North Carolina State University Athletics
Battle of Ranked ACC Wrestling Foes Meet Saturday in Reynolds
2/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
RALEIGH, N.C. - The 25th ranked NC State wrestling team returns to home action Saturday night, as the Wolfpack (14-5) hosts #14 Pittsburgh (8-5) in an ACC dual starting at 7:30 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum.
Saturday night will also mark NC State's Beauty and the Beast event, as while the Wolfpack wrestling team is competing against Pittsburgh, the Wolfpack gymnastics team will also be in action at the same time hosting George Washington and William & Mary.
Tickets will be $5 for adults and free for 17 and under and NC State students. GoPack.com All-Access will offer a separate live stream of both events if you are unable to make it to Reynolds Coliseum.
Series vs. Pittsburgh: NC State will be facing Pittsburgh for only the second time in school history. Last year, the Pack traveled up to Pittsburgh and fell 27-7 in early January, as Tommy Gantt (157) and Nick Gwiazdowski (major at 285) won the Pack's two matches that day. Last season marked the Panthers first year in the ACC, and they went on to win the ACC regular season title.
Dual Success: NC State currently sits at 14-5 in duals this season, with all but one of the losses coming to top-10 teams at the time of the dual. The 14 wins thus far ties last season's win total, and are the most in a single season at NC State since the 1991-92 squad won 15. The Pack has outscored the opposition 463-237 this year in duals.
Closing Out with Ranked Foes: NC State closes out its regular season with its last five duals all against ranked opponents. The Pack started its stretch last weekend, pulling off a 21-15 upset at then-#17 Old Dominion on Friday then falling at #9 Virginia Tech 29-9 on Sunday. After the dual against #14 Pittsburgh, the Pack travels to #13 Virginia (Feb. 19) and hosts #7 Oklahoma State (Feb. 22).
45 and Counting: In the home win against Kent State on Jan. 24, heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski set a new school record via pinfall with his 42nd straight victory at NC State. Since that win, he has stretched his mark to 45, sporting a perfect 25-0 record this year and winning his final 20 bouts last season enroute to the NCAA title.
More Gwiz Streaks: Gwiazdowski is also working on a second streak, as he has pinned each of his last four opponents, three of which were ranked foes. His stretch started when he scored a pin in the home win against Kent State to set the school record for most consecutive wins. Next was his pin at UNC - the Pack trailed 18-7 with three matches left, and Gwiazdowski's pin in the final bout of the day gave the Wolfpack the 22-18 comeback win.
This past weekend, he brought home two more pins against ranked foes. In the Pack's 21-15 upset of #17 ODU, his pin in the sixth match gave the Pack's its first lead. Last Sunday, he defeated his highest ranked opponent of the season, #7 Ty Walz of Virginia Tech, with a third period pin. Gwiazdowski now has 11 pins on the year a year after notching 16.
| Date | School | Opponent | Pin Time |
| 1/24 | Kent State | #30 Mimmo Lytle | 4:34 |
| 2/1 | UNC | Frank Abbondanza | 3:48 |
| 2/6 | ODU | #27 Jacob Henderson | 4:21 |
| 2/8 | Va. Tech | #7 Ty Walz | 5:24 |
Gwiazdowski has also pinned all three ACC opponents he has face this year. Along with pins at North Carolina and Virginia Tech recently, Gwiazdowski pinned Duke's Brendan Walsh in just 1:07 back in early January.
| Date | School | Opponent | Pin Time |
| 1/7 | Duke | Brendan Walsh | 1:07 |
| 2/1 | UNC | Frank Abbondanza | 3:48 |
| 2/8 | Va. Tech | #7 Ty Walz | 5:24 |
Freshmen Impact: Five of the Pack's 10 weight classes could feature either true-freshmen or redshirt-freshmen. Last year's signing class was ranked #17 nationally, and that followed the previous years class that was ranked #10 - both by WIN Magazine.
| Wt. | Name | Class | Record |
| 133 | Bryce Meredith | Fr. | 13-3 |
| 149 | Beau Donahue | R-Fr. | 7-9 |
| or | Sam Melikian | Fr. | 11-7 |
| 157 | Chad Pyke | R-Fr. | 12-14 |
| 184 | Nicky Hall | Fr. | 8-4 |
| 197 | Michael Boykin | Fr. | 16-8 |
Leading the ACC: A pair of NC State grapplers lead the conference in bonus point wins through the Pack's first three ACC duals. Nick Gwiazdowski's three pins are tops in conference among all wrestlers in ACC action, in fact, he is the only wrestler to record more then one pin in conference action thus far. Redshirt senior Joe DeAngelo also leads the conference, as he has two wins my major decision - tying the top mark among all the ACC wrestlers.
Up Next: The Pack closes out its ACC dual season with a trip to #13 Virginia on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. NC State will host its final home dual of the year on Sunday, Feb. 22 vs. #7 Oklahoma State. In addition to Senior Day, the last home dual will be the Pack's Military Appreciation Day and NC State will welcome a UFC guest.
