Adam Hall
Former All-American Adam Hall joined the NC State coaching staff in the summer of 2015 as an assistant coach. Coach Hall represented the United States at the 2016 University World Championships, October 25-30 in Corum, Turkey. In just his first season with the Wolfpack, Hall helped NC State to one of its best seasons in 2015-16. NC State won the 2016 ACC Championship, the first at NC State since 2007. Four individuals were crowned conference champions, and six made it to the finals overall. Following the conference title, the Pack tied a school record with eight NCAA Qualifiers, including six seeded grapplers and for the first time ever; four were seeded fifth or better. As a team, NC State finished in 11th place at the NCAA Championships, the best finish since a school-best seventh in 1993. The Pack tied the school record with three All-Americans in 2016: Tommy Gantt (5th - 157), Pete Renda (3rd - 184) and Nick Gwiazdowski (2nd - 285). NC State finished the regular season ranked #2 in the final NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, the highest ranking in school history. The Pack went 23-1 in dual matches, setting a new single season school record for most wins. NC State also set a new school record with 21 consecutive wins to start the 2016 season, as the previous best was nine. Included in the dual wins were road victories at national powers Oklahoma State and Iowa - making NC State the first school ever to win at both in the same season.
On the recruiting trial, NC State’s 2016 12-person signing class was ranked the nation’s best by both FloWrestling.com and InterMatWrestling.com. In that class, the Pack signed two of the top-six ranked wrestlers in the 2016 recruiting class, and five in the top-66 overall.
During the 2015-16 school year, Hall himself placed fifth in both the U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Tournament and the U.S. Olympic Trials. In addition, he won his weight class (70 kg) at the University National Tournament and will be representing Team USA at the University World Championships in October of 2016 in Turkey.
A former two-time NCAA All-American and Pac-10 champion, Hall joined the Wolfpack after spending the previous four seasons as an assistant coach at Columbia. In his four seasons at Columbia, Hall coached 15 NCAA Qualifiers and one NCAA All-American (3rd place finish). He also completed an internship under the head coach of the National Wrestling Team at the USA Wrestling National Office before he got into coaching. Hall had an outstanding athletic career at Boise State from 2007-11, posting a 122-18 career record (87.1 win percentage).
His 122 career victories rank second in Boise State wrestling history. He won two Pac-10 titles in the 157-pound class and qualified for the NCAA National Championships all four years he competed. Hall also earned All-America honors as a redshirt junior in 2009-10. As redshirt junior in 2009-10, Hall posted a 32-3 record while competing in the 157-pound class. He took third at the 2010 NCAA Championships and earned All-America status after going 5-1 in six bouts as the No. 2 overall seed. Hall also won his first Pac-10 Conference title in 2010. Hall finished the year with a team-high 32 overall wins and 16 major decisions and tied for the lead in dual wins (16) and dual win percentage (16-0).
Competing at 157 pounds as a redshirt senior in 2010-11, Hall went 30-2, capturing his second Pac-10 Championship and finishing fifth at the 2011 NCAA National Championships.
Hall entered the NCAA National Championships at a perfect 25-0 and earned the top overall seed. He led the Broncos in overall wins (30), dual wins (12) and dual win percentage (12-0).
Hall placed fifth at the 2012 Olympic Trials and was a U.S. Open Placewinner in both 2013 and 2014.
Hall earned a B.S. degree in health science studies from Boise State in 2011. Named the 2010-11 Pac-10 Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year, he posted a 3.52 GPA during his five years at Boise State, graduated Cum Laude and was named to the Dean’s List three times. He also earned an NCAA postgraduate scholarship. He received his Master of Science in Sports Management degree in 2015 from Columbia.
Hall married his wife Christine in 2017, and the couple has a son, Theodore (Theo).
Kevin Jack
Former Wolfpack three-time All-American Kevin Jack joined the NC State coaching staff in the summer of 2018 and currently serves as the Wolfpack's Recruiting Coordinator.
While wrestling at NC State, Jack was a four-year starter at 141 pounds. Jack finished his NC State career as only the fifth individual to earn All-American honors three times in a career, and he also finished second in school history in career wins (113). Jack burst onto the college wrestling scene, coming out of redshirt and placing fifth at 141 pounds as a true freshman in 2015. He then went on to place third in 2017 and capped his career with a sixth place finish in 2018.
He earned his undergrad degree in sport management (2018) and then a masters degree in parks, rec and tourism (2020) from NC State.
Originally from Danbury, Conn., Jack posted a high school record of 122-11 and was a two-time New England Champion.
Pat Popolizio
The 2016-17 wrestling season marks Pat Popolizio’s fifth at the helm of the NC State wrestling program, as he was named head wrestling coach of the Wolfpack on April 10, 2012, and the results have already shown both on the mat and on the recruiting trail. Popolizio has led NC State to three straight top-20 finishes at the NCAA Championships, the longest such stretch in school history since 1991-93. Over the last three seasons, NC State has finished 19th in 2014, 16th in 2015 and 11th in 2016. NC State has earned six All-America honors in the last three years, the second-highest total in a three-year span in school history.
In his four seasons overall, Popolizio has had 21 NCAA qualifiers, the most in a four-year span since 1993-96. On the recruiting trial, NC State’s 2016 12-person signing class was ranked the nation’s best by both FloWrestling.com and InterMatWrestling.com. In the classroom, NC State had its first-ever ACC Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2016, Nick Gwiazdowski. The Pack has also had nine Academic All-America selections as well as nine placed on the All-ACC Academic Team over the last three years. The 2015-16 season will go down as one of the best in school history. NC State won the 2016 ACC Championship, the first at NC State since 2007. Four individuals were crowned conference champions, and six made it to the finals overall.
Following the conference title, the Pack tied a school record with eight NCAA Qualifiers, including six seeded grapplers and for the first time ever; four were seeded fifth or better. As a team, NC State finished in 11th place at the NCAA Championships, the best finish since a school-best seventh in 1993. The Pack tied the school record with three All-Americans in 2016: Tommy Gantt (5th - 157), Pete Renda (3rd - 184) and Nick Gwiazdowski (2nd - 285). NC State finished the regular season ranked #2 in the final NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, the highest ranking in school history. The Pack went 23-1 in dual matches, setting a new single season school record for most wins.
NC State also set a new school record with 21 consecutive wins to start the 2016 season, as the previous best was nine. Included in the dual wins were road victories at national powers Oklahoma State and Iowa - making NC State the first school ever to win at both in the same season. Following his fourth season at NC State, Popolizio was named the 2016 National Coach of the Year by FloWrestling.com. Redshirt-senior Nick Gwiazdowski was named the 2016 ACC Wrestler of the Year, the third consecutive season he has won the conference’s top award. He is only the second wrestler in ACC history to be named Wrestler of the Year three straight times. During his three-year career at NC State, Gwiazdowski won two NCAA titles (2014, 2015) and finished runner-up in 2016, in addition to winning three straight ACC heavyweight titles and finishing his NC State career a perfect 55-0 in duals.
In 2015, the Pack placed 16th at the NCAA Championships. NC State had a pair of All-Americans for the first season since 1993, as Gwiazdowski repeated as NCAA Champion at 285 pounds and became the first wrestler in school history to win multiple NCAA titles, and only the third ACC wrestler all-time to do so, and the first since 1995. He finished the season undefeated, going a perfect 35-0. Freshman Kevin Jack went from unseeded to a fifth place finish at 141 pounds. Gwiazdowski repeated as ACC Wrestler of the Year, while Jack was named the ACC Freshman of the Year.
In just his second season in 2014, Popolizio added to the Pack’s storied tradition with NC State’s sixth individual national champion. Gwiazdowski became NC State’s third heavyweight to win the NCAA title.
“Pat is a builder of programs and of young men,” said NC State AD Debbie Yow at the time of his hire. “He was an outstanding collegiate performer at Oklahoma State and is a proven teacher and mentor as a head coach. He will lead Wolfpack Wrestling to compete for ACC titles and, eventually, the national championship.”
Prior to coming to NC State, in six seasons at Binghamton University (2007-12), Popolizio transformed the Bearcats into a national contender after inheriting the program that went 0-12 following its reinstatement in 2005-06.
Prior to entering the coaching ranks, Popolizio was a decorated wrestler during his student-athlete career for Oklahoma State coach John Smith, a six-time world champion.
Popolizio graduated in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education. He was a two-time Big 12 All Academic selection and five-time recipient of the Oklahoma State Student-Athlete Award. At the prep level, Popolizio was a New York state scholastic champion for Niskayuna High. He was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 1996 state prep meet, where he captured the 177-pound title, and went on to become the national high school runner-up
Timmy McCall
NC State wrestling head coach Pat Popolizio named Timmy McCall as an assistant coach for the Wolfpack in August 2021. McCall has been in Raleigh involved with the NC State wrestling program since 2015, and now serves as a full-time assistant coach.
“Timmy’s loyalty and commitment to our program over the last seven years has been unmatched,” said Popolizio. “As a head coach, it is always my goal to reward that kind of commitment I see in our room. “Anybody that has sat down and talked to Timmy knows what a special skill set he brings to our program, and he has always fit right in with our staff over the years. He has built some great relationships with so many of our current and past wrestlers, and that has helped elevate our program. I can’t wait to see how Timmy develops in this new role on our staff.”
McCall first made the move to Raleigh in 2015 as a Regional Training Center (RTC) athlete with the Wolfpack Wrestling Club. In 2019, McCall was named a volunteer assistant with the Wolfpack’s collegiate program. While competing for the Wolfpack Wrestling Club, McCall took first place at the 2017 Henri Deglane Challenge and was a 2016 Bill Farrell International runner-up. He also placed second at the 2019 Grand Prix of France/Henri Deglane Challenge and seventh at the 2019 U.S. Open to qualify for the World Team Trials held in Raleigh.
During his time in Raleigh, McCall not only trained full-time but has worked extensively with Athletes in Action on NC State’s campus. McCall competed collegiately at Wisconsin, and was ranked as high as ninth nationally as a senior. He wrestled for the Badgers from 2012-15 at both 184 and 197 pounds and qualified for the NCAA Championships at 197 pounds as both a junior and senior.
He graduated from South View High School in Hope Mills, N.C., where he was a state champion and two-time NHSCA All-American. He also graduated with a 3.9 GPA and was a member of Academically Gifted (AG) program. McCall married his wife Beth in the summer of 2020.
