NC State wrestling will face off against Pittsburgh Saturday in the Wolfpack’s second ACC matchup of the season. NC State (11-0, 1-0 ACC) trounced Virginia 28-9 last week, while Pittsburgh (7-2, 0-1 ACC) blanked Duke 50-0 in its lone ACC matchup.
The Panthers have faced three top-10 teams thus far, posting a 1-2 record. Pitt fell to No. 3 Ohio State at home and at No. 9 Oklahoma State, but pulled off an impressive 19-18 upset on criteria at No. 7 Lehigh. It has four ranked wrestlers to NC State’s five, and that means there are some marquee matchups on the horizon.
The bout of the night will probably end up being at 184 pounds. Redshirt freshman Trent Hidlay, ranked No. 3 in the country, will take on No. 7 Nino Bonaccorsi. Trent’s no stranger to tough competition, with a 3-2 record against top-10 wrestlers at his weight so far this year. Bonaccorsi’s no slouch either; he wrestled his way to a second-place finish at last year’s ACC tournament and so far this year he has a ranked win over No. 17 Jelani Embree. The two wrestled in the Southern Scuffle, with Hidlay making the final and Bonaccorsi losing in the semifinal to the eventual champ Lou DePrez.
There are two ranked wrestlers with some prior experience with each other, and they wrestle at 165 pounds. Redshirt junior Thomas Bullard, ranked No. 13, defeated No. 12 Jake Wentzel 4-1 previously this year, and Bullard has a chance to go 2-0 against Wentzel on Saturday.
Another matchup to watch is 133 pounds’ matchup of redshirt freshman Jarrett Trombley and No. 6 Micky Phillippi. Trombley looked impressive his last time out, getting a 4-2 decision over No. 19 Louie Hayes in a bout that didn’t feel as close as the final score indicated.
The biggest question mark for the Wolfpack is the health of No. 20 Nick Reenan, a junior wrestling at 197 pounds. Reenan took a bad blow to the knee against Virginia’s No. 9 Jay Aiello shortly after the bout began and was forced from competition. Afterwards, head coach Pat Popolizio noted there was no need to push Reenan to continue and it appears the staff is taking it slow with him. He’s currently not listed as probable starter, which means there’s a good chance he gets the week off.
Saturday’s matchup is the first of three straight ranked ACC opponents for NC State. It’s the only road matchup of the stretch, making it possibly the most dangerous. Facing so many quality opponents in a row will be tough, but Popolizio seemed excited to face that level of competition.
“We’re training to beat all the best guys in the country,” Popolizio said after last week’s win over Virginia. “We know we’ve got to be ready. Those guys all have good programs, and we’re ready to be tested and win those tight team and individual matches.”
