The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1527657
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024 ■ 45 ter undergoing offseason surgery but is now fully healthy. 133 pounds Redshirt senior Kai Orine, a two- time All-American and two-time ACC champion, will probably not spend his final season at 133 pounds; it has be- come a hard cut for him heading into his sixth year. A trio of wrestlers will be fighting for the starting spot at 133, at least at the start of the season. Troy Hohman is in his third year in the program but has only been at 125 pounds previously. The redshirt sophomore did have 16 matches last year, including a 16-0 technical fall in an ACC dual against Duke. Vince Robinson redshirted last year as a true freshman, with five of his six matches at 125 pounds. He was slowed by an injury when he arrived on cam- pus but bumped up to 133 for the dual against Duke and scored a 20-10 major decision. Freshman Draegen Orine is Kai's younger brother and was a top-100 recruit. In preseason workouts, the coaches have constantly been impressed with his work in conditioning drills. The progress of these three through the end of December will bear watching. 141 pounds If Kai Orine bumps up as planned, redshirt senior Ryan Jack, who was an All-American at the weight last year, will redshirt. Before he moved down to 133 pounds for the past two seasons, Orine was 6-1 at 141 as a redshirt freshman in 2020-21. Jack had his breakthrough season last year, winning an ACC title with his vic- tory over rival Cole Matthews of Pitt. Then Jack went on to earn All-America honors for the first time in his career with a seventh-place finish. 149 pounds Jackson Arrington was a workhorse for the Pack as a sophomore last sea- son, going 20-6. He won his first ACC title and was the last wrestler to defeat Virginia Tech's Caleb Henson before he won the NCAA title. But at NCAAs for the second year in a row, Arrington finished one win shy of All-America honors. Arrington also competed in his first senior-level event at 70 kg at the World Team Trials and came away with im- pressive wins over former All-Ameri- cans Jakob Bergeland (Minnesota) and Jarrett Jacques (Missouri). However, Arrington will redshirt this year, with redshirt freshman Koy Bues- gens expected to handle the weight. Buesgens, a top-50 recruit, made the finals of the U.S. World Team Trials Challenge Tournament at 65 kg (143.3 pounds) this past summer. 157 pounds Senior Ed Scott is expected to return at the weight he has occupied the past three seasons. Scott won his second ACC title last year, but then fell one win shy of repeating as an All-American af- ter placing fifth as a sophomore. Scott went 23-7 last year with eight ranked wins and 14 bonus-point victories. 165 pounds Derek Fields won the starting spot during a back-and-forth battle with A.J. Kovacs that went deep into last season. Fields earned the top seed for the ACC Championships but was upset in the semifinals and had to rely on an at-large bid to get into NCAAs. He went 17-6 in his first year in the Pack's lineup and will be a redshirt junior this season. Keep an eye on freshman Latrell Schafer. He was the No. 92 overall re- cruit in his class according to FloWres- tling, a two-time Super 32 placer and a 2023 National High School Coaches Association Junior National champion. 174 pounds The Pack loses another starter from last year in Alex Faison but will be turn- ing to one of the highest-ranked recruits in school history in redshirt sophomore Matty Singleton. Singleton was the Pack's starter at 165 pounds as a true freshman two years ago, but 174 is a much better weight for him. He redshirted last year and was very limited after recovering from sur- gery. In the summer of 2023, he brought home a bronze medal at the U20 World Championships, while wrestling with a broken hand. Coming out of high school, he was a consensus top-15 recruit overall after winning four state titles in Georgia with a career record of 213-3. 184 pounds There was little debate last year that Dylan Fishback had one of the toughest schedules in the country as a redshirt freshman. Fishback wrestled 12 ranked foes during the regular season, notching seven wins (including four against All- Americans). He went on to finish with a 20-9 mark, reaching the ACC finals, and went 3-2 at NCAAs to just miss All- America honors. 197 pounds The battle to succeed Trent Hidlay will be between a pair of wrestlers who many fans have not seen in action be- fore. The NC State coaching staff will be looking for a clear winner of the compe- tition to give the victor more mat time before ACC duals begin in January. This will be redshirt senior Christian Knop's fifth year in Raleigh. He was a top-100 recruit coming out of Alexan- dria High in Alabama in the summer of 2019. He has seen limited action in his time with NC State, compiling an 18-7 career record. Redshirt sophomore Chase Horne was a top-40 recruit who spent his first two seasons in Raleigh at heavyweight but will be moving down to compete at 197. Last year, he went 13-6 in duals. 285 pounds NC State might have the best heavy- weight duo in the country. Either wres- tler would be a starter at most schools and likely ranked in the top 10, but only one can be the starter for the Pack. Isaac Trumble took a redshirt last sea- son, wrestling all seven of his matches at heavyweight after competing at 197 pounds his first two years at NC State. Now a redshirt junior, Trumble spent most of last year concentrating on free- style but won a 2023 Midlands title at heavyweight. He aims to wrestle be- tween 245-250 pounds this season. This will be the final campaign for redshirt senior Owen Trephan in Ra- leigh. He has captured the past two ACC championships at heavyweight and has won matches at NCAAs each of the past two seasons as well. ■