#5 PackWrestle: New Rankings & Princeton Preview

New Rankings

As a New Year of wrestling begins, NC State (5-1) find themselves in a familiar spot: inside the top-10. This streak dates back to the 2015-16 season - a ridiculous run for a program that was floudering prior to Popolizio’s arrival. We are joined by three other ACC schools in the top-25.

The Virginia Tech dual in two weeks will once again be [insert flames emoji]. One you can’t miss if you’re within an hour of Reynolds.

A new batch of Intermat rankings are hot of the press. See where our guys fall below:

• 125 - Camacho #10 (previous: 13)
• 133 - Orine #18 (18)
• 141 - Jack #15 (16)
• 149 - T. Wilson #3 (3)
• 157 - Scott #11 (11)
• 165 - Bullard #23 (19)
• 174 - H. Hidlay #5 (5)
• 184 - T. Hidlay #3 (3)
• 197 - Trumble #13 (13)
• 285 - Trephan #23 (20)

Not a ton of movement since most of our guys didn’t go to the Southern Scuffle. Camacho moves up a few spots with the removal of #1 Spencer Lee, who is done for the year to get his ACLs surgically repaired. I would expect Hayden to move up a spot in next week’s release as #3 Labriola of Nebraska took a loss last night to #21 Nijenhuis.

Princeton Dual

How to Watch: ESPN+

Wrestling Rules & Scoring

The Pack will head up to the Soprano stomping grounds for what was originally scheduled to be a weekend double-header. However after a COVID “situation”, Rider was forced to cancel our Saturday meeting, leaving only our Sunday dual against #19 Princeton. It sounds like the team tried to put together some last minute replacement opponents for today, but nothing materialized.

Princeton (0-1) has only had one dual so far this season, a 32-12 loss to #1 Iowa back in November, but don’t let their record fool you. They have some top guys, especially at 125 and 157. They won’t have enough to challenge us for the dual victory, but there will be some important and intriguing matchups sprinkled into this Sunday afternoon tilt. Let’s take a look at the projected lineups and my predictions below:

• 125: #10 Jakob Camacho vs. #1 Pat Glory (Glory decision; 3-0 Princeton)
• 133: Jarrett Trombley vs. Nick Masters (Trombley decision; 3-3)
• 141: #15 Ryan Jack or Jarred Papscy vs. Danny Coles (Jack major decision; 7-3 NCSU)
• 149: #3 Tariq Wilson vs. Marshall Keller (Wilson major decision; 11-3 NCSU)
• 157: #11 Ed Scott or AJ Kovacs vs. #5 Quincy Monday (Monday decision Scott; 11-6 NCSU)
• 165: Donald Cates vs. Grant Cuomo or Jake Marsh (Cuomo decision; 11-9 NCSU)
• 174: #5 Hayden Hidlay or Alex Faison vs. Nate Dugan (Hidlay major decision; 15-9 NCSU)
• 184: #3 Trent Hidlay or Nick Reenan vs. #22 Travis Stefanik (Hidlay major decision; 19-9 NCSU)
• 197: #13 Isaac Trumble or Jacob Ferreira vs. Aidan Conner (Trumble major decision; 23-9 NCSU)
• 285: #23 Owen Trephan or Tyrie Houghton vs. Matthew Cover (Houghton decision; 26-9 NCSU)

Key Matchups

#10 Jakob Camacho vs. #1 Pat Glory

With the unfortunate exit of Spencer Lee from the 2021-2022 season, Princeton’s Pat Glory now claims the #1 spot at 125 pounds. For Camacho, this marks back-to-back matches against the top-ranked guy at his weight. Despite the number next to their names however, Glory is no Spencer Lee. Camacho has a very real chance here of pulling the upset whereas anybody beating Spencer was a longshot. Glory is very good in every position, but can be particularly dominant on top. Jakob has shown the ability to get out from elite riders in the past though, so as long as he doesn’t linger on bottom and surrender riding time, I expect this one will come down to the wire. An aggressive, attacking Camacho can win this match. If he plays it tentative, it’ll be tough to take out a guy like Glory. I’m playing it safe with the Glory pick, but in my mind this is a near coinflip.

#11 Ed Scott vs. #5 Quincy Monday

I am really hoping we see Ed Scott in this one. This will be a great measuring stick for him. His two big wins in Florida were both impressive, but neither Jacques nor Young are the poster boys of consistency. If Ed really wants to announce himself, a win over Kennedy Monday’s younger brother (yes, that Kennedy Monday) will do it. Quincy is unlike his brother in many ways, but that elite wrestler trait runs in the family. He is dynamic and strong like Kennedy, but has better conditioning and is far less off-and-on. Quincy wrestled Hayden to a tight match in Reynolds two years ago, and has only improved since then, so Ed will have his work cut out for him if he goes. I worry a little about Ed’s aggressiveness in a matchup like this. He loves to march forward and stay in your face, and that is just inviting Monday’s quick shot right underneath. If the Pack freshman can stay out of an early hole, he may be able to wear Monday down over the course of the match. We’ll see...hopefully. Knowing Ed’s mentality, he is chomping at the bit to take the mat tomorrow, so the only thing holding him back would be a coaching decision.

This dual should absolutely go in the favor of the Pack, so the real intrigue is seeing some of these ranked matchups at 125, 157, & 184. Hopefully we get to see all of them! Action starts Sunday afternoon at 1PM. Link to stream is above. Go Pack!