made sure this team stays hungry and cognizant that one can always improve.
“I definitely have to move my feet more,” Morris said. “And keep working on little things like my positioning and keep putting on the pressure.”
Popolizio echoed Morris’ thoughts, especially concerning the need for the Wolfpack to keep its foot on the gas pedal. In the two weeks the Pack has before its next match, the 2018 Dan Gable co-NCAA Coach of the Year and ACC Coach of the Year has a few areas he’s looking to improve.
“Consistency, chain wrestling, and making sure we’re ready for seven minutes of a lot of action,” Popolizio said. “Conditioning is always a factor this early in the season. We’re in a pretty good spot but we got to get a little bit better there.”
NC State wrestling travels to Old Dominion on November 29 in a matchup that will test the Pack. The match will also help Popolizio solidify his lineup as he looks to reload rather than rebuild.
“Old Dominion will be our first true test, putting our A-team out there,” Popolizio said. “As time goes on we’ll set our lineup to where it needs to be. That’s the luxury of being able to redshirt guys last year and getting a transfer in here, it’s keeping things right where we left off.”
