CARY, N.C. –
Taye Ghadiali won the heavyweight championship, leading 12 Campbell placers on Sunday at the Wolfpack Open, hosted by North Carolina State and the Wolfpack Wrestling Club at Cary Academy.
Caleb Hopkins at 184 pounds and
Korbin Meink at 125, as well as
Justin Rivera at 141, wrestling unattached, took runner-up finishes, while
Shannon Hanna at 141 and
Domenic Zaccone at 133 placed third.
Troy Nation at 165 pounds and
Levi Hopkins at 197 placed fourth.
"The Wolfpack Open is always a great event ran by the NC State coaching staff and Wolfpack RTC," said CU head coach
Scotti Sentes. "We were able to wrestle a lot of matches in just one day and I think our skin got a little thicker from it. We got to see a lot of our guys match up and battle with No. 5 NC State, No. 10 Virginia Tech, and we even got to see a little bit of No. 15 North Carolina as well. This weekend should help us roll right into our UVA and UNC duals."
"I'm just happy to be back wrestling again this season," said Ghadiali. "It was a battle at heavyweight, but again I'm so happy to be wrestling again in this role for my team and our fans. Last year, I was undersized, bumping up from 197 to heavyweight, and especially once I got to nationals it was challenging because everyone was a lot bigger. Now I have my weight up and I'm competing on that level. It's a good feeling."
Also placing for the Camels was
Anthony Molton, taking fifth at 125, as well as sixth place finishers
Chris Kober at 197,
Eli Daugherty at heavyweight, and
Cole Rees, unattached, at 184.
Ghadiali, a 2021 NCAA qualifier, started the day with a pair of pins, topping Ty-darious Kelly from King (3:51) and Limestone's Ethan New (0:24) before defeating 2021 ACC champ Deonte Wilson from NC State in a 2-1 decision. The redshirt sophomore then downed last season's ACC runner-up, Virginia Tech's Hunter Catka, 3-2, for his first collegiate tournament title.
Campbell's three runners-up, meanwhile, combined to go 11-3 on the day with seven bonus point wins.
The Camels will take on a pair of ACC foes next weekend, traveling to Virginia on Saturday, November 20, and North Carolina a day later.
