The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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20 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK The Wolfpacker staff has enjoyed get- ting to know various guests on its podcast nearly every Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. inside of Amedeo's Italian Restaurant in Raleigh. The show is always available to listen to on TheWolfpacker.com, iTunes and most ev- erywhere else podcasts can be downloaded. Here are some excerpts from when for- mer NC State wrestler Michael Macchia- vello hopped on to the podcast May 14 to talk about his 197-pound national title victory in 2018 and current professional career after earning his master's degree in arts and liberal studies: If someone had told you four years ago that you'd have a national title at NC State and be competing for a spot on the U.S. national team, what would you have said? "Tough question. I really don't know. It was always a goal of mine to win a national title, but to actually do it means a whole lot more. I didn't realize how hard it was until after it happened. I kind of downplayed it in my own mind. I made it not that big of a deal. Afterwards, you start to realize it's not easy. I'm definitely really thankful. It's definitely crazy to think about. It's wild. "If I showed you a video of my first high school wresting match, you'd definitely be laughing. I won, but I didn't even hit a wrestling move and I still put the kid on his back. Not a lot of technique either." When did wrestling start to click for you? "In high school, I don't think it was until my junior year. I placed third at the [NCHSAA] state tournament. I was trying to win it, but I made it to the state semifinals and lost by a point. "I actually almost didn't wrestle my sophomore year of high school. After my freshman year, I was like, 'Yeah, I'm good on this.' I was a football player and soccer player. Those were my main sports. I played safety at Sun Valley and was captain on the team. It was the sport I grew up playing. "Wrestling, I didn't pick up until the eighth grade, and I only did half a season. My first full season was my freshman year of high school." How did you end up selecting NC State? "I went to a national high school tournament my junior year, Flo Nationals, and placed sixth there. Frank Beasley, who came down with Pat [from Bing- hamton], was an assistant coach recruiting and he was wearing a Binghamton college shirt. I remem- ber thinking, 'Oh, that's the Baylor coach.' Baylor doesn't even have a wrestling team, so that just tells you how much I knew about college wrestling. "Later that summer, I got a call from Frank Bea- sley. He was like, 'I'm now the NC State assistant coach.' He just started talking to me and recruiting me from there; it [started] from that national high school tournament." Did starting a little later in wrestling help you keep that drive when you got to college? "Most definitely. We had guys who came in this year in our recruiting class who quit because they were like, 'I don't want to wrestle anymore.' They were probably some of the most talented fresh- men we've had the past couple of years. "It's unfortunate to see stuff like that. You have these talented high school wrestlers who come to college and their ceilings are really high. Halfway through the year, they are done with this and don't want to do it anymore. It's not fun." What were your thoughts going into the 2018 NCAA Tournament? "My biggest thing was taking it one match at a time. People have a tendency to look really far ahead. I think I learned over the years taking those L's to not worry about winning or losing, but focus on winning your match. That was my biggest thing. "I was confident that I could win the whole thing. I had beaten the No. 1 guy [Kollin Moore] in the country right before the ACC Tournament from Ohio State. After that, Jared Haught [of Vir- ginia Tech] got ranked No. 1 in the country." What was it like to see Haught — who you had two previous close defeats against that season — in the NCAA finals and then defeat him? "I wasn't thinking a whole lot to be honest. I didn't know who would make it out of that side of the bracket because there were so many good wrestlers on that side. "I wasn't too nervous because I wrestled him twice already and I knew what he was going to throw at me. I felt I was prepared. "I remember [after winning] I pointed up to the ceiling, and then I hugged my coaches, my mom and my little brother. My high school coach came up too. It was a surreal moment." Former NC State wrestler Michael Macchiavello captured the national championship at 197 pounds in 2018, and he is now wrestling internationally. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS PODCAST HIGHLIGHTS