Connect with us

Uncategorized

NC State Men’s Swimming/Diving Has Won 4 Consecutive ACC Championships

Published

on

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The NC State men’s swimming & diving team closed out the ACC Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships in impressive fashion, winning gold in four of the six events on the way to capturing its fourth straight ACC Championship Saturday night inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

Along with winning four of the five relays, the Pack won 10 of the 13 individual swimming events, earned 23 podium finishes along with setting an American record and posting the second-fastest time in history in the 400 freestyle relay on route to winning its 28th ACC Championship in program history.

Team Scores
The Pack’s 1457 points saw them finish first, Louisivile took second with 1170.5 and Virginia rounded out the top-three with 983.5 points.

Held Named ACC’s Most Valuable Swimmer
For the second-consecutive season Ryan Held was named ACC Most Valuable Swimmer. He earned a total of seven first-place finishes as he won the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly along with being part of the 800 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle and 400 medley relay teams.

400 Freestyle Relay
The team of Ryan Held, Justin Ress, Jacob Molacek and Coleman Stewart posted the second-fastest time in history, breaking the American, conference, pool, meet and school records with a time of 2:45.69 seconds. The foursome’s victory marked the sixth year in a row the Pack had won the event.

100 Freestyle
NC State earned a one-two-three sweep in the 100 freestyle; Ryan Held finished first in 41.41, Justin Ress took second in 41.86, Jacob Molacek finished third in 41.89 and Giovanni Izzo was fourth in 42.69. In the ‘B’ final Cobe Garcia took seventh in 43.58 and in the ‘C’ final Tyler Rice finished fifth in 43.62.

1650 Freestyle
Anton Ipsen made it three-out-of-three wins on the meet as he set a new school, conference and meet record of 14:31.21 seconds to take first. Eric Knowles tied for fifth with a mark of 14:54.56 seconds and Danny Erlenmeyer took 13th in 15:08.26 seconds. Gil Kiesler clocked in at 15:13.32 seconds to take 18th and Matt O’Donnell finished in a15:14.23 seconds to take 19th.

200 Butterfly
After touching the wall at 1:41.35 seconds Andreas Vazaios tied for second. He was joined in the ‘A’ final by James Bretscher who finished eighth with a time of 1:44.04 seconds.

200 Backstroke
Coleman Stewart completed his sweep in the backstroke events, posting a time of 1:39.56 seconds to take first. He was joined on the podium by Hennessey Stuart, who took third after clocking in at 1:40.82 seconds. In the ‘B’ final Noah Hensley and Jacob Johnson finished third and fourth with times of 1:42.79 seconds and 1:42.95 seconds.

200 Breaststroke
Daniel Graber won the ‘B’ final after touching the wall at 1:56.15 seconds.

Quoting the Coach
On winning the ACC Championship for the fourth year in a row
“It’s a tough task and everyone’s gunning for you; it meant a lot for those seniors,” said head coach Braden Holloway. “They all came here to help create what we’re doing and to see them go out on a high note and for four-for-four was pretty impressive, I’m happy for those guys. It’s a great achievement for the men.”

On setting an American record in the 400 freestyle relay
“We went for it and just missed it a few days ago,” said Holloway. “We went for it again and knew we had a decent shot based on the way the 100’s were going; Coleman’s been swimming hot and we went for it and I think missing the first one gave them a little extra initiative to try and get this one down. We thought we could get it done and it was just a great feeling for those guys. We’ve talked about it before but to actually do it was a pretty cool feeling.”

On Ryan Held being being back-to-back ACC Most Valuable Swimmer
“Stud, on relays and winning three event titles again was such a great accomplishment for him,” said Holloway. He’s been such a great leader for our program and for that group. There’s a couple more weeks to go and he’ll be looking to finish his career on the best note he can.”

On Anton Ipsen’s performance
“Just a huge performance,” said Holloway. “He really pressed and he needed to; if he’s going to compete for the big one at NCAA’s you need to press it and feel uncomfortable.”

Overall thoughts
“I’m really happy with the role players on our team and the depth we have,” said Holloway. “Some are freshman, some are sophomores and some are juniors; we had a transfer, Noah Hensley, who had to sit out a whole year. He came here and did wonders. There were other guys who been here before and didn’t hit it but came back and did well, I’m proud of what they were able to do. I’m proud of the staff and support group, having them here was great and they really help us do what we need done. They work hard for NC State.”

Up Next
The Wolfpack men will return to Raleigh to prepare for the NCAA Championships in March, as the team will await the final selections for the men’s and women’s championships.

Stay up to date with the latest on NC State swimming and diving:
Twitter: @packswimdive
Facebook: NC State Swimming and Diving
Instagram: @packswimdive

Matthew is Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, and is in charge of business strategy. He is an NC State alum who majored in business. Matthew is also the lead pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

Uncategorized

NC State Falls Out of the Top-10 After Losses to UNC & Duke

Published

on

After losing to rivals UNC and Duke last week, the NC State Women’s Basketball team fell out of the Top-10 in the Week 17 AP Poll, landing at #12. NC State started the 2023-24 season unranked, but jumped to #14 in the first Poll after the Preseason Poll. The Wolfpack have been ranked in the Top-10 since November 20th, which equals 14 straight polls.

ACC Teams in the Top-25

5. Virginia Tech
12. NC State
17. Notre Dame
19. Syracuse
22. Louisville
27. Duke
29. UNC
30. FSU

The Wolfpack will host #19 Syracuse on Thursday night at 7pm.

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

NC State’s Week 1 Depth Chart Against UCONN (with Notes)

Published

on

NC State will kick off their 2023 Football season next Thursday night against UCONN at 7:30pm. The Wolfpack released their Depth Chart for the game today.

Image

Notes

  • Redshirt Sophomore Anthony Carter Jr. is listed as the starting Left Guard. If Redshirt Sophomore Lyndon Cooper wasn’t missing the first game due to injury, I wonder if Carter would be starting. Doeren did praise Carter in his press conference today. Also, he stated that Cooper should be back for the Notre Dame game.
  • Noticeably, Graduate Transfer Offensive Lineman Dawson Jaramillo is also missing from the Depth Chart. Unfortunately, Jaramillo has suffered an injury, and will miss the entirety of the 2023 season. This is a huge blow for Jaramillo, and a huge blow for the depth of the Wolfpack Offensive Line. Jaramillo was a Swiss Army knife, having the ability to play in numerous positions.
  • Very often, Doeren has stated that the “Or” in between two names means that the coaching staff sees both players as starters. There is an “Or” in between Chris Toudle and Trent Pennix at Tight End, with the former being listed first. Maybe it doesn’t matter whose name is listed first, but I’m shocked Pennix’s name wasn’t the one at the top.
  • I’m not shocked that Julian Gray and Keyon Lesane are listed as the starters at the X and Y Wide Receiver positions. They both have had a lot of buzz surrounding them in Fall Camp, and Lesane was named a captain. Obviously, with Gray’s speed, Offensive Coordinator Robert Anae is going to want to find a way to get the ball in his hands. With that being said, and this is no disrespect to the two of them, but both of them are 5’11”, which isn’t exactly the way you would sculpt your prototypical outside receivers. I expect Terrell Timmons and Bradley Rozner to both be heavily in rotation at the X and Y, to give the outside receivers a good dose of speed as well as height.
  • True Freshman Running Back Kendrick Raphael might be buried at the bottom of the Depth Chart at his position, but I bet he sees a carry before Mimms or Jones. Doeren mentioned that we would see Raphael against UCONN, but didn’t mention Jones or Mimms. Anae likes to run 2 Running Back sets, with one of them almost functioning like a Full Back. As a result, I’m not shocked to see Jones and Mimms where they are in the Depth Chart.
  • Props to True Freshman Kevin Concepcion for earning the starting job at the Inside Wide Receiver position. Get ready to hear his name a lot this year. KC is backed up by Redshirt Sophomore Jalen Coit, who Doeren spoke highly of today.
  • Junior Porter Rooks is no longer sitting behind Thayer Thomas on the Depth Chart. Doeren said that Rooks has had a great camp. The former 4-Star prospect has an opportunity to show that those stars meant something by his name. With that being said, he will be pushed by True Freshman Javonte “Juice” Vereen, who even has national media buzzing about him heading into the season.
  • Three True Freshman are on the Offensive Depth Chart: Left Guard Kamen Smith, IWR Kevin Concepcion and FLEXY Juice Vereen.
  • True Freshman Kamal Bonner is 2nd on the Depth Chart at the Will Linebacker spot, backing up Payton Wilson. What’s noteworthy, is that he’s ahead of former 4-Star prospect Jordan Poole in the Depth Chart. Bonner must have made a heck of a first impression.
  • As expected, ODU Graduate Transfer Robert Kennedy is starting at Nickel.
  • True Freshman Brandon Cisse is backing up Aydan White at Right Corner, and Doeren said we should expect him to contribute.
  • Redshirt Sophomore Jalen Coit will be filling in the shoes of Thayer Thomas at Punt Returner.

 

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Elliot Avent is interviewed on MLB Network about rule changes and Wolfpack Alums

Published

on

Elliot Avent gave a great interview on MLB Network.

Avent talks about the rules changes in baseball and doesn’t seem too pleaseed about them, while also breaking some news that they might be naming the hitting facility after Trea Turner and the Pitching lab after Carlos Rodon.

Give it a watch.

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

Mady Traore Will No Longer Enroll at NC State

Published

on

This unfortunately seemed inevitable.

According to 247Sports’ Travis Branham, 3-Star Mady Traore is no longer planning on enrolling at NC State.

Traore was a member of the Wolfpack’s 2022 recruiting class, but wasn’t able to enroll in the Fall because of Visa issues and the English Competency Test.

Back on November 29th, I posted the following article, saying that Traore was set to join the team for the 2nd semester. Traore himself told me when I posted it, that he was expecting to join the team in December.

I received the intel 2 weeks prior to posting, and prior to things beginning to brew between NC State and Isaiah Miranda. In hindsight, I wish I would have posted it when I got the intel (haha).

4-Star Mady Traore Expected to Suit up for NC State Soon

Obviously, that didn’t happen, and isn’t happening.

When I posted the article, things were in flux, because there was one scholarship available. If Miranda came, he was going to get the scholarship, and the staff was hoping Traore would be willing to wait and enroll in April. If Miranda didn’t come, then the expectation was for Traore to join the team in December, in the way that Miranda just did.

I still believe my source’s info was solid, and there are always a lot of moving pieces in play that can change scenarios quickly.

From what I hear, the staff was genuinely hopeful they could add Miranda in December, and Traore in April, but it didn’t work out that way, and that’s the way it goes sometimes.

We wish you the best Mady! You’ve got a special future in basketball.

Continue Reading