The 8th ranked NC State Wrestling team defeated #13 Virginia Tech 20-12 this evening, winning their 6th ACC Regular Season Dual Meet Championship in the last 7 years.
After trailing 12-3 after the first 5 matches, NC State would go on to win the final 5 matches to secure the victory.
Things got started with the 149 pound weight class.
#3 Jackson Arrington lost 1-4 to #2 Caleb Henson.
At 157 pounds, #12 Ed Scott defeated Rafael Hipolito Jr. 12-7. I definitely think that Scott could have picked up bonus points in this match, and at it’s conclusion, I was wondering if that would cost the Pack when it was all said and done.
At 165 pounds, #12 Derek Fields was upset by #22 Connor Brady, who picked up a takedown with 20 seconds remaining. I was beginning to sweat at this point.
At 174 pounds, #30 Alex Faison picked up a moral victory against #2 Mekhi Lewis. Yes, Faison did lose, but it was only a decision, losing 2-9. Lewis was desperately trying to pick up a takedown in the final seconds to pick up a major decision, but Faison held on, managing to not allow Lewis to pick up bonus points.
At 184 pounds, #7 Dylan Fishback was upset by #24 TJ Stewart 2-7. If I’m honest, at this point, I started doing math, and didn’t know if I saw a path forward for a Wolfpack victory.
Obviously, I’m bad at math, because I wasn’t projecting 5 points via a Tech Fall from Trent Hidlay…and why would I have expected anything less from the #2 wrestler at 197 pounds.
Hidlay crushed #26 Andy Smith 18-3, picking up 5 team points for the Tech Fall. Prior to Hidlay’s win, the Pack trailed 12-3. After his Tech Fall, the Pack found themselves within 4 points with 4 matches left.
The victory for Hidlay happened to be his 100th victory of his collegiate career.
At Heavyweight, #15 Owen Trephan defeated Jimmy Mullen in dramatic fashion, with a takedown in the final seconds of the 3rd period.
With 3 matches to go, the Hokies led by one point, 12-11.
At 125, #14 Jakob Camacho upset #3 Cooper Flynn 4-1. A takedown by Camacho in the first period proved to be enough.
The Wolfpack led 14-12 with 2 matches to go.
At 133, #4 Kai Orine defeated #13 Sam Latona 2-1 in dramatic fashion, holding off Latona in the final seconds.
With the Pack winning 17-12 with one match remaining, at 141 pounds, #4 Ryan Jack simply couldn’t allow himself to be pinned by #15 Tom Crook. If he were to be pinned, the Hokies would pick up six points and win the dual by 1 point. But, Jack didn’t get pinned. Rather, he defeated Crook 7-3, securing a 20-12 Wolfpack victory over the Hokies.