North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Virginia
#9 Wolfpack Hosts Virginia to Open Conference Action
1/8/2026 9:00:00 PM | Wrestling
RALEIGH – Ninth-ranked NC State wrestling opens conference action Friday night in Raleigh by hosting the Virginia Cavaliers for its first competition of 2026. The dual in Reynolds Coliseum is set for a 7 p.m. start on ACC Network Extra.
Dual-Meet Info
• Start time for the dual is 7 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.
• The duals will be streamed on ACCNX here with commentary by Andrew Sanders and Nick Gwiazdowski.
• Admission tickets for the event can be purchased here.
Probable Match-Ups
125 | #1 Vincent Robinson OR Brad Yokum vs. Rocco Hayes
133 | #32 Troy Hohman vs. Marlon Yarbrough OR Kyle Montaperto
141 | #8 Ryan Jack vs. Gable Porter
149 | #5 Koy Buesgens vs. Wynton Denkins
157 | Brogan Tucker vs. #29 Colton Washleski
165 | #16 Will Denny vs. Michael Murphy
174 | #5 Matty Singleton vs. #27 Nick Hamilton
184 | Don Cates vs. Griffin Gammell
197 | #25 Patrick Brophy OR Andrew Macchiavello vs. Steven Burrell Jr.
285 | #2 Isaac Trumble vs. Brenan Morgan
*Individual rankings according to InterMat (12/9/25)
A Win On Friday Would…
• Be the 802nd win in program history (801-491-19)
• Be the 267th win in Popolizio's head coaching career (266-89-2)
• Be Popolizio's 186th victory at NC State (185-37)
• Be the 42nd win over the Cavaliers (41-31-1)
*NC State season records begin in 1955
Series History
• Friday evening's dual marks the 74th meeting between the Wolfpack and the Cavaliers.
• The two last met in 2025 in Charlottesville, which resulted in a 32-4 victory for the Pack.
• NC State last recorded a loss to Virginia in 2014 and has outscored them 322 to 92 over the last 11 meetings.
*NC State season records begin in 1955
Pack Wrestler Highlights
• Freshman phenom #16 Will Denny (165 lbs) quickly entered the rankings after upsetting No. 5 Ryder Downey of UNI at the National Duals Invitational and has continued to rise.
• Redshirt-sophomore #5 Koy Buesgens (149 lbs) has been on a tear this season, climbing to his highest-ever individual ranking in his second season in the lineup. The Minnesota native went 10-0 to start the season before losing to Ohio State's #6 Ethan Stiles by one point.
• Sixth-year veteran Isaac Trumble (Hwt) has been dominating his final year of eligibility since being cleared from his knee injury that ocurred back at NCAAs in March. In just six matches, he has claimed four bonus point wins and two wins over ranked opponents, most notably No. 3 Nick Feldman of Ohio State.
Quick Notes
• The program started the season in the top 10 of the NWCA preseason rankings, marking the at least the ninth consecutive season to do so (records going to 2017-18 season.
• On InterMat, nine wrestlers are ranked in their respective weight classes, with five of them in the top 10, headlined by Vincent Robinson at No. 1 for 125 lbs, coming off his national championship season.
• The roster boasts seven NCAA Qualifiers, featuring one national champion, and four All-Americans.
Around the ACC
• The ACC holds five teams ranked nationally in the top-25 (No. 7 Virginia Tech, No. 9 NC State, No. 13 North Carolina, No. 14 Pittsburgh, and No. 24 Stanford). There are seven teams total with wrestling programs in the ACC.
• NC State looks to take back the ACC title this season after sharing the regular season honors with Virginia Tech and North Carolina and finishing third at the championship tournament. Prior to that, the ACC trophy lived in Raleigh for six consecutive seasons 2019-2024.
• The Wolfpack is the only ACC team to feature more than one wrestler in the top-five of their respective weight classes according to InterMat (125 #1 Robinson, 149 #5 Buesgens, 174 #5 Singleton, 285 #2 Trumble). In total, nine ACC wrestlers are found in the top-10 with NC State featuring the majority of that group with five.
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Players Mentioned
