Takedown Report

Tar Heel-Wolfpack Rivalry History

From blog post — Tar Heel vs. Wolfpack Rivalry TDR #31-3

           The North Carolina State University (NCSU) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) rivalry will battle this Thanksgiving weekend on the gridiron when their football teams meet. The spirits and passions of alumni and students at both schools are extolled and proclaimed in debates in the state legislature, college campuses, many public gatherings and at any time the sports teams compete in direct competition.
            The Wolfpack and the Tar Heels have met in 127 dual meets in the past 99 seasons.  Which team has proven to their fans that they are better than their rival?   Wrestlers are in close contact and it can be difficult to see who has the advantage.  The Tar Heels won the first dual meet on Jan. 23^rd, 1925 in Raleigh and won the first 5 matches in the series.  UNC started their team two years before NCSU and has had a varsity program each year. 
            In 1933 the Wolfpack won for the first time by a close margin of 18 to 14, yet The Daily Tar Heel called it a “disastrous loss”.  They wrestled yearly 1925-1943 except in 1929, 1931 & 1932.  NCSU did not have a team in 1932.  NCSU won the next five matches and then UNC won 5 consecutive duals before the competition was suspended due to the Second World War thus they did not wrestle each other in 1944-1946.
            The Tar Heels continued to win in 1947 and 1948 after competition resumed. Coach P.H. “Chuck” Quinlan had coached UNC since 1926 to 11 wins in 17 matches with NCSU before losing his last match in 1949 with the Wolfpack by a 21-11 score.  Coach Al Crawford took the reins at NCSU after the war. After the first two losses he led his team to win 7 of the next 8 matches. 
            The first tied match was in 1950 when Sam Barnes coached his first rivalry match for UNC.  Barnes was the head coach for 25 matches through 1973. Crawford continued with NCSU through 1967.  Jerry Daniels took the reins and guided the Wolfpack to six consecutive victories.  The largest NCSU winning margin was 48-3 in 1973 with Daniels over Barnes’ in their last match up.  This string ended with UNC led by new coach, Bill Lam in the 2^nd tie in 1974. 
         Lam coached the Tar Heels for 59 matches against NCSU.  His 33 victories are the most of all head coaches in this series.  His arch-nemesis, Bob Guzzo coached NCSU in 60 matches with UNC.  In 1975 Lam and Guzzo started a home and home series in which the teams wrestled twice a year.  This doubled the opportunities to see the rivalry on the mats each year until 2008.  As a fan this was a delight to view as the fans were numerous and a bit raucous at times.
            Both coaches came to North Carolina from states with strong wrestling traditions, Lam from Oklahoma and Guzzo from Pennsylvania.  Lam led UNC to their longest win streak of 10 matches in the 1973-1977 seasons.  The largest UNC winning margin was 37-3 in the 2^nd match in 1986.  The epic Lam vs. Guzzo battles ended in 2003 when Lam retired.  His assistant coach, and former UNC national champion, C.D. Mock took the reins until 2015.  Guzzo retired in 2004 after the following season and his assistant coach, Carter Jordan, took over until 2012. 
            Current NCSU head coach Pat Popolizio became the 10^th NCSU coach and after a first match loss he has the longest winning streak over UNC in the last ten matches.  This not only matches the longest streak by UNC under Lam it also ties the historic, almost a century long rivalry at 62 wins for each team and 3 tied matches!  Popolizio has taken the Wolfpack to the #2 national ranking.  This is the highest ranking ever for NCSU.
            This past summer UNC Coach Coleman Scott returned to Oklahoma State to work with head coach John Smith.  Another former UNC National Champion, Rob Koll  started as the 7^th head coach at UNC.  Koll was also a four time All-American.  Koll brings 30 years of coaching experience with over 330 wins at Cornell and Stanford Universities. Koll noted that “It is amazing the series is tied after all these years. I don’t like the current trend and intend to fix it!”  The next match will be February 2^nd in Raleigh.