Just four years ago, the No. 4 NC State Wolfpack wrestling team finished 63rd in the country and brought in head coach Pat Popolizio to get the Wolfpack in a position to win against the country’s top programs. On Monday, the four years of hard work paid off.
The Wolfpack (23-1) went to Iowa City and defeated the historically great No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes (16-1), the team’s ninth win over a team ranked in the National Wrestling Coaches Association top 25.
The win is the most significant in both team and ACC history. In addition to another NCWA top-25 win, NC State becomes the first school in conference history to defeat the Hawkeyes in wrestling and to do so in Iowa.
The match got started with redshirt freshmen Sean Fausz and Jamal Morris, who got things started at 125-pound and 133-pound weight classes, respectively. Both were taken out relatively easy by the Hawkeyes wrestlers, as they registered a major decision on Fausz, 13-5, and a decision on Morris to go up 7-0 with sophomore No. 3 Kevin Jack coming up at 141 pounds.
Jack took on Brody Grothus and proved to be too much for the Hawkeye. Jack jumped to an early 6-1 lead after one period and didn’t look back, registering a tech-fall win over Grothus 18-3 to get the Wolfpack five team points from the match. Sophomore Beau Donahue followed up with a loss against undefeated No. 2 Brandon Sorenson by a major decision to keep the Wolfpack trailing 11-5.
It was up to redshirt senior No. 2 Tommy Gantt to get the Wolfpack back into the match against No. 17 Edwin Cooper Jr. at 157 pounds, one of four rematches of the Midland Championships earlier this year.
Things got chippy between both teams during the second period as Gantt surrendered a penalty point after apparently throwing a punch. Gantt managed to keep his composure and come through to get a 13-5 major decision to put the Wolfpack behind 11-9 going into intermission.
Things got heated between the head coaches for both programs during the first half of the match, with both sides getting a bench warning in addition to several shouting matches between Popolizio and Iowa head coach Tom Brands during multiple bouts. Both coaches managed to settle some following the intermission.
Junior No. 6 Max Rohskopf came out following the intermission against Patrick Rhodes and got to work in the second period. Rohskopf got a takedown after defending a shot from Rhodes and didn’t give up the lead, eventually winning 6-3 to give NC State its first lead of the night at 12-11 with four matches to go.
Sophomore Nicky Hall attempted to preserve the lead for the Wolfpack against No. 10 Alex Meyer at 174 pounds but could not hold on to his early 2-1 lead in the first, as he fell 4-2. Despite the loss, the decision only put the Wolfpack behind Iowa 14-12 with No. 17 Pete Renda coming up at 184 pounds.
Renda battled against No. 9 Sammy Brooks, his second-straight top-11 opponent. Renda came out swinging against Brooks and registered two takedowns to get a 4-1 lead going into the second. Renda held on during the second and the third period to get the 7-3 decision to put the Wolfpack back on top, 15-14, with two bouts left.
At 197 pounds, sophomore No. 16 Michael Boykin had a tough matchup against No. 4 Nathan Burak, who only had one loss coming into the dual. Although Burak came out victorious, he was only able to achieve a decision, putting the Wolfpack behind 17-15 with redshirt senior No. 1 Nick Gwiazdowski on the mat in a winner-take-all match.
Gwiazdowski challenged No. 6 Sam Stoll in the heavyweight bout, got two takedowns in the first period and injured Stoll on the second takedown. Stoll tried to continue on through the fight, but had to forfeit the match due to injury, sealing the 21-17 victory and an individual record of 55-0 in dual meets for Gwiazdowski.
Following the final dual meet of the season, the Wolfpack will be preparing for the ACC Championships in Charlottesville, Virginia and then the NCAA Championships at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
