NC State wrestling is set to compete in the NCAA Tournament this week, with eight wrestlers earning bids for the Wolfpack. The Pack picked up seven automatic bids from the ACC championships, while redshirt junior Isaac Trumble received an at-large bid.
The Wolfpack’s highest-seeded wrestler is redshirt freshman Vince Robinson. The breakout star is the No. 4 seed in the 125-pound bracket and is NC State’s best chance at winning an individual national title. Two of Robinson’s three losses have come at the hands of Virginia Tech’s Eddie Ventresca, the No. 3 seed. With Ventresca on the other side of the bracket, Robinson has a clear path to the semifinals, where he’d potentially face No. 1 Luke Lilledahl from Penn State. A freshman, Lilledahl would be a challenging matchup but with little NCAA tournament experience.
The most intriguing bracket in the NCAA Tournament for NC State is the heavyweight field, featuring Trumble as the No. 7 seed. After a dominant regular season, Trumble did not earn an automatic bid in the ACC championships while dealing with a knee injury. If healthy though, watch for Trumble to make a run. Trumble’s first-round match will be a rematch against Stanford’s Peter Ming. Former NC State wrestler and Lehigh transfer Owen Trephan will also compete in the bracket as the No. 4 seed after posting a 21-0 record this season.
After winning the ACC Championship as the No. 4 seed in the 174-pound bracket, redshirt sophomore Matty Singleton is a rising star to watch. Taking the No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Singleton will get a matchup against Northern Iowa’s Jared Simma. With a win, Singleton would likely face the No. 3 seed in Oklahoma State’s Dean Hamiti, who defeated Singleton 8-4 in the regular season.
Redshirt sophomore Dylan Fishback is another wrestler to keep an eye on this week for the Wolfpack. As the No. 15 seed, Fishback will take on Maximus Hale from Penn. Fishback is one of the most improved wrestlers for NC State this season and is now making his second NCAA Tournament appearance. A potential second-round match with No. 2 Park Keckeisen from Northern Iowa would give Fishback a chance against one of the nation’s best.
After a 12-7 season redshirt senior Kai Orine was awarded the No. 26 seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, the record doesn’t tell the full story for Orine, who is still one of the nation’s better wrestlers. Orine’s first-round matchup is against Ohio State’s No. 7 Nic Bouzakis. The Buckeye went an impressive 22-7 this year and will be an intriguing matchup.
No. 22 Ed Scott will compete one more time in the 157-pound bracket, facing No. 11 Matty Bianchi from Arkansas Little Rock. Scott will have an uphill battle since Bianchi holds an impressive 23-4 record. Past that, Scott could potentially face No. 6 Ryder Downey of Northern Iowa in another challenging bout.
Making a second appearance in the NCAA Tournament is redshirt junior Derek Fields. The Wolfpack wrestler earned the No. 29 seed and is set to do battle with one of the best, No. 4 Terrell Barraclaugh of Utah Valley. The bout is a rematch from when Barraclaugh defeated Fields 8-3 in Reynolds Coliseum earlier this season.
Rounding out the Wolfpack’s NCAA competitors this year is redshirt freshman Koy Buesgens, who is making his NCAA Tournament debut. After a 16-11 season and breaking out onto the scene, Buesgens will get to face No. 13-seeded Ohio State’s Dylan D’Emilio. As the No. 20 seed, Buesgens will have a tricky path forward but has certainly proven the ability to outperform expectations this season.
The NCAA Tournament will take place from March 20-22 and will be held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
