The NC State wrestling team dropped its first ACC dual match of the year to Virginia Tech Saturday evening in Blacksburg, Virginia. Tech won six of 10 bouts en route to a 20-14 victory.
The No. 8 Wolfpack (12-2, 4-1 ACC) rolled into Cassell Coliseum with hopes of upsetting the No. 5 Hokies (16-1, 5-0 ACC), but ultimately couldn’t complete the comeback. Virginia Tech took home the regular season ACC Dual Meet Championship for the second-straight year with the win.
Redshirt junior No. 10 Michael Macchiavello started the night off for NC State in a big way when he scored a takedown and a four-point near fall in the third period to defeat No. 5 Zack Zavatsky, 9-3 in the 184 bout. The loss was only Zavatsky’s second of the season.
The win brought Macchiavello to 21-5 on the year, and put the Wolfpack up 3-0 in the title match.
Virginia Tech responded with three-straight wins, however. At 197, redshirt sophomore No. 25 Malik McDonald couldn’t overcome No. 3 Jared Haught, narrowly avoiding the major decision, 8-2.
In the heavyweights, redshirt junior Michael Boykin was no match for No. 5 Ty Walz. Walz used a huge third period, scoring 10 points, to get the 13-4 major decision over Boykin.
In the 125 bout, redshirt sophomore No. 23 Sean Fausz had his hands full with two-time ACC champion No. 4 Joey Dance. Fausz struck first with an early takedown, but couldn’t muster anything more than an escape point for the rest of match. Dance gave Tech its second-consecutive major decision, 12-3.
After four bouts, Virginia Tech had turned a 3-0 deficit into a sizeable 11-3 lead.
NC State needed a win to get back into the match before the intermission, and it found just that in redshirt sophomore No. 16 Jamal Morris. Morris came up in the clutch for the Pack by holding on for 5-4 decision in the 133 bout.
At the break, the Hokies were on top of the Wolfpack, 11-6, after winning three of the first five matchups.
Coming out of the break, junior No. 2 Kevin Jack completely annihilated his opponent, scoring multiple takedowns to get the 21-6 technical-fall victory. With the win, Jack moved to 26-1 on the season and added to his unblemished 11-0 dual record.
The Tech fall was huge for NC State, as it evened the team score at 11 with only four matchups remaining.
For the 149 bout, redshirt senior No. 10 Sam Speno put his undefeated dual meet record on the line to face No. 6 Solomon Chishko. The second top-10 matchup of the evening was a battle, with the score reading 4-3 in favor of Chishko heading into the final period. Chishko used a big third to hand Speno his first dual loss on the year, taking the decision 8-3.
Freshman No. 24 Thomas Bullard couldn’t keep up with No. 16 Sal Mastriani in the 157 matchup. While the two traded takedowns in the first, Mastriani pulled away late to earn a 12-6 victory.
Down 17-11 with only two bouts remaining, the Wolfpack was in must-win mode. In order to win the ACC dual meet championship, NC State had to win out.
When his team needed him to, redshirt junior Chad Pyke stepped up to the mat and wrestled admirably. Pyke compiled two first period takedowns and a reversal in the second to hold a 8-3 advantage heading into the home stretch. Using the third to score even more points, Pyke narrowly missed out on bonus points, but still earned a big-time win, defeating his opponent 13-7.
With only one bout remaining, NC State found itself down 17-14. A decision win in the 174 bout would tie the matchup, and anything extra would give the Wolfpack the championship.
However, it was not meant to be. Freshman No. 33 Nick Reenan stepped onto the mat to face No. 5 Zach Epperly, who was 15-1 on the year. Reenan wrestled his heart out, but couldn’t overcome the veteran. Epperly took the bout 5-3, and Virginia Tech took the win, 20-14.
NC State fell just short of earning the upset victory. The loss was State’s first since December.
The Wolfpack wrestlers will get another shot at the Hokies during the ACC championships, which will be held inside Reynolds Coliseum on March 4.
With the win, Virginia Tech secured a spot in the NWCA National Duals against a Big Ten opponent. At 12-2 overall, NC State is likely to get an at-large bid to the national duals. The matchup would take place in Reynolds on Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.