The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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18 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK Nick Gwiazdowski, Wrestling The Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas is considered among the toughest regular- season tournaments in college wrestling. This year, 11 of the top 25 reams in the USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll, including five of the top 10, participated. NC State finished ninth in the team standings thanks in large part to Gwiazdowski, a redshirt junior from Delanson, N.Y. The defending heavyweight national champion took home first place in his weight class, outpointing ninth- ranked Ty Walz from Virginia Tech in the finals, 6-3, Dec. 7. Gwiazdowski is ranked No. 2 nationally among heavyweights. Zach Knudson, Men's Soccer In his first season for the Pack, Knudson scored four goals and had two assists. The freshman from Oakland, N.J., impressed enough to be named to the 10-player ACC All-Freshmen team. Knudson, who was a touted four-star signing, tied with three other players for the team-high in goals scored and ranked second with his 10 total points. Knudson was one of two NC State soccer players who received postsea - son honors. Junior midfielder and team captain Holden Fender was named third-team All-ACC. Kaitlyn Kearney, Volleyball The freshman from Frisco, Texas, was honored by the ACC after starting all 29 matches this season for the Pack and lead- ing NC State in kills (277), blocks (118) and point scored (360.5). Kearney was picked for the All-ACC Freshman Team after she was honored as ACC Freshman of the Week three times. Only Miami's Haley Templeton, who was named the Freshman of the Year, was honored more times weekly (five). Kearney led all ACC freshmen in kills and was second in blocks. She had the most kills by a Wolfpack freshman since 2007 and blocks since 1994. Sam Parsons, Men's Cross Country NC State men's cross country head coach Rollie Geiger, in his 32nd year leading the Pack, said that Parsons is "one of the most improved athletes I have had from one year to the next." Parsons led NC State to a sec - ond-place finish in the ACC Championships Oct. 31 in Earlysville, Va., and then earned a spot in the NCAA Championship by finishing fourth at the men's Southeast Regional championship Nov. 14 in Louisville, Ky. The redshirt sophomore from Newark, Del., who also finished fourth individually in the ACC Championships, finished 63rd at the NCAA Championships Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind. Joanna Thompson, Women's Cross Country The Knoxville, Tenn., native and senior repeated as All-American by finishing in 32nd place at the NCAA Cross Country Championship Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind. Thompson's finish helped the Pack finish in 16th place in the team standings, the highest finish since NCSU came in 14th in 2005. Thompson also se - cured her fourth All-ACC honor by finishing 10th individually at the ACC Championships Oct. 31 in Earlysville, Va., and she was fifth at the NCAA Southeast Regional Nov. 14 in Louisville, Ky. ■ PACK PERFORMERS QUOTING THE PACK "We hadn't beaten them. Now I can say, 'Get that stuff out of there [at the team hotel].' It's great. We're 30 minutes apart. [UNC coach] Larry [Fedora] and his staff do a good job and their players play hard. But it's our year to talk about the win." — NC State football coach Dave Doeren on earning bragging rights and how the Wolfpack's team hotel in Raleigh needs to stop selling Tar Heels gear (Raleigh News & Observer) "[UNC quarterback] Quise [Williams] was getting hit every single time he threw the ball. To play this game you have to play with passion, you've got to play with energy, you've got to play with enthusiasm all the time. That's the only way you can do it. And for whatever reason we didn't have that today." — UNC football coach Larry Fedora on how NC State whipped the Tar Heels 35-7 on Nov. 29 in Chapel Hill (Raleigh News & Observer) "We know we were cheated. That's one of the worst calls ever. During the play, I reached out for the goal line. I know I broke the plane. The same thing happened at the Ohio State game [in 2003], but I went down at the half-yard line. Once that happens to you, you don't want that to ever happen again." — Former NC State running back T.A. McLendon on the controversial call, when his touchdown was taken off the scoreboard during North Carolina's 30-24 win over NCSU on Oct. 9, 2004, in Chapel Hill (Raleigh News & Observer) "I've been playing for as long as I can remember, probably since I was 5 or 6. My family is a football family; everyone loves it and I guess it carried over to me. "Two of my cousins play professional football — Cam Thomas, a defensive tackle, and Quinton Teal, a cornerback in the NFL." — NC State fifth-year senior defen- sive tackle Thomas Teal on his love for football (GoPack.com) "When Ralston is hot, you give him the ball. It's kind of crazy because Ralston can shoot the lights out of the ball. Ninety-five percent, if he's open, it's going in." — NC State sophomore point guard Anthony Barber on feeding the ball to fifth-year senior wing Ralston Turner, when he gets hot (TheWolfpacker.com) "I've just got to keep working. Stay confident, stay in the gym and stay ready. You are going to have nerves here and there. This is the highest level of basketball, so it's going to be different. But I'm getting more comfortable, finding my spots. I spend a lot of time asking guys what they do with their days — how to stay fresh. They give me a lot of advice. They get on me as well. But it's been a pretty smooth transition." — Former NC State star small forward T.J. Warren on adjusting to the NBA and Phoenix Suns (Charlotte Observer) "This is a blue-collar school, and this is a work- ethic, hands-in-the-dirt school. It's an agricultural school, a textile school and a engineering school. It is founded by tough people. That is what this football team will be, and that is what we were today." ■ NCSU football coach Dave Doeren on the identity of his team following the Wolfpack's 35-7 win over North Carolina Nov. 29 in Chapel Hill (TheWolfpacker.com) PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN