North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Wrestling Announces Competitive Slate for 2014-15 Season
9/24/2014 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
2014-15 NC State Wrestling Schedule
RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State head coach Pat Popolizio has announced the Wolfpack’s 2014-15 wrestling schedule. Of the Pack’s 22 scheduled duals, NC State will be facing 10 teams that finished in the top-25 at last year’s NCAA Championships, and 13 that were in the top-40.
“We are very excited to announce this schedule, we will be competing against 10 teams that placed top-25 at the NCAA Championships,” said the Pack’s third-year coach. “Our goal was to see the best teams and individuals in the country as we prepare for our ultimate goal of producing NCAA National Champions and All-Americans. This schedule helps prepares us for this, and we are looking forward to some outstanding duals at Reynolds Coliseum.”
Before starting its duals, the Pack will host the NC State Wrestle Offs (Nov. 7) and the Wolfpack Open (Nov. 16) both in Carmichael Gymnasium.
The dual season starts the weekend of Nov. 22-23, as the Pack will host five duals over two days. Highlighting that weekend of action will be a dual versus Nebraska, which finished 11th at the 2014 NCAA Championships.
NC State’s first road action comes Nov. 29 at the Northeast Duals, with one of the matchups against a Cornell team that finished 7th at the 2014 NCAA Championships, followed by the Cliff Keen Invitational Dec 5-6 in Las Vegas.
Home highlights include the ACC opener against Duke on Jan. 7, an alumni event surrounding the Jan. 24 dual against Kent State, and a Beauty & The Beast event with the NC State gymnastics team on Feb. 14 against ACC foe Pittsburgh.
In the last regular season meet, the Pack will host 34-time national champion Oklahoma State in Reynolds Coliseum on Feb. 22. Popolizio’s alma mater finished third at last year’s NCAA Championships.
The ACC Championships will be held March 8 at Pittsburgh, and the 2014 NCAA Championships take place March 19-21 in St. Louis, Mo.
To close out regular season, NC State’s last 10 dual opponents all finished in the top-40 at the 2014 NCAA Championships, including three that were in the top-10.
Last year NC State finished 19th at the NCAA Championships, the Pack’s highest finish since 2009. NC State returns five wrestlers that have been NCAA Qualifiers during their careers, including 2014 NCAA Champion Nick Gwiazdowski, and this year’s recruiting class was ranked as high as 19th nationally.
For the Pack’s complete 2014-15 schedule, click here.
