Wolfpack Wrestling’s Garden Party

In his first two trips to the NCAA Wrestling Championships for NC State’s wrestling team, heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski was a little lonely.

Both times, Gwiazdowski had four teammates accompany him to the three-day tournament, but none of them were among the top eight seeds in their weight classes and, other than freshman Kevin Jack last year, all lost relatively early.

Meanwhile, Gwiazdowski charged on to win back-to-back individual championships, becoming the first Wolfpack wrestler to earn multiple national titles.

Now, as he goes for an unprecedented third championship, the senior giant has plenty of company. Third-year head coach Pat Popolizio’s team—ranked second nationally and coming off an Atlantic Coast Conference championship in Charlottesville, Virginia, 10 days ago—just may be in line for the best finish in school history, aiming to improve on the seventh-place finish of the 1993 team, which featured heavyweight champion Sylvester Terkay.

“It’s a Wolfpack party,” Gwiazdowski says. “It’s going to be good to have so many teammates there.”

A program-tying eight wrestlers arrived Wednesday at New York’s Madison Square Garden, with first round action beginning on Thursday. Six of those wrestlers—including ACC champions Gwiazdowski and Jack, senior Tommy Gantt and junior Max Rohskopf—are seeded in their brackets.

“The goal our guys set for the season was to bring home an NCAA trophy,” Popolizio says. “It’s going to take a lot of work, but we are in a good position.

“We just have to go out and compete at our best.”

Wrestling is one of several Wolfpack winter sports that are hitting the homestretch for this year. Last week in Birmingham, Alabama, the indoor track and field teams had their best finishes in a quarter century, with the men finishing 14th and the women finishing 17th.

Thursday, in addition to wrestling, the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships begin in Atlanta, with 14 swimmers representing the Wolfpack. The Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships will be held in Atlanta next week, with 16 swimmers representing the Pack for head coach Braden Holloway.

Gwiadowski is clearly the star of the program at the moment, having won an NCAA-best 84 consecutive matches since arriving in Raleigh after a freshman season at Binghamton. He was 42-2 in his first season with the Wolfpack, but hasn’t lost a match since early in the 2014 season.

He’s not the only undefeated wrestler on the team, however. Gantt is 24-0 this year and is seeded second in the 157-pound weight class.

“It’s a special group,” Gantt says “Any time you can get eight guys to the tournament, that’s a great accomplishment. It’s a testament to the hard work we have put in all season.”

ESPN Coverage
All coverage is live. All times are Eastern.

Thursday, March 17
Session 1: 12 p.m. on ESPNU/ESPN3
Session 2: 7 p.m. on ESPNU/ESPN3

Friday, March 18
Session 3: 11 a.m. on ESPNU/ESPN3
Session 4: 8 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN3

Saturday, March 19
Session 5: 11 a.m. on ESPNU/ESPN3
Session 6: 8 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN3