Redshirt senior Sam Speno attacked first, scoring a two-point takedown in the opening period. During the second period, he managed to garner over a minute of riding time. In the third and final period, Speno found himself tied at 2-2, but as the buzzer sounded, he knew that his riding time would grant him the victory.

The referee held his hand up briefly before he walked off the mat in Reynolds Coliseum with the 3-2 decision win.

While it wasn’t a high-scoring affair, Speno’s 3-2 win over West Virginia’s Christian Monserrat was a big one … It was his senior day match.

Speno is one of two redshirt seniors this year for NC State, with the other being Mike Kosoy.

Speno has been a major component of the wrestling team at NC State University, a program that just last year won its 15th ACC Championship and has been ranked inside the top 10 of the national poll for the entirety of this year’s campaign.

As a redshirt senior, he has spent every year since the 2012-13 season as a member of Wolfpack wrestling, by no means an easy endeavor.

In those five years, Speno has grown on and off the mat. He credits head coach Pat Popolizio for helping him succeed. Popolizio came to the helm of Wolfpack wrestling when Speno was a freshman.

“He’s basically done everything since I’ve gotten here,” Speno said. “He’s helped me mature as a wrestler and an adult, keeping me on top of all my stuff. I remember I struggled a little bit with schoolwork when I first got here, but him and the other coaches kept me in line and basically showed me that I need to be responsible.”

Coming in as a freshman, Speno was the team’s starter at 133 pounds. He went 16-14 on the year and finished with a trip to the NCAA Championships, a meritable feat.

Speno came back for his second season and changed to the 141 class. This time around, he finished the year with an impressive 26-12 record and once again made the NCAAs.

With two-straight NCAA qualifications, Speno had his eyes set on a title. But at the beginning of his junior season, he was hit with a setback.

Speno contracted the disease: infectious mononucleosis, more commonly known as mono.

The disease kept him off of the mat for nearly a month. Popolizio was left with no choice, and selected then-freshman Kevin Jack to fill the void.

And when Jack got his chance, he shined.

“Kevin [Jack] came in and he wrestled as an All-American there so he was going to stay at 141,” Speno said.

Where some might view the setback as a burden, Speno thinks of it more as a blessing.

“That actually helped me out going up to 149,” Speno said. “I think I wrestled better. I didn’t have to worry so much about cutting weight.”

After redshirting last season, meaning he didn’t compete in any team dual matches, Speno has excelled in wrestling at 149 for NC State.

“This is my best season yet by far, beating guys that I never beat before,” Speno said. “I think that has to do with a lot of my strength that I had got going up to 149.”

So far this year, Speno has compiled an impressive 20-5 overall record, which includes a perfect 8-0 record in dual meets. Only All-American Kevin Jack has been able to match his undefeated dual feat.

While the team lost some big names and important pieces from last season’s 23-1 record-setting ACC Champion squad, the team has performed above expectations this year, going 12-1 (4-0 ACC) so far.

“The team is doing really well actually,” Speno said. “I don’t think people expected us to even do this well or be as good as we are since we lost [two-time National Champion] Nick Gwiazdowski and [NCAA qualifier] Tommy Gantt, who were huge contributors to our wins last year.”

As a senior leader, Speno says that some of the younger guys will come up to him from time to time and ask for advice, but at times he finds himself asking them for help too.

“Everybody has something that makes them different, that makes them excel, and I think we can all learn from each other,” Speno said.

Speno will be graduating with a degree in sport management this upcoming May. As for his plans after that, he said he’s still weighing his options. One thing is for sure though, he would like to stay in North Carolina.

For Speno, however, May is still a long ways away, and right now he’s got work to do.

And he’s not done yet.