No. 8 NC State wrestling sends message in largest win over North Carolina in 25 years

Before the wrestling season kicked off, first-year North Carolina coach Rob Koll had a message for the rivalry between his program and NC State. 

“There’s a storied history of excellence in both programs. NC State dropped off just for a few years, but Pat’s brought them back and they’re bigger and better than they’ve ever been before,” Koll told FloWrestling shortly after he was hired. “It’s unfortunate for Pat that he’s going to have to be brought down a few pegs [laughs]. … He’s worked hard, but it’s unfortunate. There is a normal order of things and Chapel Hill is above NC State, whether he likes it or not.”

Well, when the two squads hit the mat at Reynolds Coliseum on Friday night, the No. 8 Wolfpack showed the “normal order of things” had the red and white on top in a 33-6 rout of the Tar Heels. 

The Pack’s win marked the largest margin of victory on either side of the all-time series in the last 25 years, and was the 11th straight win over the Tar Heels. 

“We have blinders here at NC State,” NC State coach Pat Popolizio said of Koll’s comments. “We don’t get caught into what goes on in the other programs. When we do show up, we’re going to bust our tails, get better week to week and win 11 years in a row against them. That was our goal, and we accomplished it.”

While it might not have been a distraction throughout the week, the Wolfpack wrestlers had some fun with it during the match.

Redshirt senior 197-pound Trent Hidlay coasted to a 17-2 tech fall win over Max Shaw, and looked towards the North Carolina bench. He made a hand gesture that appeared to show someone running their mouth and pointed towards the Tar Heels. 

“When people talk and don’t back it up,” Hidlay, “it’s always fun to shut them up.” 

Hidlay wasn’t the only one with a big celebration after their win. Redshirt junior heavyweight Owen Trephan rocked a baby with his arms and looked towards North Carolina after his 20-5 tech fall win over Adam Honis. Redshirt junior 133-pound Kai Orine stuck his tongue out after his 20-3 tech fall win over Jace Palmer in the blowout victory for the Wolfpack. 

While NC State won the final seven bouts of the night, the Wolfpack fell behind in the early going. North Carolina’s Sonny Santiago beat No. 11/6 Ed Scott at 157 in overtime to open the match before NC State’s Derek Fields logged a major decision win over Isaias Estrada, 10-1. 

But right after the Pack pulled ahead by one, the Tar Heels were able to take a 2-point lead via another sudden-death win in overtime. This time it was No. 23/29 Tyler Eischens’ decision over No. 31/27 Alex Faison at 174 pounds.

Though the Tar Heels took a 6-4 lead, that was the last of North Carolina’s lead. The Wolfpack was able to clean up the rest of the way, and Hidlay’s big win over Shaw left Reynolds Coliseum buzzing the rest of the night.

“The special thing about Reynolds is when you get momentum going, it makes it even that much more fun competing,” Hidlay said. “I had a feeling that I was going to get someone pretty strong and athletic, I just needed to wear him down a little bit, and I was able to do that to get the momentum going back with us.”

NC State’s wrestlers had to be aggressive in the match while North Carolina’s elected to take a passive approach. Once the Wolfpack figured that out, it was pedal to the metal and the early lead for the Tar Heels was not a problem for the home team.  

The Wolfpack was able to be aggressive, and it was on full display when No. 4/4 Ryan Jack took the mat. He logged a win over No. 5/5 Lachlan McNeil in the bout of the night, which featured Jack’s ability to score on a takedown and then was able to hold on for the 4-2 top-5 win.

“I thought we wrestled really well as a team,” Jack said. “I think the people that pushed the pace and wanted to get their attack, got to their attacks and won the match. They tried to slow us down the whole match, I don’t think they wanted to wrestle us too hard. … Overall, it was a great team performance.”

While NC State was able to clean up on the mat, the Wolfpack was pleased with its performance, for the most part. But Hidlay, a three-time ACC champion, embraced his final chance to wrestle the Tar Heels in a dual meet.

“Anybody that comes to the UNC/NC State match every year, you kind of get reminded of the difference between the two programs,” Hidlay said. “We’re disciplined, we do things the right way, we wrestle hard and we expose them when it comes time to a dual meet. … It always feels good to put the beatdown on them in the home gym.”

Jack thought the Wolfpack showed the rest of the country what it can do — and it was able to quiet any of Koll’s trash talk from the preseason. 

“It was good to send a message,” Jack said. “I have nothing but respect for every team that we wrestle, but their coach was talking a lot of crap at the beginning of the year. So I think it was good to send a message and show that we’re still the team in North Carolina.”

No. 8 NC State 33, North Carolina 6. 

157: Sonny Santiago (UNC) dec. No. 11/6 Ed Scott, 12-4 (OT)
165: Derek Fields (NC State) maj. dec. Isaias Estrada, 10-1. 
174: No. 23/29 Tyler Eischens (UNC) dec. No. 31/27 Alex Faison, 13-6. (OT)
184: No. 13/10 Dylan Fishback (NC State) maj. dec. No. 21/23 Gavin Kane, 15-3.
197: No. 2/4 Trent Hidlay (NC State) tech fall Max Shaw, 17-2.
HWT: No. 14/15 Owen Trephan (NC State) tech fall Adam Honis, 20-5.
125: Jarrett Trombley (NC State) dec. No. 26/29 Spencer Moore, 1-0.
133: No 6/6 Kai Orine (NC State) tech fall Jace Palmer, 20-3
141: No. 4/4 Ryan Jack dec. No. 5/5 Lachlan McNeil, 4-2.
149: No. 4/3 Jackson Arrington (NC State) dec. No. 24/NR Jayden Scott, 8-1