Pack Preview: First Round Matchups

Tomorrow, we kick off the NCAA National Championships.  All the action will be on the ESPN Networks (ESNP3, ESPNU, and ESPN).  Here is a look at our opening round match-ups...

125 pounds - Joe DeAngelo will take on Christian Cullinan of Central Michigan.  Cullinan is a redshirt senior with a 21-7 record.  He has been ranked in the top ten most of the season but had a disappointing MAC Tournament so is unseeded.  He finished 3rd at the Midlands Championships and 2nd at the Michigan State Open this season.  He is big for the weight class as he has wrestled at 133 and 141 pounds in his collegiate career.  He is a good rider on top and throws a leg in.  On his feet, he likes to attack a high crotch.

133 pounds - Sam Speno matches up with Derek Steeley of Binghamton in the first round.  Steeley is a senior who is 15-12 on the season.  Steeley is coming off of a runner-up finish at the CAA Championships.  Steeley is a three-year starter for Binghamton after wrestling for a season at Neosho Community College.  Steeley is a talented and dangerous wrestler.  He has the ability to put his opponent of their back from almost anywhere with his flexibility and funk.  He is difficult to score on and has good leg attacks.

165 Pounds - Nijel Jones takes on the #9 seeded Josh Veltre of Bloomsburg.  This will mark their second meeting of the season as Veltre beat Jones 6-4 at the early season Keystone Classic.  Veltre holds a 32-5 record and has not lost since November.  Jones is looking to snap Veltre's 25 watch win streak.  Veltre is a redshirt junior that won both the PSAC and EWL Titles this season.  Veltre is solid and steady as he stays in good position and is good in all positions.

Pat's Pop Ins - NCAA Edition

Mentality Monday

Wolfpack TRIPLE THREAT

BRACKETS

Below are screenshots of each of the 125, 133 & 165 brackets where Joe DeAngelo, Sam Speno, and Nijel Jones find their starting point for the NCAA Championships.  In total, the ACC qualified 34 wrestlers to the tournament. A link to the complete brackets is here.

If you can't make it to Des Moines to watch - ESPN will be broadcasting ALL SESSIONS on their family of networks.  More information here.

Joe DeAngelo takes on Christian Cullinana from Central Michigan first round and will then face either Kevon Powell of Ohio or Nico Megaludis of Penn State. 

Sam Speno faces Derek Steeley of Binghamton in the first round, and will then face either Rosario Bruno of Michigan or A.J. Schopp of Edinboro.

 Nijel Jones takes on Tyler Caldwell from Oklahoma State in his first round matchup, and will then face either Corey Lear from Bucknell or Pierce Harger of Northwestern.

New to the Pack

Joe DeAngelo and Keegan Cerwinski both transferred into NCSU this semester and have both competed in the line-up.  Joe is a junior while Keegan is a freshman.  Here is a little background on their wrestling careers…

Joe DeAngelo – 125 Pounds

Transferred in from Nassau Community College

• 2012 Junior College All-American (7th Place)
• 2012 NJCAA Regional Champion
• 2012 NY State Collegiate All-State (8^th Place)
• 2011 FILA Junior National All-American (6^th Place)
• 2011 Wilkes Open 4^th Place

Southern Alamance High School, NC

• 186-15 Career Record
• 2010 NC State Champion
• 2009 3^rd at NC State Championships
• 2008 2^nd at NC State Championships
• 2007 NC State Qualifier
• 2010 NHSCA Senior Nationals All-American (4^th Place)
• 2009 Super 32 (4^th Place)
• 2008 FILA Cadet All-American

Keegan Cerwinski – 184 Pounds

Greene High School, NY

• 199-38 Career Record
• 40-4 Senior Record (22 Pins & 10 Tech Falls)
• 2012 NY State Runner-Up
• 2011 NY State 5^th Place
• 2X Section 4 Champion & 4X Section 4 Finalist
• 2012 Eastern States 5^th Place
• 2011 Eastern States 6^th Place
• NHSCA Freshman All-American

Don't forget - tomorrow night the Pack takes on rival UNC at Carmichael Arena. Hope to see you there!

Photos from Campbell & VMI Duals

I finally got caught up on posting photos to the Photos page.  Full albums from the Wolfpack Open, Southern Scuffle, VMI Dual, and Campbell Dual are now linked.  Below is a small collection of photos, in addition to the GoPack press release from last night's victories.

Nereim vs. VMI (157)

Davis vs. VMI (174)

Peltier vs. VMI (184)

Cook vs. VMI (197)

Kosoy vs. VMI (HWT)

Gabriel vs. VMI (165)

Gantt vs. Campbell (149)

Jones vs. Campbell (184)

DeAngelo vs. VMI (125)

Speno vs. Campbell (133)

Hunt vs. VMI (141)

Jan. 9, 2013

Buies Creek, N.C. -

After starting the 2012-13 season with five straight tournaments, the NC State wrestling team competed in its first dual meets of the season Wednesday night. The Pack got the season off to a 2-0 start, first defeated VMI 35-6 and then downing host Campbell 27-13 at Gore Arena in Buies Creek.

In the Pack’s two victories, NC State collected two falls and eight major decisions in winning 16 of the 20 matches on the evening.

NC State (2-0) started its evening winning nine of 10 matches in its 35-6 win over VMI (0-4) . The Pack recorded one fall and five major decision wins in its nine wins for six bonus point victories.

The Pack got off to a fast start against VMI, winning its first four matches and jumping out to an 18-0 lead, with all four matches being controlled by NC State wrestlers from the start.

The meet started at 149 pounds, with sophomore Thomas Gantt getting the scoring started with a fall at 2:36 and giving the Pack a quick 6-0 lead and a lead it would never surrender.

The Pack then recorded three straight major decisions, and five in the next seven matches overall.

2012 NCAA qualified Matt Nereim recorded a 15-5 major decision at 157 pounds, then redshirt-freshman Mardel Gabriel jumped up one weight class to 165 pounds and brought home a 13-4 major decision, followed by freshman Patrick Davis’ 16-5 major decision win at 174 pounds to give the Pack an 18-0 lead.

Redshirt-freshman Bret Peltier, at 184 pounds, suffered the Pack’s first set-back, getting pinned and VMI was on the board at 18-6.

Sophomore Bill Cook got the Pack going again at 197 pounds, winning 7-4 to increase the Pack’s lead to 21-6.

NC State then recorded back-to-back major decisions. Feshman Mike Kosoy earned a 12-2 major decision at 285 pounds, and then junior Joe DeAngelo made his Wolfpack debut with a 16-4 major decision at 125 pounds.

The Pack closed out the win over VMI with freshman Sam Speno winning 8-3 at 133 pounds, and classmate Tyler Hunt also making his Wolfpack debut with a 8-2 win at 141 pounds.

NC State and Campbell (2-5) also opened at 149 pounds, with NC State’s Gantt started the Pack off strong once again with his 15-6 major decision to give the Pack an early 4-0 lead.

Nereim at 157 pounds also picked up his second win of the night, with a 6-4 win pushing the lead up to 7-0 after two bouts.

Campbell got on the board with a major decision at 165 pounds over Gabriel, 14-4 to close the score to 7-4.

The Pack answered with back-to-back wins. Davis also recorded his second win of the night at 174 pounds, a 15-5 major decisions. Junior Nijel Jones jumped up two weight classes to 184 pounds, and won 8-4 to push the Pack’s lead to 14-4 after five bouts.

Campbell would record a fall at 197 pounds over State’s Cook and close the gap to 14-10.

At 285 pounds, Kosoy continued the Pack’s winning ways with a 2-1 win in extra time. After no takedowns in overtime, Kosoy earned an escape to pick up three team points and push the lead up to 17-10.

Campbell answered right back with a 4-3 win at 125 pounds over DeAngelo to bring the score to 17-13.

Speno clinched the match for the Pack with a 14-3 major decision increasing the Pack’s lead to 21-13. NC State closed out the evening just as it start, with Hunt picking up a fall at 4:58 for the decisive score of 27-13.

The Pack will return to action this Saturday, traveling to Gardner-Webb for a dual meet against the Bulldogs at 6:30 p.m.

NCSU 35, VMI 6
149: Gantt (NCSU) pin Stewart; 2:36
157: Nereim (NCSU) MD Gottwald; 15-5 
165: Gabriel (NCSU) MD Darr; 13-4
174: Davis (NCSU) MD Dommert; 16-5
184: Jones (VMI) pin Peltier; 3:29 
197: Cook (NCSU) dec. Garcia; 7-4 
285: Kosoy (NCSU) MD LaPrade; 12-2
125: DeAngelo (NCSU) MD Herrera; 16-4
133: Speno (NCSU) dec. Onufruyenko; 8-3
141: Hunt (NCSU) dec. Goodsell; 8-2

NCSU 27, Campbell 13
149: Gantt (NCSU) MD Jorge; 15-6
157: Nereim (NCSU) dec. Rex; 6-4
165: Duggan (Cam) MD Gabriel; 14-4
174: Davis (NCSU) MD Cox; 15-5
184: Jones (NCSU) dec. McGiffen’ 8-4
197: Merickel (Cam) pin Cook; 1:04
285: Kosoy (NCSU) SV3 Nolan, 2-1
125: Montoya (Cam) dec. DeAngelo; 5-4
133: Speno (NCSU) MD Bidelspach; 14-3
141: Hunt (NCSU) pin Dahlstrom; 4:58