Meet The Team
Coaches
Pat Popolizio
Head Coach
Adam Hall
Assistant Coach
Timmy McCall
Assistant Coach
Kevin Jack
Volunteer Coach
Popolizio was named the 2018 Dan Gable co-NCAA Coach of the Year and the 2016 National Coach of the Year by FloWrestling. He has also been a finalist for the NWCA Division I National Coach of the Year each of the last five years. He has been named ACC Coach of the Year three times.
In 10 seasons under Popolizio, NC State Wrestling has had:
-
3 National Champions
-
6 NCAA Finalists
-
24 All-Americans
-
24 ACC Champions
-
5 ACC Wrestlers of the Year
-
3 ACC Rookies of the Year
-
3 ACC Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Popolizio has captured five ACC Championships, including four straight (2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022).
He has led NC State to a school record eight straight top-20 finishes at the NCAA Championships. NC State has earned 24 All-America honors in the last nine years, a new school record for most in a nine-year span all-time.
In his 10 seasons overall, Popolizio has had 76 NCAA qualifiers, highlighted by a school record 10 in both 2017 and 2022. In the last seven seasons, NC State has qualified 63 of its 70 starters.
Prior to entering the coaching ranks, Popolizio was a decorated wrestler for Oklahoma State. Among his highlights during his collegiate career:
• Three-time NCAA qualifier
• Ranked No. 1 in the country at 184 pounds during senior year
• Helped lead Oklahoma State to Top 5 national finishes (second, third, third and fifth) at NCAA Championships in each of his four seasons in Stillwater
• Big 12 runner-up in 1998 and 2002
• Fifth at the World Team Trials in 2003
• 2002 Oklahoma State Hustle Award
Former All-American Adam Hall joined the NC State coaching staff in the summer of 2015.
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.
In his seven seasons with the Wolfpack, NC State has won five ACC Championships as well as four ACC Regular Season titles. The Pack has also posted three top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships, including its two best in school history by placing fourth in 2016 and sixth in 2021.
On the recruiting trial, NC State’s 2016 12-person signing class was ranked the nation’s best by both FloWrestling and InterMat. 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. The Pack's 2018 class was ranked #3 nationally, and the latest class in 2020 was #5. A second straight top-5 class was signed in 2021 at #4. Both MatScouts and InterMat ranked the Pack's 2022 signing class #3 nationally. NC State was the only school nationally to have a top-5 recruiting class each of the last three years, and NC State now has five straight top-20 recruiting classes.
Five times in the seven years with Hall on staff, the Wolfpack has been ranked in the top-10 nationally, and five straight class ranked in the top-20 by FloWrestling.
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.
McCall has been in Raleigh involved with the NC State wrestling program since 2015, and now serves as a full-time assistant coach.
McCall first made the move to Raleigh in 2015 as a Regional Training Center (RTC) athlete with the Woflpack 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.
Jack first captured All-American honors as a true freshman at the 2015 NCAA Championships, and has been part of the Wolfpack support staff since he graduated in 2018.
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.