4 NC State Wrestlers Advance to NCAA Quarterfinals

CLEVELAND, OHIO – In Session II of the 2018 NCAA Championships Thursday night in Cleveland, the NC State wrestling team advanced four wrestlers into tomorrow’s quarterfinal round. All nine of the Wolfpack wrestlers advanced to Day 2 action overall.

After the first two sessions, NC State sits fifth in the team race.

NC State Friday Matchups – Session 3:

QUARTERFINALS
133: Match #346 – Tariq Wilson vs. #4 seed Kaid Brock (Oklahoma St.)
157: Match #357 – #1 seed Hayden Hidlay vs. #8 seed Tyler Berger (Nebraska)
184: Match #370 – #4 seed Pete Renda vs. #5 seed Domenic Abounader (Michigan)
197: Match #374 – #4 seed Michael Macchiavello vs. #5 seed Shakur Rasheed (Penn St.)

CONSOLATION ROUND 2
125: Match #386 – #5 seed Sean Fausz vs. Travis Piotrowski (Illinois)
141: Match #402 – #5 seed Kevin Jack vs. Henry Pohlmeyer (South Dakota St.)
149: Match #408 – #14 seed Beau Donahue vs. #13 seed Colton McCrystal (Nebraska)
174: Match #433 – Daniel Bullard vs. #13 seed Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma St.)
285: Match #456 – #14 Michael Boykin vs. #13 William Miller (Edinboro)

The Pack started the night session with eight of its nine NCAA participants in the second round after wins in the afternoon session. The first two Pack wrestlers to advance to the quarterfinals were a pair of redshirt-freshmen followed by a pair of redshirt- seniors.

After an opening round win over #5 seeded Erneste of Missouri, Wilson picked up where he left off and scored a 7-0 decision to advance into the quarterfinals over Montoya of Northern Colorado. Wilson stuck quick with a takedown just seven seconds in and rode Montoya the rest of the first. Wilson added another takedown in both the second and third periods, and accumulated 5:40 of ride time.

Fellow rookie, #1 seeded Hayden Hidlay, also advanced into the quarterfinals, as he scored a 4-2 win over Pittsburgh’s Rahmani. Hidlay started the bout with a takedown in the first period, then tacked on an escape point and forced a pair of stall calls for the final margin.

R-Sr. Pete Renda, the #4 seed at 184 pounds, advanced into the quarterfinals with a 9-0 bonus point win. Renda started with a first period takedown, an escape to start the second and another takedown in the second to build a 5-0 lead. A two-point near fall at the end of the third, along with the ride time point scored Renda the 9-0 major decision.

Classmate and #4 seed Michael Macchiavello picked up his second bonus point win of the day to advance to the quarterfinals, 16-5 over #13 seed Kasunic of American. Macchiavello started his bout with a big six-point move in the first period, a takedown and a four-point near fall. He went on to add two more takedowns and a two-pint near fall for the major decision.

All four of the Pack’s losses in the second round came in overtime.

#5 seeded R-Jr. Sean Fausz fell in his second bout. Fausz was up 3-0 with ride time clinched, but #12 seed Hayes of Virginia scored a takedown and two-point near fall in the final 10 seconds to send the bout into OT. Hayes then got a takedown and four-point neat fall in extra time for the 10-4 win.

#5 seed Sr. Kevin Jack also fell in overtime in his second bout, to #12 seed Tyler Smith of Bucknell, 6-4. A Jack first period takedown and escape in the second put him up 3-1 entering the third. Smith scored an escape then his own takedown, and a Jack escape evened it 4-4 at the end of regulation. Smith scored the winning takedown in extra time.

#14 seed R-Sr. Beau Donahue also fell in extra time. Tied 1-1 going into OT with #3 seed Leeth of Missouri, Donahue took a shot, but Leeth scrambled for the winning takedown for the 3-1 win.

Fellow #14 seed Sr. Michael Boykin scored a takedown in extra time, but #3 seed Nevills of Penn State scored the escape point and a ride out for the 5-4 win.

R-Fr. Daniel Bullard stayed alive in the consolation bracket with a second period technical fall to cap the Pack’s day. Bullard got an early takedown, then added four-point near falls all in the first period to go up 14-0 after two minutes. Starting on bottom, Bullard scored a reversal for the 16-0 win.