The No. 2 NC State wrestling team won the ACC championship March 6 on the heels of one of the best dual performances in team history. Now the team will look to cap off its remarkable season in New York City.
The NCAA wrestling championship will be in full swing this week, and the Wolfpack is sending a school-record eight wrestlers to compete in Madison Square Garden. The Wolfpack also has six wrestlers seeded in the tournament, which is second best in program history.
Headlining the wrestling group will be redshirt seniors Nick Gwiazdowski and Tommy Gantt, who will both be competing for the last time in NC State singlets. For Gantt, competing in one of the greatest arenas in the world is a fitting way to end his career.
“I’ve never been, but I’ve heard about it. It’s a storied building,” Gantt said. “If I had any other city to pick other than St. Louis last year, it would be MSG, I’m excited.”
As for Gwiazdowski, the two-time national champion is looking forward to closing out his career in his home state of New York with his friends and family watching.
“I’m a New York native, so I have a lot of friends and family coming down,” the Delanson, New York native said. “Just the history of Madison Square Garden and just being in New York City is something I’m looking forward to during and afterwards.”
Other wrestlers competing for the Pack will include juniors Max Rohskopf and Pete Renda, sophomores Kevin Jack and Michael Boykin and redshirt freshmen Sean Fausz and Jamal Morris. Rohskopf and Jack both won an individual conference title, while Renda and Fausz finished as runners up in their respective weight classes.
Over the last four years, head coach Pat Popolizio has sent 21 NCAA qualifiers to the tournament, the most since 1998–2001, which also saw 21 qualifiers compete. While the coach is proud of the accomplishments to this point, he is aiming for the mountaintop.
“The season goal is to bring home the NCAA trophy,” Popolizio said. “It’s gonna take a lot of work on our end in terms in wrestling to our seeds, we just gotta go out and compete at our best.”
One matchup that could exemplify the mantra of competing hard will be the potential matchup between Rohskopf and Oklahoma State’s Alex Dieringer in the 165-pound bracket.
Rohskopf has been a defensive monster for the Wolfpack at 165 pounds, posting a record of 13-1 while wrestling at the weight class and holding opponents to less than five points in 12 of his 13 matches in the class.
As for Dieringer, he is widely considered to being one of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers in the nation. Dieringer is a two-time national champion and is undefeated in his career when wrestling at the 165-pound weight class.
If the two end up meeting in the tournament, it will be their first matchup since the 2014-2015 season, when Dieringer pulled off a 20-12 major decision en route to an Oklahoma State victory against the Wolfpack.
The action for the team will get started Thursday and will last until Saturday night. With two top-20 finishes over the last two years at the tournament, the Wolfpack will be primed to get the team’s best finish at the tournament since 1993 when then head coach Bob Guzzo led the team to a seventh-place finish at the tournament.
