The No. 5 NC State wrestling team is looking for another ACC Championship win this season, along with another stellar NCAA Tournament performance. While the Pack is returning a lot of its heavy hitters, its schedule doesn’t present too much of a challenge before the final tournaments.

“I think it’s putting the pieces to the puzzle together,” said head coach Pat Popolizio. “A new year with a lot of really good talent and leadership from the last couple years. So I don’t think anything changes for us. It’s just preparing and smart training.”

The Wolfpack will open its season with two tournaments, the Citadel Open and the Wolfpack Wrestling Club Open, on back-to-back weekends.

West Virginia, Nov. 21

West Virginia finished last season with a record of 7-3, and earned 31st overall in the NCAA tournament. The Pack hasn’t seen the Mountaineers in a one-on-one matchup like this since 2019, where NC State was able to beat West Virginia. InterMat’s preseason rankings include three West Virginia wrestlers, two of which are freshmen this year. In the 149-pound weight class, Luke Karam is ranked No. 32. Peyton Hall is ranked No. 16 in the 165-pound weight class. Meanwhile, Michael Wolfgram is ranked No. 32 in the heavyweight class.

Gardner-Webb, Dec. 2

Gardner-Webb had a 4-7 record last year, coming fourth in the SoCon championship and sending one wrestler to the NCAA tournament, who was knocked out in the second round. The Pack handily beat Gardner-Webb in its opening matchup last season and as the Bulldogs’ record was not great last year, NC State should be able to claim victory once again. InterMat preseason rankings have the Bulldogs’ Rodrick Mosley ranked No. 28 in the 165-pound weight class.

at Appalachian State, Dec. 12

App State went 7-2 last season and came second in the SoCon championship, leading to seven qualifiers for the NCAA tournament. One of App State’s two losses came against the Pack last season. InterMat has seven wrestlers from App State in the top 30 of the preseason rankings. Starting with No. 20 Codi Russell in the 125-pound weight class, No. 25 Sean Carter in the 133-pound weight class, No. 30 Anthony Brito in the 141-pound weight class, No. 9 Jonathan Milner in the 149-pound weight class, No. 27 Cody Bond in the 157-pound weight class, No. 26 Will Formato in the 165-pound weight class and No. 25 Thomas Flitz in the 174-pound weight class are all leading this team. Given App State’s successful 2020 season and many upper level wrestlers, this team will probably be the first to give NC State any trouble.

The Collegiate Wrestling Duals and Southern Scuffle will occur Dec. 20-21 and Jan. 1-2 respectively.

at Rider, Jan. 8

Rider only competed in five one-on-one matches last season, but went 4-1 in those, placing third in the MAC Championship and finishing 20th in the NCAA tournament. NC State has not competed against Rider one-on-one since 2011, so there really is no way to predict how the Pack will compete against the Broncs.

Rider has three wrestlers in InterMat’s top-30 preseason rankings: No. 24 Richie Koelher in the 133-pound weight class, No. 22 Quinn Kinner in the 141-pound weight class and No. 26 Matt Correnti in the 197-pound weight class.

at No. 22 Princeton, Jan. 9

Princeton has not competed since March 2020, but went 9-4 in the 2019-20 season and came fifth in the EIWA Championship. The Tigers did compete against NC State in that season, where the Pack was able to secure a win against them.

Most notably in the InterMat preseason rankings, in the 125-pound weight class in Patrick Glory being ranked second, followed by Quincy Monday ranked eighth in the 157-pound weight class. Grant Cuomo is ranked No. 24 in the 165-pound weight class and Travis Stefanik is ranked No. 26 in the 184-pound weight class.

No. 6 Virginia Tech, Jan. 21

Virginia Tech was undefeated last year, going 9-0, coming second in the ACC Championship. The Hokies were the only team that was able to take down the Pack last season, but only by one point, which will mean this will likely be a close one for NC State.

The Hokies have a ranked wrestler in almost every weight class, according to InterMat. In the 125-pound weight class, Sam Latona is ranked No. 8. Korbin Myers is ranked No. 5 in the 133-pound weight class, while Bryce Andonian is ranked No. 8 in the 149-pound weight class. In the 157-pound weight class, Connor Brady is ranked No. 30. Mekhi Lewis is ranked No. 4 in the 174-pound weight class, with Hunter Bolen ranked No. 9 in the 184-pound weight class. Nathan Traxler is ranked No. 15 in the heavyweight class.

“Anytime you have a higher level of competition on your scheduled calendar, which we have a couple days like that, that really makes the guys zone in the weeks prior to that for training,” Popolizio said of Virginia Tech. “So just being super disciplined when it comes to weight management and making sure we’re feeling good leading up to those competitions will be critical.”

at Duke, Jan. 28

Duke went last season without any victories, 0-5, finished in last place at the ACC Championship and finished tied for 48th in the NCAA tournament. NC State was one of the teams that took down the Blue Devils last season, most likely making for an easy conference matchup this year. Duke only has two ranked wrestlers, according to InterMat. Josh Finesilver is ranked No. 12 in the 149-pound weight class and Matt Finesilver is ranked No. 8 in the 174-pound weight class.

Virginia, Feb. 4

Virginia had a record of 3-3 last season, finishing fourth at the ACC Championship and had eight wrestlers qualify for the NCAA tournament. NC State took the victory over Virginia last season, giving the Pack another relatively easy conference matchup.

Ranked for Virginia according to InterMat are Brian Courtney, No. 19 in the 133-pound weight class, Jake Keating, ranked No. 19 in the 157-pound weight class, Justin McCoy, ranked No. 20 in the 165-pound weight class, Victor Marcelli, ranked No. 30 in the 174-pound weight class, Jay Aiello, ranked No. 16 in the 197-pound weight class and finally Quinn Miller, ranked No. 21 in the heavyweight class.

at No. 15 Pitt, Feb. 11

No. 15 Pitt went 3-4 last year, came fifth in the ACC Championship and finished 11th in the NCAA tournament. The Panthers had two wrestlers earn silver at the NCAA tournament. The Pack took down Pitt last season, but seeing as Pitt is ranked this year prior to the beginning of the season, this could turn into a difficult match for NC State as the season goes on.

InterMat has five Pitt wrestlers ranked: No. 22 Gage Curry in the 125-pound weight class, No. 7 Micky Phillipi in the 133-pound weight class, No. 20 Cole Matthews in the 141-pound weight class, No. 4 Jake Wentzel in the 165-pound weight class and No. 2 Nino Bonaccorsi in the 197-pound weight class.

No. 12 UNC-Chapel Hill, Feb. 18

UNC went 5-2 last year, coming in third in the ACC Championship and earning 16th in the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels’ Austin O’Connor earned the first gold at the NCAA tournament for an ACC team since 1995 last year. NC State was able to secure a victory over UNC last season, and depending on how the season goes, this should end the regular season for the Pack on a winning note.

InterMat has a UNC wrestler ranked in almost every weight class: No. 13 Jamie Hernandez in the 133-pound weight class, No. 14 Kizhan Clarke in the 141-pound weight class, No. 5 Zach Sherman in the 149-pound weight class, No. 2 Austin O’Connor in the 157-pound weight class, No. 22 Gavin Kane in the 174-pound weight class, No. 17 Clay Lautt in the 184-pound weight class and No. 23 Max Shaw in the 197-pound weight class.