Donahue Earns Degree, Hits Mat to Face Top-10 Foe Friday Night

RALEIGH, N.C. – Not only will the NC State wrestling team be in action Friday night, as the #6 Wolfpack travels to #12 Nebraska for a key out-of-conference dual, but NC State's Fall Graduation also takes place on Friday.

That posed a bit of a dilemma for Beau Donahue.

Not only is Donahue the Pack's starter at 149 pounds in his final season, but the redshirt-senior from Centreville, Va., is also earning his undergrad degree this week.

"I think my mom might be more upset then anybody that I will not be walking Friday," said Donahue.

"I want to do it (walk in the graduation ceremony) more for my family then myself to be honest. They have helped me in so many ways over the years get to this part of my life. I actually worked it out where I will get to be in the ceremony this Spring, with a few of my teammates at the same time, so that will be nice."

Donahue will be earning his degree in business administration, with a concentration in information technology.

"Business administration is an overall concept that dives into each area of business," said Donahue. "You don't go too in-depth in a specific area, but you get a feel for every aspect of business.

"With the IT concentration, I took a few extra classes working with finances, a lot of excel and different data base websites analysis and manipulating data for companies."

Donahue originally came to NC State and had thoughts of majoring in something along the lines of construction engineering or architecture. But a class, and a teacher, put him on a different path.

"Neal Parker was a great teacher who made my class more enjoyable and interesting to learn, that is why I got into the IT concentration," said Donahue.

"I would say Business 340, which is an intro to information systems, stands out as one of my favorite classes. It was actually one of the harder classes that a lot of people complained about, but he was a great teacher."

Head coach Pat Popolizio has one goal for every student-athlete he coaches, leave NC State with a degree in hand.

"I'm very proud of his work," said Popolizio. "If you look at his development off the mat here, his future is very bright. He has represented our program as a great student-athlete, and he comes from a great family that is very supportive of us."

Donahue put the work in the classroom, as he was named to the ACC Honor Roll as both a freshman and again last year.

"It is something to be proud of, being able to balance the student and athlete part of it," said Donahue. "School does come first that is why we are here, but you have to have really good time management to handle both aspects of it.

"A lot of it just has to do with me getting work done on my own and holding myself accountable."

Instead of taking part in the 2017 Fall Graduation ceremony, Donahue will hit the mat in a key matchup at 149 pounds against the Cornhuskers Friday night.

The 17^th-ranked Donahue will take on #8 Sr. Colton McCrystal.

Donahue is 8-1 on the year, and 4-0 in duals. McCrystal was an NCAA Qualifier at 141 pounds last year and is 9-1 this year with a pair of ranked wins.

"I always get up for these types of challenges," said Donahue. "That is the type of guy I am going to have to beat if I want to get up on the podium at the end of the season.

"My goal is to be an All-American, so this is exactly the type of match I will have to have to get there. I'm looking forward to going out there and wrestling in front of a tough crowd like Nebraska."

Popolizio sees this as a chance for Donahue to get a signature win since he was reinserted into the lineup a couple of weeks ago.

"He has to go out and be offensive and be confident," said Popolizio. "He has to take advantage of these opportunities wrestling ranked guys. I like where is head is at right now, he will be excited to get out there for this matchup."

Donahue was sidelined earlier this season with a slight injury, but has been a key member of the lineup the last few weeks. This week, he is ranked #17 nationally by InterMat at #16 by FloWrestling.

"It is nice to see the progression, but we talk all the time in the room how rankings don't mean anything you have to earn it on the mat," said Donahue.

"My goal since I've gotten here is to be an All-American. It has been a little bit of a rough road at times, but I have done everything I need to do to get myself into that position in my last season here."

Donahue has also helped the Pack be ranked in the top-10 in each of the last 31 national rankings dating back three years, including being ranked #6 for four straight weeks heading into Friday's dual.

"Team wise, we have very high expectations for ourselves. We have a lot of seniors, a lot of guys are realizing that getting a team trophy at the end of the year is not an unrealistic goal. It's almost an expectation at this stage of where this program is."

Next semester, Donahue will continue to take a few non-degree seeking classes, taking some in architecture to set him up for when his Wolfpack career comes to an end in March.

"I probably hope to go to grad school," said Donahue. "I'm hoping to work somehow in the construction industry, weather its home building or commercial constructions either construction management or project management.

"Overall, I'm really happy with this experience. I think I grew not only as a wrestler but as a man, and there are so many people around me that I have to thank for that."

North Carolina State University Athletics

Donahue Earns Degree, Hits Mat to Face Top-10 Foe Friday Night

Related News

Players Mentioned

Beau Donahue

Related Videos