#5 PackWrestle: New Rankings & Duke Preview

New Rankings

No movement for the Pack (8-1, 1-0) this week as we stay at #5 in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll. We are fast-approaching our 100th consecutive poll being ranked in the top-10. Really an astounding feat considering where we were ten years ago, but there doesn’t appear to be any end in sight.

We also have a new edition of individual rankings from Intermat. See where our guys check-in below:

• 125: Camacho #15 (previous: 14)
• 133: Orine #17 (17)
• 141: Jack #24 (15)
• 149: T. Wilson #3 (3)
• 157: Scott #10 (10)
• 165: Bullard #22 (22)
• 174: H. Hidlay #4 (4)
• 184: T. Hidlay #3 (3)
• 197: Trumble #20 (19)
• 285: Trephan #25 (23)

They still have Trephan ranked which is odd because it looks like the staff is leaning towards Houghton at the moment. The first individual Coaches Rankings came out last week (which are used as a criteria for determining NCAA Allocations for conferences) and Tyrie was our guy at heavyweight. This is significant because the coaching staff has to submit to the board of coaches doing the rankings, who our representative is. They chose Tyrie.

Duke Dual

How to Watch: ACC Network Extra

Wrestling Rules & Scoring

It’s a tough transition to go from the build-up of last week’s massive dual (that was ultimately canceled*) to this week’s matchup against Duke - inarguably the least threatening team in the ACC. The Blue Devils (6-6, 0-1) have been a struggling program for as long as I can remember, but despite not having any scholarships dedicated to their wrestling athletes, they always seem to have a couple stand-out guys. Lately, they have all had the last name “Finesilver”, and they’ve still got two of them. Older brother, Mitch, was an All-American in 2019 and now Josh (149) and Matt (174) are looking to follow in his footsteps. Aside from those two, there’s not much to write home about.

Projected lineups and my predictions are below:

• 125: #15 Jakob Camacho vs. Logan Agin (Camacho major; 4-0 NCSU)
• 133: #17 Kai Orine or Jarrett Trombley vs. Drake Doolittle (Orine major; 8-0 NCSU)
• 141: #24 Ryan Jack vs. Parker Decker (Jack tech fall; 13-0 NCSU)
• 149: #3 Tariq Wilson vs. #13 Josh Finesilver (Wilson decision; 16-0 NCSU)
• 157: #10 Ed Scott vs. Wade Unger (Scott pin; 22-0 NCSU)
• 165: #22 Thomas Bullard vs. Gabe Dinette (Bullard decision; 25-0 NCSU)
• 174: #4 Hayden Hidlay vs. #15 Matt Finesilver (Hidlay decision; 28-0 NCSU)
• 184: #3 Trent Hidlay vs. Vincent Baker (Hidlay tech fall; 33-0 NCSU)
• 197: #20 Isaac Trumble vs. Kaden Russell (Trumble decision; 36-0 NCSU)
• 285: #25 Owen Trephan or Tyrie Houghton vs. Jonah Niesenbaum (Houghton decision; 39-0 NCSU)

Key Matchups

#3 Tariq Wilson vs. #13 Josh Finesilver

This is a big one in the loaded 149 ACC field. These two have met twice before back in Tariq’s breakout freshman season. The Pack senior is 2-0 against the Blue Devil, but both of those meetings were at 133 so it will be interesting to see how each of these guys has developed. Finesilver is coming off of an overtime victory over Zach Sherman last week, so he clearly is on that level. Tariq needs to finish his attacks quickly and not let Finesilver scramble. This whole litter of brothers is tough so nothing is going to come easy. Hopefully we see Tariq dial it in for his first real test at his new weight.

#4 Hayden Hidlay vs. #15 Matt Finesilver

Another Finesilver here. Matt is similar to Josh - a really good scrambler for the weight and has good length. My main worry for Hayden moving up to this new weight class was dealing with some of the longer guys like Finesilver, but he hasn’t shown any significant difficulty with them yet. I think Hayden bullies him around the mat and gets to his short offense. Just like Tariq, Hayden has to finish quickly and avoid letting Finesilver scramble. Matt was never a good matchup for Daniel Bullard in the times that they met because he was so tough to finish on. I don’t think Hayden has the same issues - his takedowns are methodical and definite. I see a comfortable four-five point decision for HH.

#20 Isaac Trumble vs. Kaden Russell

This is a rematch for Trumble against the guy who effectively ended his season last year - Isaac was undefeated in ACC action going into our final dual against Duke. Russell, who was winless at the time, came out of nowhere, blitzed Trumble and pinned him with a cradle in less than a minute. From an outside perspective, it looked like this result directly led to the Nick Reenan wrestle-off that Trumble ultimately lost and resulted in Reenan being our postseason rep at 197. With a roster battle not really in the cards this year, Trumble can focus on exacting his revenge. Russell is no slouch and has a bit of an edge to him. It will be really important for Isaac to get the first takedown in this one. His best position is on top, so if he can get there early and wear Russell down a little bit, it will bode well for his chances.

This dual won’t have the drama of a Virginia Tech dual, but there are several intriguing matchups and Cameron is always a cool place to experience. Plus their wrestling admission is always free! Make the trip if you can.

*But wait, there’s more...

This is exactly the type of news that every weekend should begin with. What a day!