No. 4 NC State wrestling falls to No. 9 Oklahoma State in front of record-setting crowd

No. 4 NC State wrestling wanted to put itself through a gauntlet in its non-conference schedule, and the Wolfpack quickly found out that it has work to do against No. 9 Oklahoma State on Friday night. 

The Cowboys blitzed the Wolfpack by winning six of the first eight matches as they cruised to a 22-12 victory at Reynolds Coliseum. The result marked NC State’s first home loss since 2019 (Pittsburgh), and its first non-conference defeat at home since 2018 (Ohio State). 

“Our guys didn’t have their best performance tonight, probably got outwrestled in certain positions,” NC State coach Pat Popolizio said. “It let us know we’ve got a lot of work to do. That’s why we wanted to wrestle a team like Oklahoma State.”

The Cowboys threw the first punch with back-to-back wins, which set the tone for the rest of the match as the Wolfpack couldn’t find a way to win tight matches when it needed to. 

Oklahoma State took the first two bouts in the 125- and 133-pound weight classes. First it was No. 20 Troy Spratley who logged a 7-2 decision over No. 17 Jakob Camacho. The Cowboys’ 133-pound star, No. 3 Daton Fix, then cruised to an 11-3 major decision over No. 5 Kai Orine.

The Pack was able to tie the match at seven apiece in the following two bouts. Ryan Jack, the No. 4 wrestler at 141, beat No. 7 Tagen Jamison 7-6, which included a takedown with less than 10 seconds left in the bout. Then, Jackson Arrington, the No. 5-ranked 149-pound wrestler, cruised past No. 21/19 Jordan Williams in a major decision, 10-0. 

But after that, it was all Oklahoma State as the Wolfpack only won one more bout across the final six. No. 2/4 Trent Hidlay won in dominant fashion over Jersey Robb, an 18-4 tech fall.  

While NC State was able to take a few bouts early in the match, the size and strength of Oklahoma State took over. 

Afterwards, Popolizio thought the Pack could have been more assertive on the mat.

“The guys that lost weren’t as offensive as they needed to be,” Popolizio said. “We probably took a backseat in certain positions, and that showed on the scoreboard. There were a lot of close, tight matches that could have went either way. Tonight, our guys didn’t fight hard enough to get that win.”

Hidlay, the Wolfpack’s sixth-year leader, echoed a similar sentiment. 

“Honestly, watching some of the matches, some of our guys, I don’t think they were ready for the moment,” Hidlay said. “Some guys, I thought, wrestled really soft and not as aggressive. When you’re wrestling guys that are going to come out and punch you in the face, you’ve got to be aggressive.”

Though the Wolfpack dropped its first home match in 1,790 days, NC State had a record-setting crowd on hand. The red and white drew 5,500 fans to Reynolds Coliseum, which shattered the previous best of 4,383 fans for the 2020 North Carolina match.

For Hidlay and the rest of the Wolfpack wrestlers, the home atmosphere was full of energy, but they were disappointed they couldn’t pull out the result they wanted.

“I think it speaks a lot to what our program is and what we’ve been able to do the past few years to get such a huge gathering here,” Hidlay said. “Obviously it’s tough, if this is people’s first dual meet, leaving on a loss is tough but hopefully they enjoyed it. I appreciate every time I get to step out here and compete — it’s one of the most special wrestling venues in the country.”

NC State’s goal is to have a tough schedule that prepares it for a team title chase, and the early-season test against Oklahoma State was just a piece of that. Popolizio thought if there was any time for a learning lesson, now is better than at the NCAA Tournament in March.

“We’ve got a lot of room to improve,” Popolizio said. “If you’re going to take losses, you just don’t want them to be the last weekend of the season. … We want to be tested. We set our schedule really hard for a reason so every time these guys get to compete, they know where they’re at.”

No. 9 Oklahoma State 22, No. 4 NC State 12

125: No. 20 Troy Spratley (OSU) dec. No. 17 Jakob Camacho; 7-2

133: No. 3 Daton Fix (OSU) maj. dec. No. 5 Kai Orine; 11-3

141: No. 4 Ryan Jack (NCSU) dec. No. 7 Tagen Jamison; 7-6

149: No. 5 Jackson Arrington (NCSU) maj. dec. No. 21/19 Jordan Williams; 10-0

157: No. 24/23 Teague Travis dec. No. 5 Ed Scott, 7-6

165: No. 3/2 Izzak Olenigga dec. AJ Kovacs, 8-3

174: No. NR/28 Brayden Thomspon dec. No. 32/31 Alex Faison, 2-1

184: No. 3 Dustin Plott dec. No. 12/5 Dylan Fishback, 13-8 

197: No. 2/4 Trent Hidlay tech fall No. Jersey Robb, 18-4

HWT: No. 12/11 Konner Doucet dec. No. 15/16 Owen Trephan, 2-1