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The NC State wrestling team had a busy first weekend of the season. They opened up the action on Friday night by hosting the Old Dominion Monarchs in Reynolds Coliseum. The Pack turned around on Saturday morning with a trio of dual meets against Belmont Abbey, UNC Pembroke, and Reinhardt. To wrap up the opening weekend, the team rolled out the mats in Carmichael Gymnasium for the annual Wolfpack Open. See the results below:
Friday, November 15th - vs. Old Dominion
Old Dominion has been a staple of the Wolfpack’s schedule during the Pat Popolizio era. In fact, this marks the sixth straight season the two teams have met in a dual. The Pack has taken all six victories, but the Monarchs always bring it, and Friday night was no different. The ODU coaches did their homework, and it was evident they were set on taking a top-10 win back with them to Norfolk. If it weren’t for the Hidlay brothers, this dual could have been over before the midway point.
The dual started at 149 pounds (coach’s selection), and ODU would claim victories in 3 of the first 4 bouts. The lone Wolfpack win came at 157 in the marquee matchup of the night, where #1 Hayden Hidlay took out #4 Larry Early, 6-4, winning with this last second takedown.
In the most anticipated bout of the evening, top-ranked Hayden Hidlay of @packwrestle defeated fourth-ranked Larry Early of Old Dominion during NC State's 22-11 win over the Monarchs Friday evening inside Reynolds Coliseum!#GoPack // #NCState pic.twitter.com/2YxRXqICHT
— NC State Athletics (@PackAthletics) November 16, 2019
The next victory for NC State would come at 184, where younger brother Trent won by major decision, 12-4. This dose of Southern Discomfort changed the momentum of the entire dual. The Pack won the next two bouts, including a huge pin at 197 from Sophomore Tyrie Houghton, who was filling in for the still-recovering Nick Reenan.
A PIN to WIN for So. Tyrie Houghton! pic.twitter.com/HkA8ws3WC7
— NC State Wrestling ♂️ (@PackWrestle) November 16, 2019
Promising freshman Jakob Camacho dropped a close decision at 125 pounds to a tough opponent, but that would be ODU’s last victory of the night. The Pack salted the dual away with wins from a pair of redshirt-juniors in Kellen Devlin & Tariq Wilson. The final tally of the dual was 22-11 in favor of NC State, however it was much closer than the score indicates.
#9 NC State 22-11 Old Dominion
- 149: Kenan Carter (ODU) dec. AJ Leitten (NCSU); 7-2 (0-3 ODU)
- 157: #1 Hayden Hidlay (NCSU) dec. #4 Larry Early (ODU); 6-4 (3-3)
- 165: Shane Jones (ODU) dec. #10 Thomas Bullard (NCSU); 3-2 (3-6 ODU)
- 174: Alex Cramer (ODU) dec. Jacob Fereira (NCSU); 10-4 (3-9 ODU)
- 184: #14 Trent Hidlay (NCSU) major dec. Antonio Agee (ODU); 12-4 (7-9 ODU)
- 197: Tyrie Houghton (NCSU) pin Tim Young (ODU); 4:31 (13-9 NCSU)
- 285: Deonte Wilson (NCSU) dec. Will Hilliard (ODU); 3-1 (16-9 NCSU)
- 125: Killian Cardinale (ODU) dec. Jakob Camacho (NCSU); 6-5 (16-12 NCSU)
- 133: Kellen Devlin (NCSU) dec. Shannon Hanna (ODU); 9-5 (19-12 NCSU)
- 141: #8 Tariq Wilson (NCSU) dec. #16 Sa’Derian Perry (ODU); 3-2 (22-11* NCSU)
*ODU was deducted a team point for spiking headgear
Saturday, November 16th - Wolfpack Duals
NC State went 3-0 on Saturday during the Wolfpack Duals. The round-robin quad included NC State, Belmont Abbey, UNC Pembroke, and Reinhardt. The competition is certainly a step down from Friday night, but Popolizio historically uses this event to get some depth guys a little experience. Despite that, the Pack still dominated, only dropping 3 of their 30 individual matchups.
#9 NC State 36-6 Belmont Abbey
- 125: Charlie Lenox (NCSU) pin Josh Vega (BA); 1:07 (6-0 NCSU)
- 133: Lleyton Taylor (BA) dec. Jarred Papcsy (NCSU); 5-4 (6-3 NCSU)
- 141: Alex Urquiza (NCSU) dec. Justin Payne (BA); 4-0 (9-3 NCSU)
- 149: Matt Grippi (NCSU) dec. Josh Blatt (BA); 10-4 (12-3 NCSU)
- 157: John Dean (BA) dec. Matt Fields (NCSU); 6-2 (12-6 NCSU)
- 165: Tyler Barnes (NCSU) dec. Greg Hilliard (BA); 9-3 (15-6 NCSU)
- 174: #24 Daniel Bullard (NCSU) tech fall Chandler Echols (BA); 18-0 (20-6 NCSU)
- 184: #14 Trent Hidlay (NCSU) pin Logan Branham (BA); 3:19 (26-6 NCSU)
- 197: Tyrie Houghton (NCSU) major dec. Brian Girard (BA); 15-6 (30-6 NCSU)
- 285: Colin Lawler (NCSU) pin John Carroll (BA); 2:48 (36-6 NCSU)
#9 NC State 40-3 UNC Pembroke
- 125: Tommy Cox (NCSU) major dec. Jayquon McEntyre (UNCP); 15-2 (4-0 NCSU)
- 133: Jarrett Trombley (NCSU) tech fall Nick Daggett (UNCP); 17-2 (9-0 NCSU)
- 141: Jonathan Miller (UNCP) dec. John Devine (NCSU); 10-5 (9-3 NCSU)
- 149: Matt Fields (NCSU) major dec. Sammy Peticos (UNCP); 14-6 (13-3 NCSU)
- 157: Matt Grippi (NCSU) dec. Tyler Makosy (UNCP); 3-2 (16-3 NCSU)
- 165: Tyler Barnes (NCSU) dec. Kaleb Warner (UNCP); 4-2 (19-3 NCSU)
- 174: Jake Cook (NCSU) dec. Garrett Hill (UNCP); 4-2 (22-3 NCSU)
- 184: #14 Trent Hidlay (NCSU) fall Brandon Sloop (UNCP); 1:56 (28-3 NCSU)
- 197: Tyrie Houghton (NCSU) fall Marcus Bell (UNCP); 6:10 (34-3 NCSU)
- 285: Colin Lawler (NCSU) forfeit (40-3 NCSU)
#9 NC State 45-0 Reinhardt
- 125: Tommy Cox (NCSU) forfeit (6-0 NCSU)
- 133: Jarrett Trombley (NCSU) major dec. Bruce Davis (RU); 17-4 (10-0 NCSU)
- 141: Alex Urquiza (NCSU) dec. Jody McAlister (RU); 9-5 (13-0 NCSU)
- 149: Matt Fields (NCSU) pin Curtis Doctor (RU); 3:33 (19-0 NCSU)
- 157: Matt Grippi (NCSU) dec. Nolan Saxton (RU); 7-6 (22-0 NCSU)
- 165: Tyler Barnes (NCSU) pin Cole Tenety (RU); 1:44 (28-0 NCSU)
- 174: #13 Daniel Bullard (NCSU) major dec. Michael Carew (RU); 14-4 (32-0 NCSU)
- 184: #13 Trent Hidlay (NCSU) major dec. Antonio Stewart (RU); 14-4 (36-0 NCSU)
- 197: Tyrie Houghton (NCSU) dec. Jacob Henderson (RU); 8-6 (39-0 NCSU)
- 285: Colin Lawler (NCSU) pin Nicholas Jarvis (RU); 6:47 (45-0 NCSU)
Sunday, November 17th - Wolfpack Open
The Pack closed out the weekend by hosting its annual Wolfpack Open. A ton of NC State guys suited up to wrestle through this open tournament which had competitors from all throughout the southeast including UNC, App State, & Virginia Tech among others. In all, five of the ten weights were won by Wolfpack wrestlers. The results are below:
- 125: Jakob Camacho (1st), Zurich Storm (2nd), Tommy Cox (T-6th), Charlie Lenox (T-6th)
- 133: Jarrett Trombley (1st)
- 141: Tariq Wilson (1st), Alex Urquiza (6th)
- 149: Matt Grippi (3rd), Matt Fields (4th), AJ Leitten (5th)
- 157: Hayden Hidlay (1st)
- 165: Thomas Bullard (1st)
- 174: Daniel Bullard (3rd), Alex Faison (6th)
- 197: Tyrie Houghton (6th)
- 285: Owen Trephan (4th), Deonte Wilson (5th)
All-in-all, the Pack had a solid opening weekend. Obviously, the season is young, and there are clearly concerns - namely losses in the Old Dominion dual from Camacho and Bullard - however if there is a time to have a hiccup, it’s better now than in March. Popolizio will iron out the wrinkles and get these guys firing on all cylinders in no time, but for now PackWrestle is 4-0 and showing fight. That’s what you like to see out of a young team.
The boys return to action next Saturday at 1PM when they travel up to Ithica, NY to take on #18 Cornell.