Previewing No. 9 NC State wrestling's road trip to No. 2 Ohio State

No. 9 NC State heads up to Columbus for a Friday night dual at No. 2 Ohio State. The contest will be the Wolfpack’s top non-conference dual of the season, and most likely highest ranked opponent of the season. The dual will start at 7 p.m. and be streamed on B1G+.

Ohio State has made waves in the college wrestling world in the first part of this season.

First, the Buckeyes won the grand prize at the National Duals. Not only did they go a perfect 4-0, but they dominated the field with top-10 wins against: No. 10 Minnesota (29-6), No. 2 Nebraska (33-3) and No. 3 Iowa (27-12). Ohio State’s starters from 125-157 pounds went a perfect 20-0 in the event.

Then this week they were the talk again as they overtook Penn State for No. 1 in FloWrestling’s Team Tournament rankings.

Here is a preview of NC State at Ohio State based on probable starters.

125: No. 1 Vince Robinson vs. Brendan McCrone

No. 3 Nic Bouzakis was not listed on Ohio State’s probables, so it looks like it will be McCrone. McCrone was a two-year starter for the Buckeyes, and downed Bouzakis in a wrestle-off earlier this year. Pack fans might remember him from the December 2023 dual vs. NC State, when he got a first period fall against Jacob Camacho when the former Pack standout was ranked No. 1. He is a perfect 9-0 this year, but Robinson will be his first ranked foe.

133: No. 31 Troy Hohman -OR- Zach Redding vs. No. 2 Ben Davino

Does NC State have an open starting spot now? Transfer Zach Redding started the first month of the season, but R-Jr. Troy Hohman got the call for both duals this past weekend. First, Hohman came out with a 12-5 win over No. 33 Javaan Yarborough of Morgan State, then suffered a 4-1 extra time defeat to former All-American No. 12 Dylan Shawver of Rutgers. How does the Pack manage this weight going forward? According to sources, it is now a competition. Davino is one of the top freshmen nationally. Coming off a redshirt season, he is a perfect 12-0 with nine bonus point wins. His best result was a 10-4 decision over two-time NCAA finalist No. 2 Drake Ayala of Iowa.

141: No. 6 Ryan Jack vs. No. 1 Jesse Mendez

Jack was upset by No. 12 Joey Olivieri of Rutgers last time out, 8-6, after he gave up a seven-point cradle in the dual match. Mendez is the reigning two-time national champion at this weight. He is 68-5 over the last three seasons, perfect 7-0 this year with three top-10 wins already. This will be the third meeting between the pair, but the first time they are meeting in two years. Back in December of 2023, Mendez took a pair of matches against Jack, scoring a 5-2 decision at the Cliff Keen and then securing a fall in the final seconds in a dual later that month.

149: No. 7 Koy Buesgens vs. No. 6 Ethan Stiles

Buesgens has steadily moved up the rankings this year thanks to a perfect 10-0 start. Stiles was a 2025 All-American at Oregon State, after starting his career at Nebraska, and transferred to Ohio State in the offseason. He is 7-2 on the season, but has won his last four including a 3-2 decision over No. 8 Ryder Block of Iowa.

157: No. 11 Jackson Arrington vs. No. 4 Brandon Cannon

This could be the match of the night with ow both wrestlers compete the entire seven minutes. Since he has ditched his shoulder harness, Arrington is 3-0, all major decisions outscoring those foes 38-5, and has not conceded a takedown in those bouts. He scored an 11-3 major over No. 29 Tony White of Rutgers last time out. Cannon won the starting spot midway through last season for Ohio State and was the No. 5 seed at NCAAs. This year he sits at 8-1 with three ranked wins, including knocking off reigning national champion and preseason No. 1 Antrell Taylor of Nebraska by a 16-4 major decision.

165: No. 19 Will Denny vs. No. 11 Paddy Gallagher

As a true freshman, Denny has continued to make his way up the rankings. He has won both of his matches since the National Duals. Gallagher moved up to 165 pounds late last year and earned an NCAA bid. At 9-2, both of his losses have been in OT to top-10 foes this year.

174: No. 3 Matty Singleton vs. No. 5 Carson Kharchla

Singleton comes into the battle undefeated at 7-0, scoring a fall over No. 9 Larry Pinto of Rutgers this past weekend. Kharchla is in his sixth season, he arrived in Columbus back in 2019-20. He was a 2022 All-American and a three-time NCAA Qualifier overall. He is 6-1 this year, all duals, his only loss to No. 2 Patrick Kennedy of Iowa in OT (4-1).

184: Don Cates vs. No. 6 Dylan Fishback

Pack vs. former Pack. After two years away from the program, Don Cates has returned for a final season. Fishback spent three years in Raleigh, two as the starter, and transferred back to his home state of Ohio this offseason. They overlapped for a year in the Pack wrestling room, but Cates was down at 165 pounds while Fishback redshirted. Fishback’s two losses on the season were to the No. 1 at the time (Minnesota’s Max McEnelly – 4-1 SV1) and the current No. 1 (Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari 4-1 SV1).

197: Cason Howle vs. No. 14 Luke Geog

According to sources, Patrick Brophy will not be in the lineup quite yet for NC State, so freshman Cason Howle will have to use another of his five available dates, this would be his fourth. Howle is 3-3 on the season, two of the losses to ranked foes. Last weekend he scored a tech fall (21-5) over Morgan State and a 4-3 decision over Rutgers. It appears Geog has won a three-way, early-season battle for the Buckeyes’ starting spot. He was a 2024 NCAA Qualifier, and is off to a 7-1 state this year, lone loss to No. 4 Joey Novak of Wyoming, 7-0, his lone ranked match-up.

285: No. 2 Isaac Trumble vs. No. 3 Nick Feldman

Based on rankings, the match of the night. Trumble made his season debut this past weekend with a 9-1 major decision over No. 20 Hunter Catka of Rutgers. The former top recruit in his class, Feldman made waves earlier this season when he knocked off former national champion and top ranked AJ Ferrari of Nebraska in a dual, 5-4. He is a perfect 11-0 this year with five bonus point wins. This will be the second meeting between the two. At the 2025 NCAA Championships in the Blood Round, Trumble came away with a 5-3 decision.