#5 PackWrestle spanks Virginia Tech...I mean Campbell, 33-6

The most highly anticipated dual in the ACC this year was without a doubt NC State vs. Virginia Tech, and unfortunately, we will not get to see it happen. The dual of the year was scheduled for this past Friday, but news broke on Thursday evening that the Hokies would not be making the trip down to Raleigh and would therefore forfeit. Immediately rumors began swirling and wrestling Twitter exploded with accusations from both sides and neutral parties. Clearly a lot of people just want to see this dual happen, but apparently that wasn’t enough to overrule the powers that be. It’s still unclear exactly why this dual meet was forfeited by Virginia Tech but according to several reports, it wasn’t exclusively due to COVID like many Hokies fans on Twitter would have us believe.

Sounds to me like Virginia Tech had a combination of injuries, weight issues, and COVID issues that would have required some backups to step-in to face the Pack. They didn’t like their chances with that being the case and requested that we reschedule. We (apparently not the coaches, but AD Boo Corrigan) denied the request and took the forfeit. I see it from both sides. I would love to see this dual, and if a reasonable reschedule were possible, the fan in me would hope for that. But from an NC State wrestling perspective, why should we push this closer to the postseason and risk possible COVID issues messing with that just because VT didn’t want to wrestle us with backups? Our baseball team played a National Semifinal game this past season with 13 eligible players, only four/five of which were regular starters, and a pitcher at first base, and took the #1 team to the brink. But we should take the burden of inconvenience so that Virginia Tech doesn’t have to face us down a couple guys? That’s weak.

So NC State collects the forfeit win, and the real losers here are the fans who had anticipated this for so long. And our guys who clearly were looking forward to this matchup.

Fortunately, the weekend wasn’t completely lost as Campbell, a blue-collar program in their own right, stepped up and offered to host us for a dual meet on Sunday. Not quite the same as taking on the #7 team in the country during primetime Friday night, but I’m sure the coaches and team were elated to hear this news. This would mark the first meeting between the schools since 2014 if you can believe that.

The dual started out very competitive: 125, 141, & 149 were all close matches but we made it out of those with a 10-3 lead. Ed Scott continued to impress with his patented “Ed-lock” for a first period pin over a former SoCon finalist.

The Hidlays were dominant as usual, with Hayden getting a tech fall over the guy Daniel Bullard beat in the Blood Round of last year’s NCAA tournament. In all, the Pack (7-1) won eight of ten bouts for the 33-6 victory. With respect to Campbell (7-4), it was a lot closer than the final tally indicated, but they just simply don’t have the quality to match us at this time. Still a very solid program who I hope we begin to schedule regularly.

#5 NC State 33-6 Campbell

• 125: #14 Jakob Camacho (NCSU) dec. #24 Korbin Meink (CAMP); 3-1 (3-0 NCSU)
• 133: #17 Kai Orine (NCSU) major dec. Domenic Zaccone (CAMP); 10-1 (7-0 NCSU)
• 141: Shannon Hanna (CAMP) dec. #15 Ryan Jack (NCSU); 3-1 SV1 (7-3 NCSU)
• 149: #3 Tariq Wilson (NCSU) dec. Chris Rivera (CAMP); 4-0 (10-3 NCSU)
• 157: #10 Ed Scott (NCSU) pin Matthew Dallara (CAMP); 1:46 (16-3 NCSU)
• 165: #22 Thomas Bullard (NCSU) tech fall Riley Augustine (CAMP); 16-0 (21-3 NCSU)
• 174: #4 Hayden Hidlay (NCSU) tech fall #17 Austin Murphy (CAMP); 15-0 (26-3 NCSU)
• 184: #3 Trent Hidlay (NCSU) major dec. #24 Caleb Hopkins (CAMP); 15-4 (30-3 NCSU)
• 197: #19 Isaac Trumble (NCSU) dec. Chris Kober (CAMP); 1-0 (33-3 NCSU)
• 285: #25 Taye Ghadiali (CAMP) dec. Tyrie Houghton (NCSU); 9-6 (33-6 NCSU)

The full dual replay is available here.

The Pack next travel to Cameron Indoor to take on Duke on Friday night. Preview incoming!