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NC State Claims 3 ACC Wrestling Titles, Advances 9 to NCAA’s

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A trio of NC State wrestlers claimed individual ACC titles, and the Wolfpack placed second as a team overall at the 2018 ACC Championship held Saturday in Chapel Hill. NC State also advanced nine of its 10 starters to the NCAA Championships with an automatic bid on Saturday.

R-Jr. Sean Fausz (125 pounds), R-Fr. Hayden Hidlay (157), and R-Sr. Pete Renda (184) all claimed their first career ACC titles as they all went a perfect 2-0 on the day and all three defeated top-12 wrestlers in their respective finals.

Sr. Kevin Jack (141) and R-Sr. Michael Macchiavello (197) also claimed All-ACC honors, as they both fell in overtime in their ACC Finals bouts.

All 10 NC State wrestlers either reached the finals or the third place bout.

Virginia Tech won their second straight team title with 81 points. NC State placed second with 73. North Carolina was third (52.5), Duke took fourth (47.5), Virginia was fifth (34) and Pitt was sixth (33.5).

FINALS RECAP
Fausz won the Pack’s first ACC title of the night at 125 pounds. Entering as the No. 2 seed, Fausz scored a pair of decisions capped with a 4-0 win over #12 Hayes of Virginia in the finals. Fausz scored a takedown 24 seconds into the bout, and rode Hayes the rest of the first period. An escape in the second, and the ride time point gave Fausz his ACC title. He finished as the runner-up at 125 pounds in each of his first two seasons.
Hidlay brought home an ACC title at 157 pounds in his first ACC Championship with a 3-2 win over #11 Finesilver of Duke. Hidlay scored the bout’s lone takedown with a minute to go in the first period, and will enter the NCAA Championships a perfect 22-0. He is the only freshmen, both true and redshirt, in all weight classes that is still undefeated.
Renda brought home his first ACC title when he defeated the two-time defending ACC Champion #6 Zavatsky 4-0 at 184 pounds. After a scoreless first, Renda started the second with an escape and tacked score the bout’s lone takedown late in the second. After a third period ride out, Renda scored the riding time point and avenged his earlier dual loss.
Jack got upset at 141 pounds in overtime. Jack held a 4-1 lead going into the third, #25 Moore got the escape and a takedown with 20 seconds left to force extra time. Moore then scored the winning takedown with four seconds left.

Macchiavello had one of the most exciting bouts of the night, as he faced the #1 ranked wrestler at 197 pounds for the second time in his last three bouts. He scored the win over #1 Moore of Ohio State, but in the ACC Finals he fell in extra time to current #1 Haught of Virginia Tech, 6-4.

CONSOLATION FINALS RECAP
With five going for third place, a pair captured wins.

R-Fr. Tariq Wilson (133) captured fourth place in his first ACC Tournament, wrapping up his 2-2 day with a 11-1 major decision loss to #9 Forys of Pitt. R-Sr. Beau Donahue (149) also fell in his third place bout, 7-1 to #25 Krivus of Virginia. R-Sr. Brian Hamann (165) fell on a last-minute six-point move 11-6 to #29 Atkinson of UVA.

R-Fr. Daniel Bullard (174) closed out his first ACC Championship with a third place finish. Bullard scored three takedowns in the first, and all five in the bout total, to defeat #19 Finesilver of Duke 12-6.

Sr. Michael Boykin (285) made it two straight third place finishes, as he went to OT once again and scored a 5-1 win. Boykin got the winning takedown with 13 seconds left, and also scored a two-point near fall.

CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS RECAP
All five NC State wrestlers in this round won to advance to their respective third place bouts.

Wilson clinched his NCAA bid with a 2-1 win over #22 Sherman of UNC. Wilson was up 1-0 going into the third, and rode Sherman for 1:37 before giving up the escape, and the ride time point clinched the win.

Donahue secured his first career NCAA bid with a 5-4 win over Lee of Pitt. He scored a takedown and a two-point near fall in building a 4-0 lead after the first. An escape point in the third clinched it.

Hamann struck with a takedown only eight seconds in and built up 2:52 of RT after the first en route to his 5-4 win.

Bullard became the third Wolfpack freshman to earn a NCAA bid with his 7-1 win over Pitt’s O’Brien. He scored a takedown in the first, then a ride out in the second, and tacked on a takedown in the third.

Boykin survived multiple OTs and made it a clean sweep in this round, as Boykin scored a 4-3 win over #20 Dunn of Virginia Tech.

SEMIFINAL RECAP
After two wins in the first round, NC State had nine of its 10 wrestlers in the semifinals, five of which won and advanced to the ACC Finals.

Fausz started the round with an 8-3 win over #31 Norstrem of Virginia Tech. Fausz scored a pair of first period takedowns and held a 4-1 lead after the first, and scored another takedown in the second.

Wilson started with a takedown and two-point near fall in the first, but Virginia Tech’s #14 Gustafson answered with a takedown and four-point near fall later in the period and downed Wilson 7-5.

After a scoreless first, Jack started the second with an escape and Pitt’s #17 Zanetta was called for a pair of stalls in the period for Jack’s final margin of victory of 2-0.

Donahue gave up a takedown to #15 Blees of Virginia Tech with five seconds left in the second, and a second in the third and fell 6-4.

In one of the most exciting bouts of the round, Hidlay clinched a berth into the finals with a 6-4 OT win over #31 Rahmani of Pitt. Hidlay faced a 3-1 deficit to start the third, but scored a takedown with 1:10 left and the winning takedown 35 seconds into extra time.

Bullard fell to the top-seed #23 Bolen of Virginia Tech, 7-4.

A pair of NC State-Virginia Tech top-10 rematches we set up with wins at 184 and 197 pounds. Renda scored a takedown in the second and downed #18 Ness of North Carolina, 4-2. Classmate Macchiavello followed suit also with a takedown in the second and another in the third for a 5-3 win over #17 Chaid of UNC.

In the third straight NCSU-UNC semifinal match up, UNC’s #22 Daniel scored a takedown with three seconds left to defeat Boykin 3-2.

FIRST ROUND RECAP
Wilson started the Pack’s day with an 8-3 win over #32 Finesilver of Duke. Wilson scored a pair of takedowns in the first, and built a 5-1 lead after the opening period.

Bullard also won his first round bout with a 5-1 win over #30 Will Schany of Virginia. Holding a 1-0 lead entering the third with a neutral start Bullard scored two takedowns in the period to advance.

Hamann suffered the first loss for the Pack, as his bout went to OT but Duke’s Zach Finesilver put together a six-point move for a 12-6 win.

UP NEXT
The NCAA Section Show will be on Wednesday, with the 2018 NCAA Championships taking place in Cleveland March 15-17.

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

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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.

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

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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.

 

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

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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.

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NC State Basketball

Mady Traore Will No Longer Enroll at NC State

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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.

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