#3 PackWrestle: New Rankings & Duke Preview

New Rankings

Going into the final week of the regular season, the NC State wrestling team (14-0, 4-0) held-serve at #3 in the national rankings by the NWCA. This is likely where the Pack will remain for the final dual poll next week, as both #1 Iowa and #2 Penn State are unlikely to stumble in their remaining duals.

And as you know, with each new week of results comes a new week of rankings. Check out where our guys slotted in according to FloWrestling, after their win against Virginia Tech.

• 125: Camacho #15 (last week: 16)
• 133: Trombley #23 (NR)
• 141: T. Wilson #13 (11)
• 157: H. Hidlay #2 (2)
• 165: T. Bullard #8 (10)
• 174: D. Bullard #16 (15)
• 184: T. Hidlay #3 (3)
• 285: D. Wilson #24 (NR)

Both Trombley and Deonte Wilson deservedly re-enter the rankings this week after their huge top-25 wins in the Virginia Tech dual.

Duke Dual

How to Watch: ACC Network

On Friday night, the Pack will travel to Cameron Indoor to take on the only-defeated Duke Blue Devils (0-16, 0-4) for a chance to clinch the ACC dual championship. After having faced three top-10 ACC foes in consecutive weeks, I’m sure Pop’s guys will be happy to have the opportunity to finish off the season on a less intense note.

The Blue Devils have had a season to forget. Mind you, this is not a program expected to be in the top-25 each year, but even for their standards, this is bad. Of their 16 dual losses on the season, they have only reached a double-digit team score twice. The Duke lineup boasts zero ranked wrestlers, and only one starter with a winning record. Despite their complete lack of scholarships, Duke has had an All-American in each of the last six seasons - that run will certainly end this year. They’ve redshirted a couple of vital pieces to their lineup, but that won’t help them this year, and definitely won’t on Friday night either.

The Pack should roll in this one, and I would be surprised if we didn’t sweep all ten weights. However, Pop could see this as an opportunity to get some starters a little rest and let a few bench guys jump into the lineup for some TV time, so don’t hold me to that! Probable lineups and my predictions are below:

• 125: #15 Jakob Camacho vs. forfeit (Camacho forfeit; 6-0 NCSU)
• 133: #23 Jarrett Trombley vs. Harrison Campbell (Trombley pin; 12-0 NCSU)
• 141: #13 Tariq Wilson vs. Bryson Neace (Wilson tech fall; 17-0 NCSU)
• 149: AJ Leitten vs. Wade Unger (Leitten major; 21-0 NCSU)
• 157: #2 Hayden Hidlay vs. Eric Carter (Hidlay tech fall; 26-0 NCSU)
• 165: #8 Thomas Bullard vs. Benjamin Anderson (Bullard decision; 29-0 NCSU)
• 174: #16 Daniel Bullard vs. Mason Eaglin (Bullard decision; 32-0 NCSU)
• 184: #3 Trent Hidlay vs. Kai Blake (Hidlay major; 36-0 NCSU)
• 197: Nick Reenan or Tyrie Houghton vs. Vincent Baker (Houghton decision; 39-0 NCSU)
• 285: #24 Deonte Wilson vs. Jonah Niesenbaum (Wilson decision; 42-0 NCSU)

I’ll also go on the record and predict that we don’t see any more wardrobe malfunctions from Coach Hall.

This one will likely be ugly, but I think it will be super beneficial to the team to be able to reset after the tough stretch they overcame in the last three weeks. Claim some victories, collect a little ACC championship hardware, and get ready for the postseason.

Hopefully we can get a nice contingent of Red & White out to Durham to watch the team close out such a successful season. It will be the first undefeated campaign in NC State wrestling history, and should provide a nice springboard for the ACC tournament in a couple weeks. Dual starts at 7PM. Go Pack!