The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1497827
TRACKING THE PACK 20 ■ THE WOLFPACKER NUMBERS AND QUOTES Sponsored by Colony Tire & Service www.colonytire.com PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP 2 Pick-sixes in NC State's spring football game, both in the final minutes of the first quarter. Redshirt senior defensive back Darius Edmundson had a 40-yard score to give the White team a 10-7 lead with 2:28 remaining in the quarter, and redshirt junior cornerback Shyheim Battle responded with a 58-yard return to put the Red back ahead 14-10 just more than a minute later. All told, there were 5 turnovers (3 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries) in the spring game, which was played in wet, slippery field conditions. 9 Consecutive top-20 finishes by NC State at the NCAA Wrestling Championships following the Wolfpack's 10th-place showing in March. Discounting the 2020 season, when the tournament was canceled due to COVID, coach PAT POPOLIZIO'S team has placed in the top 10 four of the past five years, with its best finish in that span coming in 2018 when it tied Michigan for fourth place. 10 Consecutive ACC Tournament victories by the NC State women's basketball team prior to its 66-60 loss to Notre Dame on March 3 in this year's quarterfinal round. The Wolfpack had compiled a 9-0 record at the league tournament while winning the champion- ship in 2020, '21 and '22, then opened with an 83-58 romp over Syracuse in the first round of this year's event at Greensboro, N.C. But the top-seeded Irish proved too much to overcome the next day, dealing NC State its first defeat in the league tournament since it dropped a 78-68 decision to Louisville in the semifi- nals of the 2019 event. 75 Multi-run innings by the NC State baseball team through its first 35 games (2.14 per game). The Wolfpack's biggest inning to that point in the season was an 8-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth against UNC Wilmington on April 11. $1 million Gift from former Wolf- pack student-athletes Trea Turner and Kristen (Harabedian) Turner to NC State athletics. The donation will benefit the baseball and gymnastics programs and is the largest ever made by a former NC State athlete who is currently playing professionally. Trea Turner starred at shortstop for the Wolfpack from 2012-14 and is a two-time All-Star who signed with the Phila - delphia Phillies in December after previously playing for Washington and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kristen Harabedian was a standout gymnast for the Pack, earning second-team All-East Atlantic Gymnastics League honors in the uneven bars and floor exercise in 2014. After a record-setting 2021 season at Virginia, Arm- strong remained on the team through the [Cavaliers'] coach- ing change, but significantly re- gressed in performance, complet- ing just 54.7 percent of his passes with 12 interceptions and only 7 touchdown passes — 24 fewer than he had the previous season. … His transfer to NC State makes complete sense, as he will reunite with his former Virginia offensive coordinator Robert Anae there. Armstrong understands Anae's system and will try to recapture his magic from 2021, when he finished fourth nationally in pass- ing yards with 4,449, a Virginia single-season record." — ESPN college football writer Adam Rittenberg on NC State quarterback Brennan Armstrong Obviously, when you don't finish out with a win, there's a lot you have to go through. It was a good season. I didn't achieve my goal, but I know I can take a lot from this and move forward with it and keep getting better." — NC State 184-pound wrestler Trent Hidlay after finishing fourth at this year's NCAA Tour- nament to complete his redshirt junior season " We are going to walk out of here with our heads up. We'll continue to build and keep pushing this program in the right direction." — Wolfpack coach KEVIN KEATTS after his team's 72-63 loss to Creighton in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, which brought an end to a 23-11 bounce-back season