The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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26 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK NC State Athletics Unveils Customized Font In May, NC State announced a collaboration with adidas to create a new proprietary and customized font, which will be known as "Wolfpack Font" and will be exclusive to NC State athletics. The new let- tering and numbering will be used on team uniforms in the future and on the majority of marketing and branding collateral. The most noticeable change in the font is the addition of fangs within some of the lettering and numbering. "I appreciate the good work done by our creative team and adidas to develop a unique font and word marks for use by NC State athletics on uniforms and in key branding and strategic communications areas," NC State director of athletics Debbie Yow said in a prepared statement. The new font will be gradually adopted throughout the 2018-19 athletic calendar year, the university said. For the second time in the last three years, NC State wrestling is bringing in one of the nation's top recruiting classes. The 2018 signing class — which includes 17 high school signees and one All-Ameri- can transfer — was ranked as high as third nationally by InterMat Wrestling. WIN Magazine rated the col- lection fourth, while both FloWrestling and The Open Mat had it sixth. The class joins the coun- try's top-ranked group from 2016 that helped lead the Wolfpack to a tie for fourth place at the 2018 NCAA Championships, tying the ACC's highest finish ever and resulting in the pro- gram's first NCAA trophy. The 2016 class has already produced one national finalist (157-pound Hayden Hidlay as a redshirt freshman) and two All-Ameri- cans (Hidlay and Tariq Wilson, who placed third this past year at 133 pounds as a red- shirt freshman). It also boasts Nick Reenan, who was the class' top-ranked recruit out of high school and redshirted this past year. Reenan is poised to break out this winter. According to InterMat, NCSU inked five of its top 100 recruits regardless of weight class, led by No. 19 Jakob Cama- cho of Danbury, Conn. (projected 125/133 pounder), and followed by No. 22 Trent Hidlay (Mifflin County, Pa.; 174), No. 53 Jarrett Trom- bley (Lake Fenton, Mich.; 141/149), No. 55 Josiah Rider (Grand Junction, Colo.; 149) and No. 84 Tyler Barnes (Ballston Spa, N.Y.; 184/197). The heavyweight duo of Deonte Wilson (Amityville, N.Y.) and Colin Lawler (Kinkaid School, Texas) were also each ranked at their weight class by the website. Wilson, after plac- ing second at the National High School Coaches Association Senior Nationals, was ranked 12th at heavyweight, while three-time Texas state champion Lawler checked in at No. 17. M e a n w h i l e , C e n t r a l M i c h i g a n 149-pounder Justin Oliver, a seventh-place NCAA finisher at the 2016 NCAA Cham- pionships before falling just one win shy of All-America honors each of the past two years, has transferred to NC State for his final season of college wrestling. Oliver has won more than 80 percent of his matches (117-29 overall record) and is expected to make an immediate impact as a fifth-year senior. "This recruiting class fills every single one of our needs and provides much- needed depth at certain weights," Pat Popo- lizio, the 2018 ACC Coach of the Year, told GoPack.com. "More importantly, each one of these young men know and respect our team culture and mentality. "I'm very excited for the Wolfpack's future." Popolizio's team has tied the program record with five straight top-20 NCAA fin- ishes, mainly with classes that have over- achieved based on their recruiting rankings out of high school. For example, 2018 197-pound NCAA champion Michael Macchiavello was not ranked among any outlet's top 100 coming out of Sun Valley High School in Monroe, N.C., and neither was Kevin Jack, who like Camacho came out of Danbury, Conn., and finished his college career this past year by tying the program record with three All- America honors. — Ryan Tice Wrestling coach Pat Popo- lizio's 2018 recruiting class was ranked as high as No. 3 nationally. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP NC State Football Radio Affiliates Here are NC State's broadcast af- filiates this fall, according to GoPack. com. Broadcasts begin two hours be- fore kickoff. City Station Frequency Albemarle WZKY-AM 1580 Asheville WWNC-AM 570 Charlotte WXRC-FM 95.7 Fayetteville WFAY-AM 1230 Fayetteville WFNC-AM 640 Greensboro/Triad WVBZ-FM 105.7 Greenville WECU-AM 1570 Jacksonville WJCV-FM 98.3 Jacksonville WJCV-AM 1290 Laurinburg WLNC-AM 1300 Murfreesboro WWDR-AM 1080 Nags Head WZPR-FM 92.3 New Bern/Morehead City WNBB-FM 97.9 Raleigh (Triangle) WRAL-FM 101.5 Roanoke Rapids WSMY-AM 1400 Sanford WWGP-AM 1050 Sanford WFJA-FM 105.5 Wanchese (Outer Banks) WFMZ-FM 104.9 Wilmington WRMR-FM 98.7 USA Sirius Satellite Radio Wrestling Signs Consensus Top-Six Recruiting Class