Junior Kevin Jack lunges around a Duke wrestler for a takedown. The NC State wrestling team beat Duke 34-6 in the ACC opener at Reynolds Coliseum on Jan. 11." />
Logan LaBo
Junior Kevin Jack lunges around a Duke wrestler for a takedown. The NC State wrestling team beat Duke 34-6 in the ACC opener at Reynolds Coliseum on Jan. 11.
NC State’s 2016-17 wrestling season came to a close with a 17th place finish at the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis. The finish marked a fourth straight top-20 NCAA placement, tying an NC State school record.
Junior Kevin Jack achieved All-American status for the second time with his third-place podium finish. Redshirt sophomore Sean Fausz came just one win shy of All-American status after falling in the quarterfinals and then in the consolation bracket.
Jack entered the NCAA tournament with a chip on his shoulder after being upset in the second round to Bryce Meredith of Wyoming last year. This season, the ACC champion at 141 rode into St. Louis with the No. 2 seed and promptly defeated his first two opponents by a combined score of 10-0.
In the quarterfinals, Jack matched up with Meredith once again. In a wire-to-wire tough match, Jack fell, 6-5, to the No. 10 seed. The loss placed a disheartened Jack into the consolation bracket.
Refusing to accept defeat, Jack showed true determination in his next matches, winning three straight and reaching the third-place match. Standing in Jack’s way was none other than Meredith once again. Down 5-2 with under a minute to go in the third round, Jack pinned Meredith on his back, giving him the sweet revenge victory and a third-place podium finish.
“I thought it was an outstanding performance,” head coach Pat Popolizio told NC State Athletics. “For him to come back, obviously being disappointed in the quarters, and then showing true character, heart and the will to come back for himself and obviously our program, I thought that was huge.”
Fausz arrived in St. Louis with the No. 12 seed at 125 and dispatched his first opponent by pin. Faced with No. 5 Tim Lambert of Nebraska in the second round, Fausz pulled the upset with a 3-1 decision. No. 4 Darian Cruz ended Fausz’s run with a close 5-2 decision in the quarterfinals. Fausz couldn’t quite reach All-American status, falling just one match short when he lost his first round in the consolation bracket.
No. 10 Michael Macchiavello picked up a 5-3 first-round win but fell to No. 7 T.J. Dudley of Nebraska, 6-1, in the second. The loss put Macchiavello into the consolation bracket, where he picked up two wins, but couldn’t quite reach All-American status, falling 3-1 to No. 12 Drew Foster of UNI.
No. 15 redshirt sophomore Jamal Morris was upset in his first-round match, losing 5-2 to unranked Joseph Palmer of Oregon State. Morris went on to win two matches in the consolation bracket before falling 9-3 to No. 9 Scotty Parker of Lehigh.
Redshirt senior Sam Speno finished his NC State wrestling career at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Speno went 0-2 in the Championships, first losing a close 8-5 match in the first round and then an even closer 9-7 match in the consolation bracket. Speno ended his career a three-time NCAA qualifier.
The only other redshirt senior, Mike Kosoy, went 1-2 in the heavyweight bracket. In his final wrestling tournament, Kosoy upset No. 13 Collin Jensen of Nebraska, 5-2, in the first round before narrowly falling 2-0 to No. 4 Jacob Kasper of Duke in the second. Kosoy lost his first consolation bracket round, 4-3, in overtime. The Boca Raton native finished his NC State wrestling career a one-time NCAA qualifier.
True freshmen Thomas Bullard in the 157 bracket and Nick Reenan in the 174 bracket went a combined 0-4 in their NCAA Championships debuts. Both Bullard and Reenan finished their first collegiate wrestling seasons with over 20 wins.
Redshirt junior Brian Hamann went 1-2 in the 165 bracket in his first ever NCAA Championship, losing his first round match, 7-0, but picked up a 5-3 win in his first consolation bracket match. Hamann’s Championships ended with a 7-2 defeat at the hands of No. 13 Brandon Womack of Cornell.
Closing out NC State’s record 10 NCAA qualifiers was redshirt sophomore Malik McDonald in the 197 bracket. McDonald posted an 0-2 record in St. Louis after falling 16-6 in the first round and by fall in his first consolation bracket round. McDonald finished his season with over 20 wins.
The 2017 season marked a second straight runner-up ACC regular season finish and a runner-up finish in the ACC Championships. In what many saw as a rebuilding year for Popolizio’s squad, the Wolfpack defied expectations all season long, qualifying all 10 starters for the NCAAs and returning to Raleigh with a 17th-place finish. With eight of those 10 returning for the 2017-18 season, NC State will look to build on its success.