So with this season over and the silly season starting, I wanted to see what the potential line up would look like next season.

125 LBS-
Vince Robinson- The defending champ should be back. Will he move up to 133, or is the weight cut ok?

Louie Gill- Had a good record on the Redshirt tour-14-2. Rumore is he jumped in the portal this afternoon, that is too bad he was a high-level recruit.

A couple of other younger guys, don't know too much about them.

133-
Troy Hohman- Will he move back down or stay up at 141? With Jack coming back what weight will he fall in at?

Draeagan Orin- Kai's brother was a high-ranked recruit, rumor is he jumped in the portal today as well.

Could we see a transfer at this weight if Vince does not move up?

141-
Ryan Jack is returning from his RS season. Will he stay at 141 or move up?

Gavin Linsman- a true Freshman this season not sure how he did. Was a big-time HS recruit.

Jaydon Robinson- is also a FR this season looks like we will have good depth at this weight class next year.

149-
Koy Buesgens- He had a great season as a RS Fr. Expect him to have a breakout year next year.

Daniel Zepeda- Incoming FR ranked #1 in his weight class.


157- Lots of depth in this division, will be interested to see who fills out where.
Jackson Arrington- JR- Coming off a RS season he should be in line for a big season.

Luca Felix- RS Fr. Big time high school recruit. He came in projected at 165 or 174 so who knows where he will fit in next season.

Brogan Tucker- Incoming Fr ranked 4th in the country at his weight class, will he see time as a FR?

Jason Kwaak- Incoming Fr ranked 19 in the country at his weight class. (Maybe 165)

Will Denny- High-ranked recruit, #2 in his class projected at 157.

Latrell Schafer- Current Fr who redshirted. High ranked recruit from this season.

165-
Derek Fields- Will he stay at 165? Going into his SR season big things are expected.

Aaron Faison- Saw some time this year. Will he break out?

174-
Matty Singleton- Can he repeat this season

Jesse Mullis- RS Fr- WIll he see time

184-
Dylan Fishback- WIll he move up to 197? Will he take another run at this division?

Andrew Macchiavello- RS SO- WIll he take over at 184 if Fishback moves up?

Rylan Breen- RS Fr where does he fit in?

197- Lots of room in this division, who will break out?
Cason Howle- Incoming Fr, High Ranked recruit

Xavier Wilson- Incoming Fr

Do we look for a transfer?

285-
Isaac Trumble- RS Jr- Will he return? IF he can stay healthy can he go head-to-head with the top HW's? He finished 4th on a bad leg, but against the bigger guys can he compete? He has the speed and athletic ability but the weight difference is big?

Chase Horne- RS Jr- Depth. Possibly entering the transfer portal.


Some high-ranked incoming FR, do we lose some depth to the Transfer market? Lots of questions, hope we get the support that we need to keep the talent. This year was rough but still finished 8th. If we can stay healthy we should have a lot more depth next season.

Was thinking about this watching the national tournament last weekend but next year feels like a strong shot to compete for a team trophy there. Jack is a returning AA and Arrington has put together a strong resume in his redshirt year, then also returning 3 AA's from this season. Can't forget Fishback making it to the blood round in his first 2 seasons. Without knowing the rest of the lineup, I think we could potentially see 5 AA's next season. That very well could be too optimistic but coach Pop has done a great job this season competing even with slightly less talent than we're used to.

Any updates on transfers into our wrestling program?

NewRiverWolf said:

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Any updates on transfers into our wrestling program?

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We announced one today:

https://gopack.com/news/2025/4/10/wolfpack-wrestling-adds-iowa-state-transfer-zach-redding

Zach Redding from Iowa State. Interesting they announced him as a 133. Seems like a good add but not a sure fire starter.

Thanks.

PORTAL: Dylan Fishback announces transfer to Ohio State. pic.twitter.com/aR3huY7s1Y

— Justin Basch (@JustinJBasch) May 4, 2025

Wow that's in interesting jump. Wonder if he just knew he was not going to stay at 184 and did not want the jump to 197.

So 184 and 197 are looking to be wide open.

Bassett was a prominent topic of discussion yesterday, and rightfully so. Here are some key points:

The amount of money being offered by Iowa has been confirmed by multiple sources, including the source itself.

Bassett expressed a desire to train at Iowa, aware that previous… pic.twitter.com/mwG5yBpbqy

— Brian Swaw (@BrianSwaw) June 24, 2025

This is wild. One of the top recruits in the country has decommitted from Iowa and there seems to be a lot going on with this one.

Will Denny an incoming Freshman just won Gold for the U-20 USA team. #2 ranked 157 weight.

2024 Cadet World bronze (51 kg/112.4 lbs) & 2025 champ (55 kg/121.3 lbs) Jinnosuke Okonogi (Japan) is heading to Raleigh — big pickup for NC State 👀🐺

Okonogi confirmed the move to @MatScouts1 and will join fellow Japanese standouts Masanosuke Ono (Penn State) and Rin Sakamoto… pic.twitter.com/9wq5z6VIYs

— Saturday Night Lights (@WrestlingSNL) August 2, 2025

Preseason rankings are here which means wrestling season is just around the corner 🔜#PackMentality pic.twitter.com/TeGnfCn4nZ

— NC State Wrestling 🤼‍♂️ (@PackWrestle) September 10, 2025

Just found this on the FLo site for an early look at our Line Up

Early Lineup for NC State 25-26

Prospective Line-up
125: Vincent Robinson, SO
Robinson returns following a magical NCAA tournament run as a freshman. The 2025 NCAA champion finished with a 24-3 record and is ranked first in the preseason.
Popolizio on 125: "Vinny is as good as anyone in the country. He's coming back from winning a national title. I know he's got a target on his back, so he has to get better. He's dangerous when he's wrestling free, as we saw. Having that confidence that he can win another national title will be valuable for us this year."

133: Zach Redding, SR, or Troy Holman, JR
Redding, an Iowa State transfer, is a two-time national qualifier and 2023 Round of 12 finisher. Holman was the 2025 postseason starter at 141, but is moving down to his natural weight.
Popolizio on 133: "We have two guys who are experienced. I think those guys will battle it out in due time. We'll see who gets that spot. Troy has some good experience and has some solid wins under his belt."

141: Ryan Jack, SR
Jack returns from a 4-3 redshirt season. He is a three-time national qualifier who finished seventh at the 2024 NCAA Championships.
Popolizio on 141: "We have Ryan Jack coming off of redshirt, who was an All-American the previous year. He knows he will be at a competitive weight, but I'll put him in the mix with anyone. He's had some solid wins under his belt throughout his career. I think he'll be a threat. He has a lot of good offense and is continuing to get better."

149: Koy Buesgens, SO
Buesgens was 17-13 last season, going 0-2 at the NCAA Championships.
Popolizio on 149: "Koy qualified last year for the NCAA tournament, so I think he has some good experience. I'm looking for him to have a breakout year. He's won at every level in his career. He was a freshman last year, so he's one of those guys who had a developmental year last year. I think he'll make some good noise for himself. He's looking solid.
"We don't know what (incoming true freshman Daniel) Zepeda will do. He'll be either 141 or 149. He's an option in due time. The goal, from our end, would be to get him a year of experience, but we'll see as the season plays out. He's here already and looks good. He's going to be good right away. I have a lot of confidence at 141 and 149 with those two guys."

157: Jackson Arrington, JR
Arrington was 8-0 during his redshirt season after Round of 12 finishes in 2023 and 2024.
Popolizio on 157: "Jackson had some good wins. He won ACCs the year before last and took a redshirt year, and got to wrestle a ton of freestyle. He qualified for the World Team Trials and had a couple of wins there. I like where he's at. Those first five weights are going to be pretty solid for us."

165: Will Denny, FR, or Jason Kwaak, FR, or Aaron Faison, JR
True freshman Will Denny and Jason Kwaak could start, with junior Aaron Faison giving chase.
Popolizio on 165: "This will be an ongoing battle during the year, and we'll lock in the second semester. More than likely, we will have a true freshman stepping into our line-up. Will Denny is one of the more accomplished guys coming out of high school. On paper, I think he'll be the guy who carries that spot. We have Jason Kwaak, another freshman who had a solid high school career. I would imagine we'll jump back and forth between those guys during the year.
"As we get closer to the second semester, we'll lock into a guy that we feel can win matches at the NCAA tournament. Aaron will be in the mix of things. He had a season-ending injury, so we didn't get to see much. He had to get his elbow fixed. We have three guys who will be options. Having true freshmen, we have to be selective when we wrestle them and how the development is going, and if they're ready to go."

174: Matthew Singleton, JR
Singleton had his breakthrough college season, finishing seventh at the 2025 NCAA Championships following a redshirt year. He was 22-9 during his sophomore campaign.
Popolizio on 174: "I think Matty has made the biggest jump. If you look at where he started last year, and towards the end of the year, he came on strong and placed at the NCAA tournament. Being (2025 World Teamer Trent) Hidlay's training partner for most of the last year, he's made huge jumps. I think he can be a threat to winning a title. I think he has all the tools to be right there. I'm looking for him to make a solid jump."

184: Andrew Macchiavello, JR or Jesse Mullis, FR
The guessing game begins. Popolizio has options, but he's not sure who it will be. Two-time Round of 12er Dylan Fishback transferred to Ohio State, leaving a 184-pound opening.
Macchiavello went 0-2 in two duals and was 11-10 at 197. He will get challenged by redshirt freshman Jesse Mullis, who was 3-6 at 174 last season.
Popolizio on 184: "Dylan Fishback left us a pretty big hole with him transferring out. This is a weight where we have to figure it out and see where things play out. We got a couple of guys in the room. I think (Mike) Macchiavello's brother, who wrestled some in our line-up at 197, probably has the most experience of anyone at that weight. He will be an option for us. "Jesse Mullis is another guy. Both guys lack experience, but that's on our staff to get them competitive and ready to go. We know we'll have someone to compete. We have to get them technically a little more sound. The fight will be there between those two."

197: Cason Howle, FR
True freshman Cason Howle is the favorite following four South Carolina State titles and a fourth-place finish at the 2024 Greco Junior Nationals.
Popolizio on 197: "Cason Howle had a pretty solid high school career. He's a fighter who worked out with Trent (Hidlay) all summer. I think he'll be more competitive and experienced when the second semester hits."

285: Isaac Trumble, JR
Trumble finished fourth at the 2025 NCAA Championships following an appearance in the 2024 Olympic Trials best-of-three finals. He finished the college season with a 21-7 record and is a three-time national qualifier.
Popolizio on 285: "Isaac is ready to go and back in the line-up. The growth that he made through the year, moving up to heavyweight, took him a little bit. He was battling a little adversity at NCAAs with his knee, and it showed how tough he is by finishing fourth with a torn ACL. He's also put on about 10 pounds. He'll be in the mix next year."

Ready to raise the roof in Croatia ‼️🐺#PackMentality pic.twitter.com/KmRYp0hdji

— NC State Wrestling 🤼‍♂️ (@PackWrestle) September 10, 2025

Sounds like a late addition to the team for this year is coming. Waiting to get an official announcement.

Game recognizes game 🤝

Nick Gwiazdowski, Trent Hidlay, and Tommy Gantt at the WWE Raw event at the Lenovo Center tonight.

🤳 @isaactrumble_ pic.twitter.com/LYMjvGlOG6

— NC State Wrestling 🤼‍♂️ (@PackWrestle) September 29, 2025

Looks like we added a transfer at 197. No info on him.

It’s time for wrestling. 🤼 🗓️#PackMentality pic.twitter.com/1OhfZUWqHh

— NC State Wrestling 🤼‍♂️ (@PackWrestle) October 3, 2025

Good pickup this late in the game with how little we have at 197. Won a match at 197 at NCAA's last year, majored the 8 seed from Oklahoma State in the first round before dropping his next two matches. Looks like he finished the season 23-9, lost in the finals of the SoCon conference tournament.

I would still worry about 165, 184, and 197.

Losing Fishback to the portal hurt. Can't remember us losing a surefire returning starter to the portal under Pop, but that will likely be our weakest weight this season.

The good news is we have more potential hammers than questions.

We have five guys, if healthy, you can almost write in to winning just about every dual:
125 Robinson
141 Jack
157 Arrington
174 Singleton
HWT Trumble