NC State wrestling going for a record fifth straight ACC Title

NC State wrestling will defend its conference title at the ACC Championship, which will take place in Reynolds Coliseum on Sunday, March 5. Action runs all day starting at 11 a.m. on two mats. The finals will be on one mat starting at 7 p.m. All of the early rounds will be streamed on ACC Network Extra, while the finals will be televised on the ACC Network.

Stat Geek Central

• Five of the Pack’s 10 starters competed at the ACC Championship last year, and six overall have wrestled in the event before. Four of NC State’s participants will be wrestling in their first conference championship.

• NC State wrestling will be vying for a school-record fifth straight ACC Championship. A win would also make NC State only the second school all-time to win at least five straight (former member Maryland won the first 20 ACC titles from 1954-73).

• NC State is attempting to become only the second team to win 20 ACC Championships all-time, Maryland has 24.

• NC State (5) and Virginia Tech (4) have combined to win nine of the last 10 ACC titles. The Pack has finished first or second each of the last seven years.

• NC State has won the 157 pound championship in each of the last five years and six of the last seven years overall (Ed Scott – 1, Hayden Hidlay – 4 and Tommy Gantt -1). At 125 pounds, the Wolfpack has placed a wrestler into the finals each of the last seven years.

• Over the last four seasons of winning the ACC Championship as a team, NC State wrestling has crowned at least one individual champion in every weight class except for 133 and 165 pounds. 

• Over the last four years, the Pack has won 14 individual titles and placed 25 into the finals overall. Every year in that span, NC State has had at least six wrestle for an ACC individual title.

• Since the first ACC Championship in 1954, the Pack has won 135 individual titles (the most among current schools — UNC with 120 is second). Eighteen of those individual trophies have come at heavyweight, the most in any weight class for the Pack. There is only one weight (133) the Pack has yet to claim a title. NC State has at least four titles in every other weight class.

• NC State wrestling head coach Pat Popolizio has won five ACC Championships. The rest of the current ACC head coaches have combined to win just four.

• This marks the second time in the past three seasons NC State has hosted the ACC Championship. Under COVID restrictions and with limited fans, the Pack claimed an ACC title in Reynolds back in 2021.

Weight Class Previews For NC State Wrestling

The following is a look at all 10 weight classes and where the Pack stands in each. These scenarios assume the seeds hold up through the brackets.

125 pounds

NCAA Bids: 2

Defending Champion: None (NC State’s Jakob Camacho won in 2022 but is out this season due to injury). Camacho will be on the latest episode of The Wolfpacker Show, which will be released Friday morning.

NC State: No. 22 R-Jr. Jarrett Trombley (11-6) – No. 1 seed

Pack Path: This is absolutely one of the weights that is wide open and could determine the team race. There is not much separation among the top three (and you could argue top four) seeds in this bracket.

Throw in the fact this weight only received two NCAA allocations, meaning only the two in the final will automatically advance to the NCAAs, and this is one of the top weights to watch.

Trombley was the only one to go undefeated at 4-0 (he sat out vs. UNC), and after a bye he will face No. 4 seed Colton Camacho of Pitt in the semifinals.

In the dual against Colton Camacho, Trombley used a very offensive first period with multiple takedowns and then survived a third-period comeback to claim an 11-8 win. If he advances to the final, he would either face No. 3 seed Jack Wagner of UNC for the first time this season or No. 2 seed Eddie Ventresca of VT, who Trombley beat 3-1 in the dual with a takedown in OT.

The 125-pound bracket has been key to NC State’s performance at the ACC Championship in recent years, with a Pack wrestler making the finals in this weight class seven straight years (three titles and four runner-up finishes between Camacho and Sean Fausz).

133 pounds

NCAA Bids: 3

Defending Champion: None (Virginia Tech’s Korbin Myers won last year in his final season)

NC State: No. 14 R-So. Kai Orine (12-5) – No. 3 seed

Pack Path: The top three seeds all went 4-1 in ACC action. Orine beat No. 1 seed Micky Phillippi of Pitt, Phillippi beat No. 2 seed Sam Latona of VT, and Latona beat Orine.

Orine drew the No. 3 seed and will open with Duke’s Logan Agin in the first round. Orine tech felled Agin in the dual, 18-1.

Latona awaits in the semifinals. In the NC State wrestling dual at VT, Latona scored the only takedown in the bout and won 3-1. Two-time ACC champion Phillippi should make his way to the final. Orine downed him 2-1 in tiebreakers in the dual. No takedowns were recorded in the match, and Orine was able to use a pair of ride time points (in regulation and again in extra time) and avoided having to choose down against Phillippi.

141 pounds

NCAA Bids: 4

Defending Champion: Cole Matthews (Pitt)

NC State: No. 5 So. Ryan Jack (19-2) – No. 2 seed

Pack Path: One of the best brackets for the tournament, with four of the participants ranking in the top-12 in the nation in this weight class. Jack and No. 1 seed Cole Matthews of Pitt met in last year’s final, but freshmen Lachlan McNeil of UNC and Tom Crook of VT have added depth and competition this year.

After an opening round bye, we should see a top-10 rematch between Jack for NC State and McNeil. Jack scored three takedowns in the first period to come away with a 7-5 win in the recent dual.

Matthews and Cook will battle it out in the other semifinal. Jack is 2-0 this season against Cook, winning 8-2 in Las Vegas and 2-1 in the dual. But Jack is 0-3 all-time against Matthews (losing 3-1 in the dual and 3-2 in the ACC final last year and 4-2 this year in the dual), and has been unable to score a takedown in any of those bouts against Matthews.

149 pounds

NCAA Bids: 4

Defending Champion: None (NC State’s Tariq Wilson won last year in his final season)

NC State: No. 17 Fr. Jackson Arrington (19-6) – No. 2 seed

Pack Path: This weight class was highlighted by the performances of a pair of true freshmen, but five of the six ACC participants rank among the top-27 in the nation and are battling for only four NCAA bids.

Arrington went 4-1 in the ACC for NC State and drew the No. 2 seed. After a bye, he should face #3 seed Jarod Verkleeren of UVA. In the dual matchup, Arrington had perhaps his best bout of the season and scored a 10-2 major decision.

In the other half of the bracket, top seed Caleb Henson of VT went undefeated in ACC action, including a 6-1 win over Arrington in the dual, and comes in with a top-8 national ranking.

The wild card at this weight could be UNC’s Zach Sherman, a two-time All-American who has missed most of the season with a shoulder injury but appeared in the pre-seeds as the No. 5 seed.

157 pounds

NCAA Bids: 3

Defending Champion: Ed Scott (NC State)

NC State: No. 8 So. Ed Scott (15-6) – No. 3 seed

Pack Path: Arguably the top weight this season in the ACC. The top three seeds are all ranked in the top-8 nationally, and five of the six ACC competitors won multiple matches at the NCAA Championships last year.

Scott drew the No. 3 seed and will face Duke’s Logan Ferrero in the first round. Scott pinned Ferrero in the dual. Sitting in the semifinals is a possible rematch with No. 2 seed Bryce Andonian of VT, who has reached the ACC finals each of the last three years at his weight class.

In what many called one of the most exciting matches of the season which had multiple six-point moves by both wrestlers, Andonian picked up a 24-10 major decision in the dual against NC State.

Top seed Austin O’Connor of UNC is a heavy favorite to reach the final, coming in with a 16-0 record and 14 bonus point wins. Scott and O’Connor met in last year’s ACC final, a 3-2 Scott win with a takedown in the second period. O’Connor returned the favor this year in the dual, scoring his own second period takedown for the 3-1 win.

165 pounds

NCAA Bids: 3

Defending Champion: None (Pitt’s Jake Wentzel won last year in his final season)

NC State: No. 26 Fr. Matty Singleton (9-5) – No. 3 seed

Pack Path: Along with 125 pounds, this is the second weight class that is wide open with many of the participants grouped together in the lower-half of the national rankings. This weight also seemed to get one less bid than it should have received, so with only three NCAA allocations, the third place match is huge.

NC State wrestling is pulling the redshirt on true freshman Singleton, and he gets the No. 3 seed for his first trip to the ACC Championship. He did not face either of his first two opponents this season. Singleton will open with Duke’s Gabe Dinette in the first round. Singleton did not wrestle in the dual against Duke, and Dinette fell to the Pack’s Luke Ahrberg 7-2.

UVA’s Justin McCoy sits in the semifinals after reaching the ACC title match last year. In the dual, Singleton also didn’t wrestle McCoy, who defeated Derek Fields by an 8-0 major decision.

Top seed Holden Heller of Pitt, who won a 2021 EIWA conference championship while at Hofstra, sits in the top half of the bracket after going undefeated in his first season in the ACC, including a 5-2 win over Singleton in the dual.

VT’s No. 4 seed Connor Brady will also be in contention. Singleton and Brady battled in the dual, with Singleton’s takedown in OT leading to a 5-3 decision.

174 pounds

NCAA Bids: 3

Defending Champion: Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)

NC State: No. 27 R-Jr. Alex Faison (15-6) – No. 2 seed

Pack Path: With only five wrestlers at this weight (Duke has no entry), Faison will face No. 3 seed Luca Augustine from Pitt in the semifinals after both sit out the first round with byes. Faison won the match-up in the dual 3-1, with the bout’s lone takedown coming in OT.

The top half of the bracket features heavy favorite VT’s Mekhi Lewis as the top seed. However, there is no Clay Lautt from UNC, who is a returning All-American and preseason top-10. He has been hurt much of the year. Faison fell to Lewis in the dual by an 8-2 decision.

184 pounds

NCAA Bids: 5

Defending Champion: Trent Hidlay (NC State)

NC State: No. 3 R-Jr. Trent Hidlay (18-1) – No. 1 seed

Pack Path: Top to bottom, this is the most competitive weight class in the ACC this season. The top five seeds are all ranked among the top-17 wrestlers nationally. Top seed Trent Hidlay will be vying for his third straight ACC title for NC State, Virginia Tech’s Hunter Bolen has a chance to win a second title (2020), UNC’s Gavin Kane will attempt to reach the final for a second straight year, and transfers Reece Heller (Pitt) and Neil Antrassian (UVA) will both compete in their first ACC Championship.

Hidlay awaits in the semifinals for the winner of Heller and Antrassian. Heller gave Hidlay fits with some funky defense to keep it to a 9-5 decision in the dual, while Hidlay controlled the match with Antrassian for a 21-9 major decision.

Could we get a potential seventh career meeting between Hidlay and Bolen in the ACC final for a third time? The series is now tied 3-3, with Hidlay winning the last three. In the dual this year, Hidlay won 5-3 in OT, the first bout in the series that featured more than one takedown in the entire match.

Kane did defeat Bolen twice last year, including in the ACC semifinals to push him into the final against Hidlay (Hidlay won 11-0 and the two did not meet this season).

197 pounds

NCAA Bids:

Defending Champion: Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt)

NC State: No. 8 So. Isaac Trumble (17-3) – No. 3 seed

Pack Path: This is another weight class that could have a potential rematch from last year’s ACC final if Trumble gets revenge in the semifinals. Pitt’s Nino Bonaccorsi is ranked No. 1 nationally, and downed Trumble for the ACC title last year with a pair of first-period takedowns, 5-2.

To get his rematch for the title, Trumble must win two bouts. He opens with UNC’s Max Shaw in the first round. The two had a close battle in the dual, Trumble winning 3-1. With a win, Trumble will look to reverse his 3-2 dual loss to VT’s Andy Smith in the semifinals. Smith comes in as the No. 2 seed and will have a bye to prepare for Trumble.

Bonaccorsi and Trumble have had some great battles over the last three seasons, with the all-time series now tied 2-2. Bonaccorsi won in tiebreakers this year after an illegal move call against Trumble sent it into OT.

285 pounds

NCAA Bids: 3

Defending Champion: None (Virginia Tech’s Nathan Traxler won last year in his final season).

NC State: No. 11 R-So. Owen Trephan (19-3) – No. 2 seed

Pack Path: This was the one bracket that surprised with the seeds. Duke’s Jonah Niesenbaum got the top seed over the Pack’s Trephan. Both went undefeated in ACC action, but Trephan was only 2-0 against the field because he wrestled two back-ups, whereas Niesenbaum was 4-0.

I was told from a source that was the difference in seeding these two. No matter, it will be settled on the mat if they meet in the final.

After a bye, Trephan will meet VT’s Hunter Catka in the semifinals. Trephan scored the only takedown of the bout in OT to win the dual matchup, 3-1. The two split a pair of match-ups last season as well, when Catka reached the ACC finals despite being a redshirt freshman. As a true freshman during the free-COVID 2021 season he lost to the Pack’s Deonte Wilson. Trephan and Niesenbaum have met a couple of times before, but not since November of 2021. Trephan has won both previous bouts, 3-1 in OT in that 2021 match and a 10-1 major decision way back in Nov. of 2019.

The Team Race

Most predictors out there are calling this a very tight two-team race between NC State and Virginia Tech, which have combined for nine of the past 10 ACC Championships. 

Pitt could be a wild card,— they have four No. 1 seeds — but their depth beyond those four may not get them enough points to challenge for their first team title.

The Pack will have six with first round byes, and four in opening round action. It would be key for the Pack to start with bonus point wins in that opening round at 133, 157, 165 and 197 pounds. There is potential for at least two bonus point wins there.

The best way for one for NC State and Virginia Tech to edge the other is to wrestle against one another. Looking at the seeds, there are a ton of potential NCSU-VT matchups that could occur and determine the 2023 ACC Championship. If seeds hold, you could see matchups in eight of the 10 weight classes:

125 – In the finals

133 – In the semifinals

141 – Not likely, unless in the consolations

149 – In the finals

157 – In the semifinals

165 – Not likely, unless in the consolations

174 – In the finals

184 – In the finals

197 – In the semifinals

285 – In the semifinals

Of course all of this information is based on the pre-seeds that were released. Coaches have up until Saturday at noon to make any lineup changes.