In its third straight home match, the N.C. State wrestling took down UNC-Chapel Hill by a score of 19-17. Friday marked the first time that the Wolfpack was defeated the Tar Heels on the mat since 2007.
With Friday’s win, State (11-4, 1-2 ACC) earned its first conference win heading into the thick of ACC play.
“We needed to get something going,” head coach Pat Popolizio said. “We needed a spark. We knew it was going to come eventually, but it was nice to do it against an in-state rival.”
Friday’s match started at 157 and with a victory for the Pack, as No. 18 junior Tommy Gantt took his bout by a score of 9-4. Gantt scored four takedowns in the match and was never taken down by his opponent.
No. 20 freshman Pete Renda (174) owned his opponent, taking the Tar Heel down three times in the opening period. Renda won by a final score of 12-3 and finished the bout with an astonishing 4:45 of ride time.
In the final bout before halftime, redshirt senior KaRonne Jones put his opponent away by a score of 9-3. The victory also marked the third straight match in which Jones has not been taken down. Jones said that avoided take down was all about fight.
“That’s what we’re all about,” Jones said. “You go out there, mono e mono, and just keep scrapping.”
“A win is always a great morale booster,” Jones said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Despite losses at the 174 and 197 weight classes, the Pack took a 10-6 lead into halftime.
No. 5 redshirt sophomore Nick Gwiazdowski (285) earned his 30th win of the season in the Pack’s first bout of the second half. Gwiazdowski took down his opponent after only 10 seconds, and earned his 14th pin of the season just 1:02 into the match.
Popolizio said Gwiazdowski’s pin was important for the team from a confidence standpoint.
“When you got a guy who can go out and do that, it helps other people realize, ‘Hey I can do this too,’” Popolizio said. “Other guys can come out and wrestle fired up, and that was key.”
After the heavyweight victory, State took a 16-6 lead over UNC-CH. However, the Pack proceeded to drop the next match in the 125 by a major decision, cutting the team’s lead to six.
In a hard fought match, freshman Chris Wilcox (133) upset No. 30 UNC-CH freshman Troy Heilmann by a score of 7-2. Wilcox led for the majority of the bout and earned the match-sealing takedown with only six seconds remaining.
“That was really the dual meet for us,” Popolizio said. “He stepped up tonight.”
In the second-to-last matchup, No. 25 freshman Sam Speno (141) lost a decision to the Tar Heel’s top wrestler – No. 6 junior Evan Henderson – by a score of 0-7. Despite Henderson finishing with a riding time of 4:02, Speno was able to avoid the pin.
“Obviously we were going out there to win, but things got out of hand,” Popolizio said. “He knew where we were at in the dual meet, and not giving up a fall was what he needed to do. He switched from wrestling his match to the team’s match.”
With his team leading by six heading into the final match of the evening, No. 26 freshman Brian Hamann (149) simply had to avoid a pin to give State a victory. Hamann successfully stayed off of his back, and the Pack concluded the match with a victory.
The Pack will conclude its four-game home stand on Sunday against No. 13 Virginia. Sunday’s match will also mark the last home meet of the season for the team.
