The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/535299
122 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY RYAN TICE N C State redshirt junior Nick Gwiazdowski did not start the defense of his 2014 NCAA wrestling championship the way he wanted. In a Novem- ber exhibition match against second-ranked Mike McMullan of Northwestern at the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic, the Wolfpack heavy- weight fell 8-4. It was a bout that did not go on his record, and Gwiazdowski wasn't fully healthy. However, he refused to use that as an excuse and re-evaluated his situation before the season officially began. "I thought I'd still be good enough to beat a guy like that at 80 percent, which is probably where I was at," he said. "Losing the way I did, I was like, 'I can't let that happen again. I've got to change things.' I changed things in the wrestling room, I changed things in the weight room and I stuck with it. "I would put myself and my mind in dif- ferent spots when I'd be practicing; I put myself in tough mental situations, along with what I'd be practicing. I added things in the weight room — everyone is lifting, but is everyone doing the agility work, the speed work, all of that smaller stuff? "We have 30 guys on the team, and some- times you have to separate yourself. It's stuff that not everyone does, but it shows." After making those tweaks, Gwiaz- dowski clearly widened the gap between himself and his competitors. He contin- ued to improve from the beginning of the season to the end, and hasn't tasted defeat again in a college match (the exhibition loss didn't count against his official col- lege record). He beat all 35 foes he shook hands with this season and extended the nation's lon- gest active winning streak to 55 straight, while leaving no doubt that he was the best in the country. He led NCSU to its best fin- ish at the NCAA Tournament since 1993, with a 16th-place showing, and outscored his five opponents 46-15. "It's a different feeling than the first one," he noted. "It's more happy and more of an accomplishment. Winning one is huge, but winning a second one the way I did with the dominance, the undefeated season and two in a row, it's bigger." The NCAA named Gwiazdowski, who finished his unbeaten campaign with 14 pins, the second-most dominant grappler in the land, while he became the Pack's first two-time NCAA champion and just the third in ACC history. He claimed his second league Wrestler of the Year honor after he pinned all of his conference foes during the regular season, which was an- other program first. "That just makes an incredible statement of what kind of athlete he truly is," head coach Pat Popolizio said. "Anybody that can go undefeated and win back-to-back national titles is a special person, and he has shown that. He kept his composure and confidence all year, and then obviously at the most important time. "He spent a lot of time and energy fine- tuning little skills. If you go back and watch him as a wrestler a year ago, you can see he has made a lot of improvements." Not Satisfied Working to improve did not stop when the season ended, either. The native of Delanson, N.Y., took one week off. Seven days after celebrating history, the heavy- weight was back in the wrestling room. However, it was far from his second home in Raleigh, and he didn't even have a com- petition in the immediate future. MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR NICK GWIAZDOWKI BIG MAN ON CAMPUS Heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski Became The Pack's First Two-Time NCAA Wrestling Champion Last season, Gwiazdowski beat all 35 foes he faced, extending the nation's longest active winning streak to 55 straight. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS