North Carolina State University Athletics
Wrestling to Host No. 17 Virginia Tech Sunday
1/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 25, 2014
RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State wrestling team returns to home action Sunday afternoon, as the Wolfpack hosts No. 17 Virginia Tech in an ACC dual in Reynolds Coliseum at 2 p.m. Admission is free.
Dual Success
13 of the Pack's first 14 duals of the 2013-14 season were non-conference match-ups, and now the Pack finishes with five ACC duals over its final seven. NC State posts an 11-3 dual record thus far, with all three losses coming to ranked foes. The Pack has outscored the opposition 399-155 thus far in duals. The Pack is coming off a 34-10 win over Campbell Friday night, six of the Pack's seven matches won were all bonus point victories.
History vs. Virginia Tech
NC State and Virginia Tech will be facing each other in a dual for the 36th time in the history of the two programs. The Pack currently leads the overall series 20-14-1, and the teams have split the last four meetings in Raleigh.
The Competition
Virginia Tech comes to Raleigh with a 14-2 record on the season, including a 3-1 mark in ACC action. The Hokies fell to #13 Virginia (19-16), and have defeated North Carolina (29-3), Maryland (23-9), and Duke (33-4) in ACC action. The Hokies are ranked 17th nationally, and have seven of their 10 wrestlers ranked.
Live Video, Scoring, Twitter
Live video is available at GoPack.com/allaccess, and is free. Live scoring is available at TrackWrestling.com. Live updates will also be provided @PackWrestle.
In The Rankings
Six NC State wrestlers appear in the first NCAA Division I Wrestling Coaches' Panel Rankings released this week:
• Sam Speno - #25 at 141 pounds
• Brian Hamann - #26 at 149 pounds
• Tommy Gantt - #18 at 157 pounds
• Nijel Jones - #32 at 165 pounds
• Pete Renda - #20 at 174 pounds
• Nick Gwiazdowski - #5 at 285 pounds
In addition, NC State is #30 by WrestlingReport.com.
Quick Shots
• NC State (6) and Virginia Tech (7) combine to have 13 wrestlers ranked in the first NCAA Division 1 Coaches' Panel Rankings.
• Among NC State's probables are: 10 freshmen, 2 sophomore, 1 junior and 2 seniors.
• Nick Gwiazdowski ranks 10th nationally, only wrestler at 285 ranked, in the NCAA's 2014 NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler standings.
• Gwiazdowki leads the Pack in wins (28), followed by Tommy Gantt (24) and Pete Renda (20).
• The Pack's 2014 recruiting class was recently ranked No. 17 by WIN Magazine.
On the Horizon
The Pack will have its next two duals at home. Next up is North Carolina on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m., and then the final dual at home this year is #13 Virginia on Feb. 9.
Projected Lineups
125: #18 Joey Dance (16-5) vs. Micah Perez (16-11) or Brenden Calas (7-5)
133: #26 Dennis Gustafson (11-7) vs. Chris Wilkes (13-8)
141: Erik Spjut (11-12) vs. #25 Sam Speno (18-5)
149: #19 Zach Neibert (13-6) vs. #26 Brian Hamann (17-7) or Cohl Fulk (2-5)
157: Sal Mastriani (8-9) vs. #18 Tommy Gantt (24-6)
165: #24 Chris Moon (14-3) vs. Max Rohskopf (7-9) or Dylan Ceravalo (5-6) or #32 Nijel Jones (10-3)
174: John Dickson (8-9) vs. #20 Pete Renda (20-6)
184: #14 Nick Vetterlein (17-5) vs. Michael Macchiavello (9-8) or Shayne Brady (12-8)
197: #22 Chris Penny (19-7) vs. KaRonne Jones (10-6)
285: #21 Ty Walz (20-6) vs. #5 Nick Gwiazdowski (28-2)
- Rankings according to NCAA Division I Wrestling Coaches' Panel
