The No. 7 NC State wrestling team (6-1, 4-1 ACC) torched the Duke Blue Devils (0-5, 0-5 ACC) in a 37-6 win on Friday, Feb. 12 in Reynolds Coliseum. The Wolfpack’s last meet of the regular season comes on the heels of a close 16-17 loss to then-No. 8 Virginia Tech a week ago, the team’s only loss of the season.
No. 5 redshirt junior Jakob Camacho got the scoring underway for State, as he won his bout to the tune of six takedowns for a 14-5 major decision.
“The goal is to go out and score as many points as we can, as an individual and as a team,” said head coach Pat Popolizio. “For the most part, nine out of 10 weights, we did that, pushing the pace and scoring bonus points.”
The Wolfpack would pile on the points early and often as freshman Ryan Jack won his match 19-4 by technical fall to put State up 9-0.
Redshirt sophomore Jarrett Trombley continued this trend by winning 11-5, extending State’s lead in the dual to 12-0.
It was No. 31 freshman Ed Scott who the Blue Devils would test first, as his 149 match against No. 22 Josh Finesilver of Duke was the first bout of the match that NC State did not lead after the first two periods. After a neck-and-neck contest that saw Fishsilver and Scott deadlocked at three heading into the final period, Scott was able to secure the upset by notching nine third-period points in a 12-6 victory.
“That’s the biggest thing: don’t stop,” Popolizio said. “It looked like he gave up a takedown and stopped wrestling for a couple of seconds and then regrouped. [Scott] got that takedown and back points, which changed the momentum of that match. He’s young and inexperienced, the biggest thing for him is to compete right now, and that’s what he’s doing.”
The match quickly switched to a more defensive tone as freshman AJ Kovacs scored a 4-2 win for the Wolfpack in the 157, the final bout before intermission. Having swept the first half of the match, NC State led 18-0 at the break.
The first bout after intermission featured No. 17 redshirt senior Thomas Bullard, who was recognized along with the rest of Wolfpack wrestling’s seniors before the beginning of the dual.
“It’s always a blessing to be able to wrestle at Reynolds and be with the guys,” Bullard said. “Every chance I get, it has been fantastic. Being recognized on senior night and being able to compete for the team, it was good.”
Bullard wasted no time making the most of his last regular season bout, as he executed a win by pin to further assert the Pack’s dominance in the match.
“It feels good,” Bullard said. “I had a rocky season. Putting up some bonus points is always fun, no matter how the season is, but it was especially good on senior night.”
The next two bouts were more of the same for State, as redshirt sophomore Alex Faison posted a 22-11 victory in the 174 and No. 3 redshirt sophomore Trent Hidlay notched a win by default in the 184, as Duke elected to forfeit that bout.
One big surprise of the match was the defeat of NC State’s No. 9 freshman Isaac Trumble in the 197. Trumble was quickly subdued in the first period as Kaden Russell scored his first win of the season and Duke’s only points of the match.
“Obviously, it was quick,” Popolizio said. “He got taken down fast and cradled. He didn’t look ready to compete. Sometimes when you’re wrestling a team like that, you have to be ready to go. A lot of the other guys looked like they were energized and focused, and there was a little bit of a lack of focus. Sometimes you get a wake-up call, you get a takedown, get back to your feet and you can regroup. But [Russell] obviously locked up a cradle and it was trouble.”
No. 17 junior Deonte Wilson put the match to bed with a 6-2 win in the heavyweight bout. The final score of the match was 37-6 in favor of the Pack. With the regular season complete, NC State now shifts its focus to the postseason.
“It’s always good to go in winning,” Popolizio said. “This year’s conference tournament is going to be super competitive with the teams that we have to go in and face, so that part’s going to be big. But ultimately you have to show and compete. We have some things that we want to continue to fine-tune and be ready to go, but it was good to work on some things tonight overall as a team.”
The Wolfpack will vie for its third consecutive conference title in the ACC Championship on Saturday, Feb 28. The all-day event will be held at Reynolds Coliseum.
