March 2024 will go down as one of the greatest athletic months in NC State history. What looked to be another average sports month for the Wolfpack turned into a wild ride Wolfpack Nation will never forget.
From conference championships to taking down its most heated rivals, the Wolfpack gave its fans everything they had been asking for in just one month. Let’s take a look at NC State’s accomplishments from the last month.
NC State men’s basketball wins ACC Championship and makes Final Four
After ending the season on a four-game losing streak and entering the ACC Tournament as a 10-seed, NC State fans were ready to put all their attention on the women’s basketball team. No one could have imagined what came next.
The Wolfpack became the first team to win five games in five days to win the ACC Championship and became the first double-digit seed to win a Power Six conference tournament.
NC State entered the NCAA Tournament as an 11-seed in the South region and continued its improbable run, taking down 6-seed Texas Tech, 14-seed Oakland, 2-seed Marquette and 4-seed Duke on the way to its first Final Four since 1983.
Even though it lost to the Midwest region 1-seed Purdue in the National Semifinal, the Pack gave its fans a run they will never forget and two new banners at PNC Arena.
NC State women’s basketball makes Final Four
The women’s basketball team’s run to the Final Four was much less surprising than the men’s: It was in the AP Top 10 for most of the season and a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, no one expected the Wolfpack to be this good before the season given it was unranked and placed to finish eighth in the ACC.
Its path to the Final Four wasn’t easy either. NC State toppled 2-seed Stanford and 1-seed Texas in the second weekend. The Wolfpack also beat a 6-seed Tennessee squad in the second round featuring a projected top-three pick in the upcoming draft, forward Rickea Jackson.
Just like the men, the women fell in the National Semifinal, albeit to the eventual undefeated National Champions South Carolina. With both basketball teams making the Final Four, it marked the first time in school history that both squads advanced that far in the same year.
Wrestling continues dominant run with another ACC Championship
NC State wrestling claimed its sixth-straight conference title with a score of 116, the highest for any ACC Champion since 1974. It was head coach Pat Popolizio’s seventh championship since taking over as the lead man for the Wolfpack.
Redshirt senior Trent Hidlay cemented his legacy with his fourth consecutive ACC title, finishing atop the 197-pound class for the first time in his career.
Gymnastics takes home ACC Championship
Gymnastics had not competed in the ACC for 40 years before making its return for the 2023-24 season. The Wolfpack dominated all season, going undefeated in conference while taking home the regular season trophy and ACC Tournament championship.
In the championship, the Wolfpack posted its third-highest score in program history with 197.550, and graduate student Emily Shepard took home ACC Gymnast of the Year.
NC State swim and dive places top 10 for men’s and women’s in NCAA Championships
The men’s squad won its third straight ACC Championship in February and followed that up with a fifth-place finish at the NCAAs for its ninth straight top-10 finish. It put up 318 points and junior Aiden Hayes set a world record with a 20.07 time in a 50-yard backstroke split.
While the women were not expected to finish in the top 10, they exceeded expectations with a ninth-place finish. Graduate student Katharine Berkoff and sophomore Kennedy Noble combined to set five program records.
NC State baseball sweeps two ACC series and earns series win over Duke
NC State opened up conference play with a series sweep over Boston College but hit a bump when it was swept by Georgia Tech. After a disappointing series against the Yellow Jackets, the Pack beat then-ranked No. 13 Coastal Carolina and went on to win the series over then-ranked No. 9 Duke.
To end the month, the Wolfpack captured another series sweep over Notre Dame, concluded by a walk-off home run by graduate first baseman Garrett Pennington.
