The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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140 ■ THE WOLFPACKER Here are the top 10 male athletes during the 2016-17 school year at NC State after Ryan Held, The Wolfpacker's Male Athlete of the Year: 1. Matthew Dayes, football While Dayes will work this preseason to try and make the Cleveland Browns' roster, NC State will try to find some way to replace his production. He ran for 1,166 yards and 10 touchdowns last fall, ending a drought dating back to the 2002 season of 1,000-yard rushers for NC State, and was selected team MVP. Dayes was named second-team All-ACC in a league loaded with good run- ning backs, and he finished his career fourth in school history for rushing yards (2,856). 2. Kevin Jack, wrestling The rising senior took home All-America honors at 141 pounds with his third- place finish at the NCAA Championships, capping a 35-2 campaign that was eighth in NCSU annals for most victories in a season. He was 10-1 against ranked opponents and went undefeated against ACC wres- tlers, outscoring the conference's toughest weight class by a combined score of 103-25 in seven matches, en route to his second straight league title. 3. Andreas Vazaios, swimming In his debut season, the junior from Greece won the ACC title in the 200 butter- fly and 200 individual medley, swimming meet records in both. He then captured All-America finishes in the 200 fly (fifth place), 200 individual medley (seventh) and 100 backstroke (eighth). He also swam on the national title-winning 800 free relay and the All-America 400 medley relay. Vazaious set school records in the 200 fly, 100 back and 200 individual medley while swimming the third-fastest 100 fly. 4. Anton Ipsen, swimming Ipsen, a rising senior, continues to cement his legacy as the greatest long- distance swimmer in NC State history. He won his third straight conference 500 freestyle title and was All-ACC in the 1,650, unable to complete the three-peat in that race after finishing second. He garnered All-America honors in both swims for the third straight year in addition to capturing the same laurels in the 400 individual medley for the first time. Ipsen is the school record holder in all three races, recording his best times for each during the 2017 season. 5. Joe Dunand, baseball No batter in the Wolfpack lineup struck fear into the hearts of opposing pitch- ers as much as Dunand, who belted 18 home runs this season, tied for fourth- most in the ACC, while driving in a team-high 51 runs. The junior was selected in the second round of the MLB Draft, with the 51st overall pick, by the Miami Marlins and was named second-team All-American by College Baseball Newspaper. Dunand hit the most homers in a season for NCSU since Colt Morton had 19 in 2003. 6. Bradley Chubb, football The rising senior was picked second-team All-ACC after piling up 10.5 sacks, fourth most in the ACC. His 22 tackles for loss was fourth in the Football Bowl Subdivision and second best in school history behind Mario Williams' 27.5 in 2005. 7. Cravont Charleston, track & field In his first ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Charleston more than made a splash. He was the meet's MVP after winning the 100- and 200-meter sprints and running the leadoff leg in the 4x100-meter relay that took first place. Charleston's 10.07-second time in the 100 is the second fastest in school his - tory. He won the 200 in 20.76 seconds. During the indoor track season, Charles- ton was second in the 60-meter dash at the ACC meet. 8. Nyheim Hines, football/track & field After piling up 1,351 all-purpose yards in football (including a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Vanderbilt in the Camping World Independence Bowl), Hines put on his track shoes in the spring and ran the anchor leg in the ACC title-winning 4x100 relay. Hines, a rising junior, also finished third in the 100 meters with a time of 10.34 seconds, and during indoors he was sixth in the 60-meter race at the ACC Championships. 9. Dennis Smith Jr., basketball In his one season in Raleigh, Smith rewrote the record books for scoring aver- age (18.1), steals (62) and field goals attempted (420) by a freshman en route to becoming the first Wolfpack player to be the sole recipient of the ACC Freshman of the Year and first NC State rookie to be named first or second-team All-ACC (Smith was picked a second teamer). He also had two triple-doubles in a pair of conference games, becoming the first ACC player to have multiple triple-doubles in the same season during confer - ence action. He was drafted ninth overall by the Dallas Mavericks. 10. Sam Parsons, cross country/track & field During the cross country season, Parsons earned All-ACC honors after finish- ing third at the ACC Championships and then was named all-regional with a fourth-place finish in the NCAA Southeast Regional, helping the Pack win the latter meet. Parsons then finished 15th at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 10,000-meter run after coming in second in the 5,000-meter race at the ACC Championships. — Matt Carter Top 10 Male Athletes Senior running back Matthew Dayes became the Wolfpack's first 1,000-yard rusher since 2002 and was drafted in the seventh round by the Cleveland Browns. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN