The NC State wrestling team held its first public demo of its roster this Wednesday as part of the 2015 Brickyard Bash. Many wrestlers took part in the event, including juniors Peter Renda, Michael Macchiavello and Max Rohskopf.

Also in attendance was wrestling coach Pat Popolizio, who was hopeful the event would help bring more student attention on the wrestling team after a year when the team finished 16th at the NCAA Championships, its highest finish since 1993.

“People want to be around a winning product,” Popolizio said during the demo. “Today has been a good response. We really need the student body to back us this year with the schedule that we have at home.”

The Wolfpack was recently ranked No. 9 in the preseason as a team by FloWrestling, while five wrestlers landed in the top-20 of their individual weight classes after a stellar, record-breaking 2014-15 campaign.

Rohskopf, who was recently ranked No. 10 for 165 pound wrestlers, was aware of the importance of capitalizing on the team’s strong finish as well.

“I think we should do this more often,” Rohskopf said. “I think we should do more publicity stuff on social media, and I think we can do a lot more to get the student body involved.”

Sophomore Kevin Jack (No. 4 at 141 pounds and the program record-holder for wins as a freshman, with 31), redshirt senior Tommy Gantt (No. 8 at 157 pounds), Renda (No. 18 at 184 pounds) and redshirt senior Nick Gwiazdowski, the reigning and back-to-back national champion (No. 1 at 185 pounds and No. 2 pound-for-pound), join Rohskopf in FloWrestling’s rankings.

The team will have outdoor wrestle-offs Nov. 5 in the Brickyard before it starts its season against Army, Minnesota and Sacred Heart Nov. 15 in Troy, New York.