NC State wrestling set to begin season vs. in-state rival

The excitement of a new NC State wrestling season begins this weekend. The Wolfpack will host Appalachian State on Friday night at 7 p.m. inside Reynolds Coliseum to kick off the 2022-23 campaign. 

It is a new season, and some around the program might be saying a bit of a new squad. The Pack lost ‘Super Seniors’ Hayden Hidlay (five-time All-American), Tariq Wilson (four-time All-American) and Thomas Bullard (five-time NCAA Qualifier) to graduation. NC State will also be without the services of two-time ACC Champion Jakob Camacho (125 pounds) at least until the second semester as he recovers from offseason surgery.

NC State wrestling will return six starters from last year, and has eight total wrestlers on the roster with previous NCAA Championship experience. NC State is coming off back-to-back top-10 performances at the NCAA Championships (first time since 1992-93) and has won four straight ACC Championships (first time since 1988-91).

The Mountaineers always provide the Pack with an early non-conference test, as the teams are meeting for the 10th straight year. NC State has won each of those 10 duals, but App State has won five of the last seven SoCon regular season championships and also returns six starters.

The two schools enter the dual with two of the nation’s top-four winning streaks, App State’s nine straight dating back to last year are third-best while the Pack has won eight straight.

Here are four things to look for ahead of Friday night’s NC State wrestling dual:

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Lower Weight Battles

Two of the best matches of the night will be at the two lowest weights, and the teams have traditionally started the dual at 125 pounds over the years.

R-Jr. Jarrett Trombley will start off the season as the Pack’s starter at 125 pounds. He was a two-time NCAA Qualifier (2020, 2021) at 133 pounds, and was working his way down to 125 pounds late last season. The defending ACC Champion Camacho was the clear conference favorite at the weight coming into this season (VT’s Sam Latona moved up to 133), and the Pack might not lose a step as Trombley has the experience to compete for the title and enters the season ranked No. 17, tops in the ACC.

R-So. Kai Orine secured the starting spot from Trombley at 133 pounds last year, and went on to win a pair of matches at the NCAA Championships and posted a podium finish at the ACCs. Expectations will be higher in his second season as the starter, as he is ranked No. 11, second-best in the ACC.

App State brings in ranked wrestlers at both weights as well, with No. 18 Caleb Smith at 125 and No. 26 Sean Carter at 133 pounds.

Freshman vs. All-American

Want a challenge in your first collegiate match? What about facing a two-time All-American the first time you don the Red & White singlet? That is what lies ahead for Pack freshman Jackson Arrington as he will take on No. 6 Jonathan Milner at 149 pounds.

In a battle to replace Tariq Wilson in the Pack’s lineup at 149 pounds, Arrington won the recent Wrestle-Off against classmate Finn Solomon, 5-3. Jackson is one of the top newcomers in the Pack’s No. 3-ranked recruiting class, as he was ranked the No. 28 overall recruit by MatScout and No. 16 by FloWrestling. He was a three-time 2A state champion in Pennsylvania – earning a pin in the finals his senior season, a Super 32 runner-up and won his match at Flo’s Who’s #1 both in his senior season.

Milner placed sixth last year at the NCAA Championships and eighth in 2021. He is entering his sixth season at App State, and has gone 71-9 over the last three seasons as a starter. He is a North Carolina native from Greensboro, and has come away with a win in the NCSU-App State dual each of the last three years (12-3 vs. Matt Fields last year, 5-3 vs. Ed Scott in 2021, and 5-0 vs. A.J. Leitten in 2020). Of App State’s eight individual wins in the duals the last three seasons vs. the Pack, Milner has three of those victories. App State coach John Mark Bentley said this week that this is the best Milner has ever looked heading into a season and is in top form right now.

Immediate Test at 165

For the Pack, 165 pounds is wide open and has been a battle since the end of last season when Bullard ended his career. The Pack went with a four-man bracket at the weight for the recent Wrestle-Off: R-Jr. Alex Faison, So. Donald Cates, R-Fr. Luke Ahrberg and R-Fr. Derek Fields. Those four combined to see action in only three dual matches last season. A pair of North Carolina natives met in the finals, with Cates getting a close 5-4 win over Faison.

Cates is expected to get the start versus App. State, and will likely face No. 14 Sr. Will Formato, a familiar foe for Pack wrestling fans as he beat Bullard twice last season (including 6-1 in the dual in Boone).

Bonus Points at Upper Weights

If the dual starts at 125 pounds, there is a good chance the Pack will be able to clinch the battle late with multiple bonus point wins. A point of emphasis for NC State wrestling is not to only win, but score bonus points for the team.

Nobody likes bonus better than R-Jr. Trent Hidlay enters the campaign ranked third nationally. Fresh off a silver medal at the U23 World Championships in Spain a couple of weeks back, Hidlay is expected to make the quick turnaround and compete Friday night at 184 pounds. Sixteen of his 21 wins last year were via bonus (beating his opponent by at least eight points or a pin).

Sophomore Isaac Trumble also scored bonus last season in the match-up at 197 pounds, and his focus this offseason was to score more in neutral since opponents are not choosing down as much as they had been.

The constant theme around the Pack’s heavyweights last year was the search for clarity in a starter earning the spot. In a season-long battle between Sr. Tyrie Houghton and R-So. Owen Trephan it came down to the very end, and Houghton earned the postseason spot. He went on to finish second at the ACCs and win a match at NCAAs. Not sure we can drop the clarity around the spot yet this year as well, as Trephan downed Houghton at last week’s Wrestle-Offs.

Whoever gets the spot this year should be the preseason favorite in the ACC, that shows you how deep the position is for NC State.

NC STATE WRESTLING NEWS & NOTES

• The Pack will start the dual season ranked NO. 9 in the preseason NWCA Coaches Poll. NC State has now been ranked in the top-10 in 99 straight polls dating back to the 2015-16 season.
• A new NCAA rule this year will allow true freshmen to compete in up to five events (wearing an NC State wrestling singlet and not competing unattached) and still maintain their redshirt season. What does that mean? You might see a true freshman that is redshirting competing in a dual or two over the course of the season. Lineups are going to be even more unpredictable. 
• In addition to Camacho suffering an injury this summer, sophomore A.J. Kovacs also suffered an injury that will force him to miss the entire upcoming season. Kovacs offered the Pack some versatility with him seeing action at both 157 and 165 pounds, and there was some thought of him getting down to 149 for this season to compete for time.
• On the Pack’s Twitter, it was recently announced a new record was set for season tickets (555 as of Monday). Fans will have to wait over two months if they miss the Appalachian State dual this weekend, as the next home dual isn’t until January 6 (Binghamton).
• Willie Saylor (@MatScouts1) broke the news, but with The Wolfpacker’s Ryan Tice moving to Nashville a spot opened on the ACC Network Extra broadcast team. For App State, that role will be filled by five-time All-American Hayden Hidlay, also the new host of the #PackMentality Pop-Ins Podcast for NC State.
• Neither freshmen Dylan Fishback (197 pounds) nor Chase Horne (285) competed in last week’s Wrestle-Offs. Fishback had a minor surgery over the summer and Horne also missed some time in the preseason. It will be interesting to see how the Pack gets them some action on the mat this season, as Fishback was the No. 6 overall recruit in the Class of 2022 and Horne was No. 39.