Down 12-3 midway through the match, it looked bleak for NC State wrestling, who had lost four of five bouts and was facing an uphill battle against Virginia Tech to win its sixth consecutive ACC Dual Title.
But the Wolfpack (16-2, 5-0 ACC) has been there, done that, and tonight proved to be no different.
The Pack reeled off five straight wins in front of yet another sold-out crowd at Reynolds Coliseum to earn a 20-12 win over the Hokies (9-4, 5-0 ACC).
“I thought it was an awesome atmosphere, another great crowd in Reynolds,” said head coach Pat Popolizio. “The guys knew what was on the line. Didn’t start the way we wanted, but these guys came out, competed hard, and it made for a great meet.”
NC State suffered an initial setback when sophomore Jackson Arrington went down to Virginia Tech’s Caleb Henson to begin the match in the 149-pound bout. Henson scored a takedown in the first period and that is all he needed, winning a 4-1 decision to put the Hokies on top 3-0.
The Pack quickly responded, however. In the 157-pound bout, junior Ed Scott scored a takedown in all three periods to earn a high-scoring 12-7 win over Hokie Rafael Hipolito, tying the score 3-3.
Virginia Tech then reeled off three straight wins, first in the 165-pound bout. Virginia Tech’s Connor Brady scored a late takedown over redshirt sophomore Derek Fields and held on for a slim 4-2 decision. In the 174-pound bout, Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Lewis scored a takedown in the first and second periods to defeat fifth year Alex Faison 9-2, his third win over Faison in his career.
It was more of the same in the 184-pound bout as Virginia Tech’s Thomas Stewart scored takedowns in the first and third periods to earn a 7-2 decision against redshirt freshman Dylan Fishback. All of a sudden, the Hokies held a commanding 12-3 advantage midway through the match, and the Pack had to find a way to battle back to earn another ACC Dual Title.
Fittingly, the comeback began with none other than redshirt senior Trent Hidlay in the 197-pound bout. In his final match in Reynolds, Hidlay got busy right from the jump, scoring three takedowns in the first period alone and getting two more takedowns by the end of the bout. Most crucially, Hidlay earned a tech fall just before the buzzer sounded in the third period, giving the Pack a massive five points to cut the deficit to 12-8.
On top of that, this was Hidlay’s 100th win during his time at NC State, which couldn’t have come at a more storybook time.
“It means I’ve been wrestling a long time in college,” Hidlay said. “It’s really special the way it all came together… It was kind of surreal, I think I blacked out a little bit. I could feel the love from the crowd and just try to give as much love as I could.”
Redshirt junior Owen Trephan continued the momentum in the heavyweight bout. With time winding down in a 1-1 tie, Trephan scored a last-second takedown to defeat Virginia Tech’s Hunter Catka 4-1, and all of a sudden, the Pack was right back in it with the score at 12-11.
Now working back up from the lighter-weight classes, redshirt junior Jakob Camacho kept it going in the 125-bout, using a first-period takedown to earn a 5-1 decision and put the Pack on top 14-12.
Back in control, NC State closed out the match in the final two bouts. In the 133-pound bout, redshirt junior Kai Orine won a slim 2-1 decision thanks to over a minute of riding time to beat Virginia Tech’s Sam Latona. To finish it off, junior Ryan Jack scored takedowns in the first and third periods to earn a 7-3 decision over Virginia Tech’s Tom Crook and seal the 20-12 win for the Pack.
Next up, the Pack will turn its attention to the ACC Championships on Sunday, March 10 in Chapel Hill, where the team will also be looking forward to its sixth-consecutive championship.
