Ninth-ranked NC State will begin its conference wrestling season by hosting the Virginia Cavaliers on Friday night at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and will be available for streaming on ACC Network Extra with commentary from Andrew Sanders and Nick Gwiazdowski.
The probable lineup features several ranked wrestlers from NC State, including Vincent Robinson, who is ranked No. 1 at 125 pounds following his national championship season, and Isaac Trumble, ranked No. 2 at heavyweight. Other notable Wolfpack athletes include Koy Buesgens (No. 5 at 149 lbs), Matty Singleton (No. 5 at 174 lbs), and Will Denny (No. 16 at 165 lbs).
A victory on Friday would mark the program’s 802nd win overall, the 267th career win for head coach Pat Popolizio, his 186th with NC State, and the team’s 42nd win over Virginia in their history.
Friday’s dual will be the 74th meeting between NC State and Virginia. The last encounter was in Charlottesville in 2025, where NC State secured a decisive 32-4 win. Since their last loss to Virginia in 2014, the Wolfpack has outscored the Cavaliers by a wide margin over eleven matches.
NC State enters this competition after starting its season ranked in the top ten of the NWCA preseason rankings for at least nine consecutive years dating back to the 2017-18 season. According to InterMat rankings as of December, nine Wolfpack wrestlers are listed among the best in their weight classes, with five inside the top ten.
The team’s roster includes seven NCAA qualifiers, one national champion, and four All-Americans. Among individual highlights this season: freshman Will Denny quickly rose into national rankings after defeating No. 5 Ryder Downey of UNI; redshirt-sophomore Koy Buesgens started his campaign with a ten-match winning streak; sixth-year veteran Isaac Trumble has returned strongly from a knee injury sustained during last year’s NCAA tournament.
Within the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), five teams are currently nationally ranked in wrestling: Virginia Tech (No.7), NC State (No.9), North Carolina (No.13), Pittsburgh (No.14), and Stanford (No.24). There are seven ACC schools with wrestling programs overall.
NC State aims to reclaim sole possession of the ACC title this year after sharing regular-season honors last year with Virginia Tech and North Carolina but finishing third at the conference tournament—having previously won six straight titles from 2019 through 2024.
According to InterMat rankings, NC State stands out as the only ACC team featuring more than one wrestler ranked among the top five nationally within their respective weight classes.
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