NC State wrestling falls to Virginia Tech, suffers first loss of the season

Max Rohskopf claimed a lead for N.C. State’s wrestling team on Friday night in the same dominating fashion that had the third-ranked Wolfpack off to a 21-0 start this season.

But Rohskopf’s win, and another by heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski, were not quite enough to knock off No. 8 Virginia Tech.

The Hokies, who have been the ACC’s best wrestling program recently, handed the Wolfpack a 19-14 loss in the Holshouser Building at the State Fairgrounds.

“It’s not we wrestled bad, we wrestled a really good team,” N.C. State coach Pat Popolizio said. “They won those tough matches that were ones you needed to win to win the game.”

N.C. State (21-1, 4-1 ACC) found itself trailing the Hokies 10-6 at intermission. It had just gotten a 3-1 win from No. 4 Tommy Gantt in the 157-pound weight class.

Gantt, who moved to 20-0 as an individual, asserted his domination early by lifting No. 7 Nick Brascetta in the air and slamming him down. Brascetta’s lone point came on an escape, but Gantt retained the lead in the closing seconds of the third period, bringing the at-capacity crowd to its feet.

Popolizio charged his previously undefeated bunch to step up at the break. Though Gantt’s win was valuable, it wasn’t enough.

Nor was Rohskopf’s dominating 15-0 victory in the 165-class in the next match. All but two of the matches came down to decision, and Rohskopf got his by technical fall. He went up 6-0 in the first 10 seconds of the match, and one of the points came from an unsportsmanlike call on Virginia Tech’s David McFadden.

With N.C. State State needing someone to step up, Rohskopf said he was doing his part.

“We needed a leader at that point. I knew going into that match he (McFadden) was a highly-ranked opponent, but I also knew I could have come out and dominated,” Rohskopf said. “I haven’t talked to anyone else, but I know that was one of my best matches I wrestled, and I’m not even happy for it because the team lost.

“These guys are like my brothers, and it actually hurts my heart to see us lose at this point.”

The next three matches went to the Hokies, including the match-clincher at 184. In the that class, Pack’s Pete Renda surrendered a 3-2 lead in the second period for a 9-5 Virginia Tech win.

The Pack gave up other leads in the lower weight classes, giving the Hokies (14-2, 4-0) a leg up as the bout progressed to the heavyweight showdown.

The 133-pound match cost State four points, as Pack’s Jamal Morris fell to Dennis Gustafson 13-5 after Morris at one point led by four.

It was the only match when the higher-ranked grappler didn’t win. Virginia Tech boasts seven of the nation’s top 10 wrestlers, while four wrestle for the Pack, including Gwiazdowski, who improed to 25-0 this season.

Gwiazdowski, ranked No. 1 in the country in his class, topped No. 2 Ty Walz with a 3-2 decision.

“They had their best lineup of the year,” Poplizio said. “They’re arguably one of the best teams in the country with us. You can wrestle these dual meets over and over, and I’m sure outcomes might change a little bit.”

Though the Pack lost its perfect record, it is now focused on what’s next. The Wolfpack will close out the regular season with Missouri on Sunday and then it gets a break before the ACC championships on March 6 in Charlottesville, Va.

Gwiazdowski said the Wolfpack can learn from the loss.

“We’ve got four guys who are pretty darn consistent, you know?” Gwiazdowski said. “You have six other guys who where, every time, 22 times in a row, someone stepped up or multiple guys stepped up. Today, we struggled a bit there. I think we will pick up, we will learn and try again.”

This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 9:34 PM with the headline "NC State wrestling falls to Virginia Tech, suffers first loss of the season."