The NC State wrestling team finished with its best season in over two decades, placing 11th overall at the NCAAs this season and having redshirt senior Nick Gwiazdowski finish as heavyweight runner-up. Over the last four years, one man has been a huge influence in the team’s rise to the top.
Head coach Pat Popolizio arrived at NC State in 2013 following a successful tenure as head coach of Binghamton. Coming into the job, Popolizio knew of some of the history behind individual Wolfpack champions such as Darrion Caldwell in 2009 and Sylvester Terkay in 1993. Former head coach Bob Guzzo also had quite the career, compiling a 356-183-7 (155-50 ACC) record and won 13 ACC Championships in 30 years.
“When people talk about NC State, they talk about [Bob] Guzzo,” Popolizio said. “Right now, I hope to build onto that legacy and leave my mark on this program and this school.”
During his career, Popolizio wrestled for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, one of the most storied programs in college wrestling. Popolizio even spent time during his senior year ranked as the best wrestler in his weight class. For Popolizio, the coaching staff was a major part of his success there.
“Oklahoma State is where I learned the most philosophy-wise,” Popolizio said. “Everybody thinks that the transition from player to coach is easy, but it’s not. Luckily for me, I had a lot of great coaches and people around me to help me.”
In addition to having a solid foundation at Oklahoma State, Popolizio’s brother, Frank, runs the Journeymen Wrestling program for the northeast region of the country. The program is designed to get wrestlers from the East Coast and northern region of the United States the training they need to compete with wrestlers from the Midwest.
While both are very involved in coaching wrestling, as far as any sibling rivalry in the house, Popolizio made it clear who was better.
“There was no rivalry between us,” Popolizio said. “I was always bigger and stronger, so I never had to worry about him beating me.”
Popolizio also had one of his most rewarding moments as a head coach when the Wolfpack traveled to Stillwater, Oklahoma to take on the Cowboys this season. The Wolfpack won its last four matches of the night to escape with a victory over the then third-ranked Cowboys. For the head coach, it was a very special moment, not just for himself, but for the team as well.
“That was extremely rewarding, not just because I wrestled there, but to see these guys’ faces when they got that historic win,” Popolizio said. “That was the most rewarding part of it for me.”
One thing that Popolizio preaches to his players very much is to hit the books just as hard as they hit the mats. Before coming to NC State, Popolizio had numerous Academic All-Americans on his rosters. He preaches to work hard in the classroom because classes were a struggle for him when he was in college.
“When I was in college, I always struggled with my studies and class,” Popolizio said. “I always make sure the team is always working hard in the classroom because that aspect is very important to me.”
Since his arrival to NC State, Popolizio has taken the program from a group that can occasionally compete for a title, to a team that can compete for a championship year after year. It’s a change in which most of the other sports on campus are beginning to take notice.
Elliott Avent, head coach of the NC State baseball team, hosted the wrestling team at Doak Field during a weekend series against the Boston College Eagles.
“We had them out for a Saturday game against Boston College,” Avent told Around the Bases. “We were going to have Pat and Gwiz throw out the first pitch, but Gwiz backed out. Tommy Gantt threw out the first pitch, and Pat lobbed it from home plate. Those are a great group of guys.”
Avent was also watching the team when Gwiazdowski lost in the championship bout of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
“We have a school here that’s really embraced wrestling,” Avent said. “It was just heartbreaking to see the way [Nick] Gwiazdowski lost. I was at Dail Park, hoping for some retribution.”
For “Skipper Pat,” it’s always a great feeling to have the other athletics’ departments interested in the team.
“We had [Mark] Gottfried and [Dave] Doeren come out to some of our matches,” Popolizio said. “It’s been a great experience to have those teams come out and support us.”
The trademark of Popolizio is his ability to get results. During his time at Binghamton, Popolizio took the program from a subpar program to a team that could compete with some of the best teams in the country. As for where he sees the Wolfpack during the next few seasons, Popolizio indicated there is a lot of potential.
“I think the sky’s the limit here,” Popolizio said. “I obviously came here because we can do great things here. Alongside with our recruiting class and the Raleigh, we have the vision here and the goal remains the same: to win a national championship.”
