#8 @PackWrestle Set for Friday Dual at #23 Virginia

VIEW: NC State Match Notes
LISTEN: #PackMentality Pop-Ins Podcast – Ep. 39: Previewing UVA Dual

RALEIGH, N.C. – The No. 8 NC State wrestling team will have four straight weekends of conference duals against ranked ACC foes starting this Friday night with a trip to #23 Virginia.

	#8 NC State (13-2) at #23 Virginia (11-7)
Date	Friday, Feb. 1
Time	7:00 p.m.
Location	Charlottesville, Va.
Arena	Memorial Gym
Streaming	ACC Network Extra
Live Stats	TrackWrestling.com
Social Media	@PackWrestle

QUICK TAKEDOWNS
• NC State has won four straight against Virginia, including 32-7 in Raleigh last year.
• NC State has won the last two meetings in Charlottesville, 22-20 in 2015 and 23-10 in 2017.
• For the first time in Jan. 6, #12 Sean Fausz (125), #7 Tariq Wilson (133), and #3 Nick Reenan (184) are all listed among the probable starters.
• NC State is ranked #8 this week in the NWCA Coaches' Poll, 53^rd straight poll ranked in the top-10.
• Eight of the 10 starters are ranked by InterMat this week, four in the top-10 – both marks lead the ACC.
• NC State has won its last six ACC duals, and has won six of its last seven ACC road duals.
• NC State is 18-7 against ranked foes over the last four seasons, 9-5 in matchups outside of Raleigh.
• NC State is 33-4 in duals outside of Raleigh over last four years, including 15-2 in true road duals.

PROBABLE LINEUPS
#8 NC State (13-2, 1-0 ACC)
125: #12 R-Sr. Sean Fausz (7-1) –OR- R-Fr. Zurich Storm (12-3)
133: #7 R-So. Tariq Wilson (12-2)
141: R-Sr. Jamel Morris (17-3)
149: #8 Gr. Justin Oliver (12-3)
157: #4 R-So. Hayden Hidlay (14-2)
165: #17 R-So. Thomas Bullard (14-5)
174: #20 R-So. Daniel Bullard (15-6)
184: #3 R-So. Nick Reenan (10-1)
197: #20 R-Sr. Malik McDonald (13-6)
285: Fr. Colin Lawler (15-8) –OR- Fr. Deonte Wilson (15-8)

#23 Virginia (11-7, 0-1 ACC)
125: # 5 Jr. Jack Mueller (11-0)
133: R-So. Louie Hayes (17-8) –OR- So. Sam Book (9-7)
141: R-Jr. Sam Krivus (16-6) –OR- So. Scott Kiyono (3-8)
149: R-So. Michael Murphy (10-9)
157: So. Jake Keating (15-8)
165: R-Fr. Cam Coy (15-11)
174: Fr. Robby Patrick (9-13) –OR- So. Drew Peck (9-6)
184: R-Sr. Chance McClure (4-4)
197: #8 R-So. Jay Aiello (18-5)
285: R-Jr. Tyler Love (11-6)

FEATURED MATCHUPS
125: #12 Sean Fausz (7-1) vs. #5 Jack Mueller
Fausz won the Appalachian State Open last weekend going 3-0 at 125 pounds, and has not wrestled in a dual at 125 pounds since Jan. 6. Mueller has come out of redshirt and is 11-0 in duals, all bonus point wins. The two were teammates at the U23 World Championships in Novemeber, Mueller at 57 kg and Fausz at 61 kg. The only previous matchup came at the 2017 ACC Championship, an 8-5 win for Fausz.

197: #20 Malik McDonald (13-6) vs. #8 Jay Aiello (18-5)
McDonald as won four matches in a row, and five of his last six. Earlier this season, he scored a 3-2 decision over #9 Schultz of Nebraska. Aiello is 18-5, 12-4 in duals this year. He placed third at the Cliff Keen Invite back in November, notching four top-25 wins, two in the top-10. The two did not face off last year, as McDonald was at heavyweight.

DEFENDING THE TITLE
Last season, NC State swept the conference in dual action and finished 5-0 to claim its first ACC regular season title since 2004. The Pack also finished undefeated in ACC dual action for the first time since 2000. NC State outscored its conference foes 132-44, and won 36 of the 50 individual matches, with 14 going for bonus points.

This season, NC State is attempting to win back-to-back ACC regular season titles for the first time since 2001-02.

SUCCESS VS. THE ACC
Over the last four seasons, NC State has enjoyed success in its ACC duals:

• NC State has won six straight ACC duals, outscoring foes 162-56 (27.0-9.3).
• NC State has won 14 of its last 16 ACC duals, outscoring foes 414-167 (25.9-10.4).
• NC State has won 6 of its last 7 ACC road duals, outscoring foes 173-71 (24.7-10.1).

PACK VS. RANKED
NC State is 18-7 against ranked foes over the last four seasons, including an impressive 9-5 in such matchups in duals outside of Raleigh. NC State's final four opponents are all ranked: #23 UVA, #13 Pitt, #17 UNC, #12 VT. This year, NC State is 3-2 vs. ranked foes.

ROAD WARRIORS
Over the last four seasons, NC State has won 15 of its last 17 true road duals and 18 of its 20 neutral duals. Overall, the Wolfpack is 33-4 in duals outside of Raleigh since 2016.

@PACKWRESTLE RANKED NO. 8 NATIONALLY
NC State remains ranked No. 8 nationally in the latest NWCA Coaches' Poll. The Pack started the season at No. 8 for the first three weeks, then moved up to No. 7 for five weeks. After a loss at No. 2 Ohio State, NC State was ranked No. 9 for a couple of weeks before its current stretch of being ranked No. 8 in the last three polls.

Dating back to the 2015-16 season, NC State has been ranked in the top-10 in each of the last 53 polls, after having not appeared in the top-10 at all since 1993.

HIDLAY SCORING TEAM POINTS
Hayden Hidlay started his season 5-2 with a pair of top-10 losses. Since his last loss (Dec. 16), he has put up impressive numbers.

Hidlay has won each of his last nine matches, all dual wins. In this span, he has seven bonus point wins - outscoring his foes 116-31, with a pin as well. In the nine duals, he has scored 39 team points for the Pack at 157 pounds - avg. of 4.3 per dual.

EIGHT STARTERS RANKED, FOUR IN TOP-10
In this week's rankings from InterMat, eight of the 10 Wolfpack starters are ranked in the top-20 in their weight class, including four in the top-10 - both marks lead the ACC.

All five of the starters from the 2016 #1 recruiting class: Tariq Wilson (#7 at 133), Hayden Hidlay (#4 at 157), Thomas Bullard (#17 at 165), Daniel Bullard (#20 at 174) and Nick Reenan (#3 at 184).

In their final seasons, Justin Oliver (#8 at 149), Sean Fausz (#12 at 125), and Malik McDonald (#20 at 197) are all ranked.

SERIES VS. VIRGINIA
NC State and Virginia will be facing each other in a dual for the 66th time since the start of ACC competition (1955). NC State holds a slight 34-30-1 since conference action began, winning each of the last four matchups to take the series lead (22-20 in 2015 at UVA, 35-7 in Raleigh in 2016, 23-10 in 2017 at UVA, and 32-7 last year in Raleigh).

LAST YEAR VS. VIRGINIA
NC State won eight of the 10 matchups, including four for bonus point wins, as the Wolfpack defeated visiting Virginia 32-7 in Reynolds Coliseum. Among the victories, at 133 pounds R-Fr. Tariq Wilson scored a 9-4 upset win over #5 Jack Mueller with a pair of third-period takedowns.

How This Year's Probables Fared:
157: #3 Hayden Hidlay (NCSU) major dec. Fred Green; 26-12
174: #19 Daniel Bullard (NCSU) dec. #25 Will Schany; 8-2
285: Malik McDonald (NCSU) dec. Tyler Love; 8-1
133: #26 Tariq Wilson (NCSU) dec. #5 Jack Mueller; 9-4

#8 @PackWrestle Set for Friday Dual at #23 Virginia

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Daniel Bullard

Thomas Bullard

Sean Fausz

Hayden Hidlay

Colin Lawler

Malik McDonald

Jamel Morris

Justin Oliver

Nick Reenan

Zurich Storm

Deonte Wilson

Tariq Wilson

#8 @PackWrestle Set for Friday Dual at #23 Virginia

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Daniel Bullard

Thomas Bullard

Sean Fausz

Hayden Hidlay

Colin Lawler

Malik McDonald

Jamel Morris

Justin Oliver

Nick Reenan

Zurich Storm

Deonte Wilson

Tariq Wilson

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