DiverDownBrian said:
If you've never been to Reynolds to watch a match, you're missing out.
No doubt, especially the duals against unc-CHeat and Virginia Tech. The very first Wolfpack wrestling match I watched (whether on TV or in person) was the dual in Reynolds against unc in February 2020 that I attended in person, which we won in thrilling fashion, coming down to the last weight class match of the evening. That match set the home attendance record for an NC State wrestling match (4,383 per GoPack), which still stands as the record. I only got the "notion" to go to the match because we were nationally ranked #3 at the time and unc was #8, so the match was being hyped up on social media and message boards, etc due to it being a rare match with both schools in the top 10. Then, I went to the home match against Virginia Tech (ranked #7 at time) a week later, which was another awesome atmosphere/crowd and thrilling and narrow victory (21-18).
It's funny how you can be an alumnus and college fan and go decades without even thinking about many of the "non-revenue" sports. For almost 20 years after first attending NC State, I almost completely ignored all Wolfpack sports except for football and men's basketball (and a very little bit of women's basketball and baseball). That all changed around 2018, when I first started following NC State club ice hockey, and then in 2020 with wrestling and women's and men's tennis, women's cross country & track in 2021, and the volleyball team and even club rugby last year. Now, it's totally flipped and I largely ignore football and men's basketball and my favorite Wolfpack sports are all of these "non-revenue" sports, even the club sports.
I went to the men's club rugby match against unc-CH about a month ago over at Hooker fields on the unc-CH campus, for example. There were only around 150 fans in attendance, but it was something I'll never forget. We destroyed them by a score of about 30-7. One of the most amazing things I've seen as an NC State fan was last season's "Frozen Finley" game in Carter-Finley where the NC State club ice hockey team beat unc in front of ~25,000 fans. And right next to that was seeing in person the Wolfpack women's tennis team destroy #1 nationally ranked unc at Cary Tennis Park this past April to win their very first ACC championship. Also right up there is being in Reynolds just two weeks ago to see the volleyball team beat #5 Louisville for their first top 5 win in program history. I'm planning on driving up to Charlottesville next month for the cross country national championship, and if the women's team can pull off the 3-peat, that may top anything I've seen in person as an NC State fan. I drove to Charlottesville last October to see them win the ACC Championship.
So including attending the wrestling ACC tournament championship in Reynolds last March, I've personally attended 3 Wolfpack ACC Championships (wrestling, women's tennis, women's XC) over just the last year. I mention all that just to make the point that these memories from just the last few years in the non-revenue sports far exceed the highlights, for me personally, in the revenue sports over the previous ~20 years.
"Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." - John 15:19
