Bryan Murphy
Sophomore Nicky Hall holds on as his opponent flips over him in the Wolfpack's meet against No. 17 Virginia. Hall won his bout 17-2 on a technical fall, which helped the Wolfpack to an overall 35-7 win at Dorton Arena Jan. 17.
The No. 3 NC State wrestling team improved its best season ever, edging the No. 11 Nebraska Cornhuskers Saturday night in Lincoln, Nebraska, 19-15 in the Wolfpack’s final road match of the season.
The win improved the Wolfpack’s record to a school-record 21-0 on the season, including an impressive 7-0 against teams ranked in the NWCA top-25. The Wolfpack’s record against top-25 teams is a steep improvement from last season, when it went 3-4 against ranked opponents.
The Wolfpack realized it would be a tough battle from the opening match, with No. 15 junior Pete Renda taking on No. 9 TJ Dudley in the 184-pound match. After getting up 3-2 after the first round, Dudley would get a four-point near fall and stalls from Renda to get a 9-5 lead going into the third. Renda couldn’t make up the ground and fell to Dudley, 11-6, giving the Cornhuskers an early 3-0 lead after one.
No. 17 sophomore Michael Boykin took on No. 11 Aaron Studebaker next at the 197-pound weight class to attempt to tie the match for the Wolfpack. After taking a 1-0 lead going into the third period, Studebaker got an escape to tie it up. Boykin got a double-leg takedown, but fell to Studebaker on a takedown with one second left, 4-3, giving Nebraska a 6-0 lead with redshirt senior No. 1 Nick Gwiazdowski against No. 22 Collin Jensen on tap.
Gwiz didn’t have to compete long to get the victory for the Wolfpack, as Jensen went down with a knee injury early in the first, surrendering an injury default to Gwiazdowski to tie the match at 6-6.
Redshirt freshman No. 24 Sean Fausz took on No. 9 Tim Lambert at the 125-pound weight class, securing the upset, 5-4, to put the Wolfpack up 9-6. No. 28 redshirt freshman Jamal Morris fell to No. 11 Eric Montoya in the 133-pound match, 7-2 to tie things back at 9-9 with No. 3 sophomore Kevin Jack coming up at 141 pounds.
Jack and his opponent, No. 17 Anthony Abidin, seemed to be evenly matched in the first, but Jack scored the first points of the match for the Wolfpack on a takedown with five seconds left in the first, giving him a 2-0 after one. Jack wouldn’t look back from the early lead, scoring five more points between the remaining two rounds, earning a 6-1 win to put the Wolfpack up 12-9 with four bouts remaining on the night.
The lead was short-lived for the Wolfpack, as No. 5 Jake Sueflohn took on redshirt sophomore Beau Donahue in the 149-pound bout. Donahue would fall behind early 2-0 after one and couldn’t retake the lead at any point during the match, falling to Sueflohn 7-2, allowing the Cornhuskers to tie it again, 12-12.
With the meet dwindling down, No. 4 redshirt senior Tommy Gantt and No. 7 junior Max Rohskopf stepped up to make sure the Wolfpack would leave Lincoln with a win.
At 155 pounds, Gantt took on No. 15 Tyler Berger and got two quick downs to go up 4-1 after one period and didn’t look back, winning his bout with a major decision, 11-3 to improve 19-0 on the year and put the Wolfpack up 16-12 with Rohskopf on the mats next.
Rohskopf battled No. 8 Austin Wilson in the 165-pound bout. Following a first period in which neither wrestler scored a point, Rohskopf would get a two-point near-fall in the second and followed it up in the third period with an escape and a stall to get the win. Despite a loss by sophomore Nicky Hall following Rohskopf’s match, Gantt and Rohskopf sealed the Wolfpack victory 19-15 against the Cornhusker.
Up next for the Wolfpack will be the final conference match of the season against the No. 10 Virginia Tech Hokies at the Holhouser Building of the NC State Fairgrounds Friday.