Wonderful 100: Wrestling Became a Varsity Sport

This blog post contributed by Campbell Dunne, Undergraduate Desk Assistant. 

In 1925, Coach “Red” Hicks led the NC State Wrestling Team, known originally as the Techmen, to their first match on the mat. This year, a century later, Coach Popolizio led the team to their 21st ACC Team Championship. This post looks back at the history of wrestling from 1925 to 2025 at NC State as we celebrate its 100th anniversary since becoming a varsity sport. 

In 1923, a writer for the Technician wrote a column encouraging the “lesser sports” to get going. The writer’s call to action, “Fellows, let’s get the boxing, wrestling and tennis spirit started,” encouraged these sports to gain popularity. As long as the student body and the Athletic Association backed the teams, there was no reason why they shouldn’t be classed among the major sports. 

In 1925, the Wrestling team was granted varsity status and headed by Coach William Norwood “Red” Hicks II. 

As Robert M. Hambourger wrote in 2009 for the Department of Philosophy and Religion Newsletter, Hicks received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University (then North Carolina State College) in 1923. He was a commander in the ROTC, led the rifle team, wrote for the Technician and Agromeck, and was the NC State Wrestling Team’s first head coach. Hicks led the team from 1925-1926, and then again from 1933-1934, before spending the rest of his career as Department Head for the Department of Philosophy and Religion until his retirement in 1966.

Coaches Buck Drennan, Dave Morrah, Joe Matthewson, and Herman Hickman led the wrestling team through the rest of the 1930s and early 1940s, until Al Crawford took the helm from 1947-1967. 

Coach Crawford was remembered fondly by varsity team member (and later NC State football coach) Charles Amato in an interview with The Wolfpacker: “[Crawford] was the head wrestling coach when I first came here. He was a tremendous man that was as good as it gets when it comes to wrestling and teaching wrestling. I am proud to have learned under him while I was here, he did a great job.” 

After Crawford’s tenure, Coach Bob Guzzo took the lead and brought the wrestling team great prominence in the sport. Taking the reins in 1975, Guzzo won two ACC Championships in his first four seasons, before making the program a national power when, in 1980, the Wolfpack finished eighth at the NCAA Tournament’s team standings. That year gave NC State its first NCAA wrestling champion in freshman Matt Reiss. According to Pack News, the program took off after 1980 and, in 14 seasons, finished 11 times in the national top 20, including four finishes in the national top ten.

Pack News recounts those great years during the 1980s, explaining how individual excellence fueled the team’s rise to prominence. “In 1984, Tab Thacker became the second Wolfpack wrestler in five years to win a national championship,” and four years later, “Scott Turner produced the ACC’s most impressive individual showing ever at the national tournament,” earning the tournament’s “Most Outstanding Wrestler award, the highest honor a collegiate wrestler can attain.” 

Coach Guzzo retired in 2004 after a 30 year career with just two losing seasons. He led the wrestling team to 13 ACC Championships, and over the course of his tenure he coached 86 individual ACC Champions, 24 All-Americans, and 4 National Champions. Guzzo’s overall career record was 356-183-7, making him the second winningest coach in ACC history at the time of his retirement. (GoPack)

Guzzo’s team can only be matched by Pat Popolizio’s 14 years (and counting) as head coach. From being named head coach in April of 2012 to the upcoming 2025-2026 season, Popolizio has won 7 ACC Championships. Popolizio’s team has had 4 National Champions, 8 NCAA Finalists, 31 All-Americans, 36 ACC Champions, 5 ACC Wrestlers of the Year, 4 ACC Rookies of the Year, and 5 ACC Scholar-Athletes of the year.

Popolizio’s team stands out not only by its championship wins, but also by its academic prowess. According to GoPack, the NC State Wrestling team “was named a National Wrestling Coaches Association Top-30 Scholar All-American Team in 2020.” The team had a 3.25 GPA that year, later checking in at number 20 nationally with a record GPA of 3.40 in 2022.

The NC State Wrestling Team has grown tremendously since its varsity status was granted a century ago. With incredible coaches and scores of amazing wrestlers, this team is certainly one that NC State University has been proud of for the past 100 years, and the next 100 to come.

To learn more, check out the Wrestling timeline, the Wrestling series of the Media Relations Records, or the Associate Director of Athletics Records. You can also explore more photographs and other related digitized content on our Rare and Unique Digital Collections site. 

The D. H. Hill Jr. Library is closed during the summer of 2025 for planned electrical work. The Special Collections Research Center is located in Hill Library, and will be closed for all appointments during this period. Special Collections can only make appointment requests after August 3, 2025. During the closure, Special Collections staff will be available to answer questions about our collections, if they are accessible, and to support researchers using digital materials for their research. Some materials will not be available for reproduction requests. Please contact us!