Redshirt freshman Sean Fausz bites his chinstrap and holds his opponent tight in the Wolfpack's meet against No. 17 Virginia on Jan. 17. The 125-pound Fausz won his bout 8-4 and helped the Wolfpack to a 35-7 win over Virginia at Dorton Arena." />
Bryan Murphy
Redshirt freshman Sean Fausz bites his chinstrap and holds his opponent tight in the Wolfpack's meet against No. 17 Virginia on Jan. 17. The 125-pound Fausz won his bout 8-4 and helped the Wolfpack to a 35-7 win over Virginia at Dorton Arena.
For this upcoming season, the coaches of the NC State wrestling program decided to try something new with how the team captains were selected. Head coach Pat Popolizio wanted the members of the team to choose their captains rather than select them himself.
“Every year is different, and this year we decided to let our team vote on a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior, based on their eligibility,” Popolizio said. “This year we did a little unique way of doing it and just kind of seeing who they thought the best leader we had and where the guys were turning.”
The team convened and everyone cast their vote. Those chosen were senior Pete Renda, redshirt junior Michael Macchiavello, junior Kevin Jack, sophomore Sean Fausz and freshman Hayden Hidlay.
Macchiavello believes that having the decision come from his teammates, not just the coaches, allowed it to carry a different weight.
“It shows what my peers think of me,” Macchiavello said. “It gives me an idea of what level of respect they have for me, and to have that level of respect from my teammates and my peers I think is a pretty good thing and I’m honored. In order to lead your team, you have to have those that want to follow you. I think that if the coaches had just appointed the captains, it would have been a little bit different.”
Jack senses that the format from which the captains were chosen helped the team grow stronger together.
“As for team bonding, it brings us closer,” Jack said. “You see who your team wants to be the leader … and I think that plays a big role in everyday practice. Going into matches, the team believes in you and trusts you, so you want to be there for them and help them through the way.”
As an upperclassman and now a captain, Jack has found himself helping the younger team members out more in practice.
“I definitely try to be around them a little more,” Jack said. “I try to put them on the right path and help them out when they ask me, and wrestle them when they ask me.”
Popolizio believes that the three upperclassmen captains, Renda, Macchiavello and Jack, are going to play major roles in the development of the team this season.
“Macchiavello has been very vocal,” Popolizio said. “He works extremely hard, he represents himself the way that you want to be represented within the department, community, NC State, just everything we’re about.”
While Popolizio said that this new role may be a little outside of Jack’s comfort zone, he is confident that he will do well because he is a winner and a true competitor.
While Renda will be redshirting this upcoming season, meaning that he cannot compete in any matches that count toward the official NC State record, Popolizio said that the decision to name him captain didn’t come as a surprise at all.
“He is still a major part of this program,” Popolizio said. “He’s at practice every day, a lot of the body of work that we do is before we go out and compete so we need that leadership, we need it in the room, and more importantly we need it outside the room and as a person within the community, he represents everything that we’re looking for.”
A 2016 All-American at 184 pounds, Renda placed third at the NCAA championships last year.
Jack, who is the reigning ACC champion at 141 pounds, enters rated No. 4 in the nation at 141 pounds according to FloWrestling’s preseason rankings. As a true freshman in 2015, Jack finished the year by placing fifth at the NCAA championships after beginning the year unseeded, a feat that earned him All-American recognition. This season, Jack said that his main focus individually is to win a national title.
After redshirting last year, Macchiavello was ranked No. 15 overall at 184 pounds in the preseason FloWrestling rankings. Coming into 2016-17, he says that his main personal objective is simple: win an NCAA title.
“If you ask anyone in the NCAA what their goal is, their goal should be to say: ‘NCAA champion,’” Macchiavello said. “If that’s not your goal, then why are you here?”
Both Macchiavello and Jack said that they want to build on last year’s success, where the Wolfpack took home the ACC title, finished 11th overall at the NCAA championships and ended the season ranked No. 2 in the final coaches’ poll.
The Pack begins the season ranked No. 9 nationally and will open up the 2016-17 competition schedule Sunday when it heads up to Troy, New York for the Journeymen/Asics Collegiate Classic.