N.C. State redshirt sophomore wrestler Nick Gwiazdowski earned a second-place finish in the 285 weight class at the 2014 Southern Scuffle. Four other members of the Wolfpack made it to the second day of action in the two-day event, which took place on Wednesday and Thursday.
“It was a good test against top-caliber guys in the middle of the season,” Gwiazdowski said.
Gwiazdowski (22-2) went into the scuffle seeded second and ranked fifth by the NCAA. Gwiazdowski’s only previous loss had come at the hands of Michigan freshman Adam Coon in an overtime victory at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Coon went on to win the tournament, while Gwiazdowski finished third.
After earning a bye in the first round, Gwiazdowski recorded his 10th pin of the season against Denzel Dejournette of Appalachian State. The State heavyweight then won three straight matches, including a 7-3 decision over Ohio senior Jeremy Johnson, to earn a berth in the final against Minnesota senior Anthony Nelson, ranked No. 1 in the nation. Johnson previously defeated Gwiazdowski in the 2012 NCAA championship.
Nelson, a two-time NCAA defending champion, was too much for Gwiazdowski, as the Golden Gopher took a 1-0 lead in the second period and maintained the score through the remainder of the match.
“We expected [the match] to be close,” N.C. State head coach Pat Popolizio said. “We were hoping to get the win, but came up short on some things.”
Gwiazdowski and Nelson are familiar opponents, as both were selected to compete in the U.S. World Team Trials during the past summer, with Gwiazdowski recording two wins over Nelson at the Trials.
“[The familiarity] might have helped him a little bit,” Gwiazdowski said. “He figured out how I beat him in the summer. I went out there looking for the same type of attacks, when I should have planned on him making adjustments.”
As a team, the State wrestling squad earned a 21st place finish in the 33-team tournament. Four Pack starters sat out of the tournament for various reasons. Top-ranked Penn State won the scuffle for a fourth straight time, with 12 of its wrestlers making the quarterfinal in their respective weight classes.
N.C. State junior Tommy Gantt, freshman Pete Renda, freshman Michael Macchiavello and redshirt sophomore Bill Cook all advanced to the second day of competition after winning two of their three matches on Wednesday.
Gantt, the 10th seed in his weight class, barely missed finishing in the top eight, as a sudden-victory overtime loss to Luke Smith of Central Michigan eliminated him one round shy.
Four of the five members of the Pack who competed on Thursday are sophomores or younger. Popolizio said that while the talent is there, experience will only help the group.
“We’re an extremely young team, one of the youngest in the country,” Popolizio said. “As a coaching staff, we’re very patient because we know eventually [the team’s] development will all come together. A lot of these guys are inexperienced, but they’re hard-working and committed. We just need to get experience right now.”
State’s next competition will be on Jan. 11 when the Pack travels to No. 12 Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers in the first ACC match of the season.
