The NC State Wolfpack wrestling team narrowly dropped its ACC opener 18-17 to the Duke Blue Devils Wednesday night in Reynolds Coliseum.
The Wolfpack (7-3 Overall, 0-1 ACC) got behind early, losing five of the first six bouts in the match and fell into a steep 15-3 deficit. The Blue Devils (5-1 Overall, 1-0 ACC) pulled out a number of close matches early on and seemed to have a grit and determination factor the Pack lacked.
“We wrestled a very good Duke team,” NC State head coach Pat Popolizio said. “A lot of our guys didn’t show up and didn’t have enough heart, and in the end Duke wanted it way more than our guys did tonight.”
Sophomore Pete Renda was the only sign of hope for the Pack to begin the evening, as he was the lone victor in the first six matches of the dual. However, redshirt junior Nick Gwiazdowski displayed his NCAA national champion skill set as he pinned his opponent just 53 seconds into his match.
“[Gwiazdowski] gets overlooked a lot because he is good,” Popolizio said. “But he went out and, when we needed it, got a pin and just put some points on the board.”
Gwiazdowski’s pin not only gave the Pack some much-needed points, but also helped it get on a run of its own; NC State won three matches in a row by either pin or major decision to make the score 17-15 heading into the final match.
Redshirt senior Joe DeAngelo and freshman Bryce Meredith had the takedown working for them as they were able to pull of major decision victories in a time of need for the Pack.
“Bryce Meredith wrestled the best we have seen him all year,” Popolizio said. “We got some big points from him there.”
The Blue Devils escaped the comeback, however, when Evan Botwin defeated Sam Speno of NC State by a score of 6-4 to win the match. Speno looked impressive to begin the match and was able to go out of round one with a 4-1 lead.
Botwin, however, showed skill on top as he was able to ride out Speno in the final two rounds and pick up some much needed points on his way to victory.
“A loss is a loss; whether you lose by one point or 15 points in the end it goes down as a loss,” Popolizio said. “I think Duke was way more fired up than our guys were and I think that is really what was costly to our program tonight. They wanted it way more than we did and it showed.”
The loss to Duke marks NC State’s first loss of the year to a non-ranked team as well as its first loss in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Despite the loss, the Wolfpack still holds the series lead against the Blue Devils 48-13 and has won 37 of the last 41 dual meets between the two teams.
The Wolfpack will look to bounce back from the close loss handed to the Blue Devils as the team faces off against the Lock Haven Bald Eagles, the Eastern Michigan Eagles and the Bloomsburg Huskies Sunday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
