Besides the lone blemish that came to top-10 ranked Nebraska in December, the NC State wrestling team is used to dominating its opponents. For the first time this season, Pack wrestlers had to battle from behind to the 23-16 win over Pittsburgh in Reynolds Coliseum Friday night.
The No. 8 Wolfpack (11-1, 4-0 ACC) used a furious comeback that included winning four of five matches after the intermission and the final three to tame the No. 25 Panthers (8-5, 0-3 ACC). NC State won six of 10 matches on the night, two of which were technical-fall wins.
Heading into intermission, the Pack found itself down 13-7, an unfamiliar position for many on the team. Head coach Pat Popolizio used the break to address the issues from the first five matches.
“It got pretty intense in the back, not gonna lie,” Popolizio said. “I don’t think our staff was very pleased with the guys that went out and left some points on the board and didn’t capitalize in positions when we felt like we had opportunities to score. The good news is our team showed a lot of character and the next five guys that went out there showed that.”
The opening 285 match between redshirt senior Mike Kosoy of NC State and Richard Solomon of Pitt needed not one, not two, but six extra periods to finally proclaim a winner. After the two traded escape points in the dueling 30 second extra periods, running on fumes, Kosoy went on the offensive, but was caught off guard. Solomon landed a takedown to claim the bout in nine periods, 5-3.
Up next, redshirt sophomore Sean Fausz used his agility to get multiple takedowns early and hold on to defeat his opponent, 10-5. Fausz’s win evened the team score at 3-3.
In the next matchup, redshirt sophomore Jamal Morris was simply outmatched. No. 8 Dom Forys dominated Morris in the third period and got a 15-4 major decision.
Junior No. 2 Kevin Jack put his 24-1 record on the line when he faced off against No. 31 Nick Zanetta in the 141 bout. Jack outmaneuvered his opponent to register consecutive takedowns during the second period, and followed that with a commanding third period to propel himself to a 19-6 major decision victory. Jack’s win tied the team score at 7 after four periods.
With one bout to go before the intermission, the Pack found itself in a dire situation. The winner of the next match would have all the momentum heading into the break.
Redshirt junior Beau Donahue faced off against No. 31 Mikey Racciato. An even first two periods led to a 5-5 tie heading into the third. With 22 seconds remaining, Racciato pinned Donahue, giving himself the win and the Panthers six points, opening up a sizeable 13-7 lead at the halfway mark of the night.
Coming out of intermission, freshman No. 28 Thomas Bullard hit the mat. The highly-contested 157 match went down to the wire, with entities dueling to the end. After three periods the score was deadlocked at 7 points. Bullard wasted no time in overtime and just 22 seconds in, he got a takedown to secure the win, 9-7.
Pittsburgh lost a team point in the 157 bout, but still clung to a 12-10 lead over the Wolfpack.
No. 24 Brian Hamann was next up for NC State. The redshirt junior faced off against No. 11 TeShan Campbell, who held an impressive 14-2 record on the year. Campbell was simply too strong for Hamann, riding him for over three minutes on his way to a 5-1 win.
Campbell’s victory over Hamann put the Panthers up 15-10 with three bouts remaining.
With the match on the line, freshman Nick Reenan took to the mat. Reenan jumped out of the gate, scoring multiple takedowns and holding a significant advantage in riding time. Reenan found himself up 19-7 with 30 seconds to go in the third period. Knowing that he needed one more takedown to give NC State the tech-fall win, he exploded out of a neutral start, forcing his opponent to get disqualified for stalling, and giving NC State a much needed six points.
After the match, Popolizio stated the importance of Reenan’s influential win.
“It’s huge for our team, it’s huge for him,” Popolizio said. “Building confidence in that aspect, but when you’re in these dual meets its good for the team morale, we needed some momentum to shift and he did that.”
No. 10 Michael Macchiavello and No. 24 Malik McDonald were business as usual for the Wolfpack. Both dismantled their opponents, Macchiavello winning by decision 9-4 and McDonald winning by major, 10-2.
McDonald’s win put the finishing touches on the comeback as the Wolfpack notched its fourth ACC win on the year with the dispatching of Pitt.
Although the win was sweet, NC State won’t have much time to savor it. The Pack hosts West Virginia on Sunday, Feb. 5.
“It’s competitive, but at this time of the year we need to be ready to compare ourselves to the national tournament and stimulate that,” Popolizio said.
The match is slated to begin at 1 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum.
