NC State wrestling dominant in two weekend road duals

As anticipated, the Pack went on the road this weekend and were dominant in their two duals against Drexel and Hofstra. Combined, these two teams possess one ranked wrestler, and he didn’t even take the mat for Drexel, so “outmatched” comes to mind. NC State won 18 of the 20 individual bouts (9 of 10 in each dual) and twelve of those were for bonus points.

The last month has been a grind for the team - two of the toughest mid-season tournaments (CKLV and Southern Scuffle) along with a dual against #12 Princeton has provided stiff competition and plenty of tests for Pat Pop’s guys. This weekend served as a welcome contrast to that. Sometimes you just need to go out and kick the crap out of someone to reset your focus, and that’s exactly what this weekend did in my opinion. In addition, it provided an opportunity for some of our depth guys to gain experience in first-team action. Papscy, Urquiza, Grippi, and Barnes all got chances to strut their stuff, and they all took advantage. Most impressive was Tyler Barnes, who stepped in for both 165 pound bouts and dominated with a pin and a tech fall. It’s always nice to see guys who work so incredibly hard get rewarded with opportunities. And it’s also nice to see the depth that we are building at each weight, which is what sets the best programs apart from the rest.

See below for match results:

#5 NC State 44-3 Drexel

• 174: #18 Daniel Bullard (NCSU) forfeit – (6-0 NCSU)
• 184: #3 Trent Hidlay (NCSU) tech fall Owen Brooks (Drex); 25-9 – (11-0 NCSU)
• 197: Bryan McLaughlin (Drex) dec. #15 Nick Reenan (NCSU); 5-4 – (11-3 NCSU)
• 285: #24 Deonte Wilson (NCSU) dec. Sean O’Malley (Drex); 3-1 – (14-3 NCSU)
• 125: #19 Jakob Camacho (NCSU) tech fall Antonio Mininno (Drex); 20-5 – (19-3 NCSU)
• 133: Jarrett Trombley (NCSU) pin Chase Shields (Drex); 2:39 – (25-3 NCSU)
• 141: Jarred Papcsy (NCSU) dec. Tyler Williams (Drex); 8-5 – (28-3 NCSU)
• 149: A.J. Leitten (NCSU) major dec. Nick Widmann (Drex); 13-3 – (32-3 NCSU)
• 157: #2 Hayden Hidlay (NCSU) pin Felix Belga (Drex); 2:06 – (38-3 NCSU)
• 165: Tyler Barnes (NCSU) pin Michael Manley (Drex); 2:14 – (44-3 NCSU)

#5 NC State 37-2 Hofstra

• 125: #19 Jakob Camacho (NCSU) dec. Dylan Ryder (Hof); 8-5 – (3-0 NCSU)
• 133: Jarrett Trombley (NCSU) major dec. Matt Templeton (Hof); 12-0 – (7-0 NCSU)
• 141: Alex Urquiza (NCSU) dec. Vinny Vespa (Hof); 4-2 – (10-0 NCSU)
• 149: Matt Grippi (NCSU) dec. Reece Heller (Hof); 11-8 – (13-0 NCSU)
• 157: #2 Hayden Hidlay (NCSU) fall Holden Heller (Hof); 3:39 – (19-0 NCSU)
• 165: Tyler Barnes (NCSU) tech fall Ricky Stamm (Hof); 22-3 – (24-0 NCSU)
• 174: #18 Daniel Bullard (NCSU) fall Sage Heller (Hof); 2:17 – (30-0 NCSU)
• 184: #3 Trent Hidlay (NCSU) major dec. Charles Small (Hof); 15-5 – (34-0 NCSU)
• 197: #15 Nick Reenan (NCSU) dec. Trey Rogers (Hof); 7-3 – (37-0 NCSU)
• 285: Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hof) dec. #24 Deonte Wilson (NCSU); 6-5 – (37-2* NCSU)

*Hofstra was deducted a team point

The Pack return to action on Friday at 7PM, where they welcome Virginia to Reynolds Coliseum. This will be the first of five-straight ACC duals to close out the season and lead into the ACC tournament in Pittsburgh.