NC State Wolfpack
The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference for all sports since the 1953–54 season. The athletic teams of the Wolfpack compete in 22 intercollegiate varsity sports. NC State is a founding member of the ACC and has won twelve national championships: six NCAA championships, two AIAW championships, and four titles under other sanctioning bodies. Most NC State fans and athletes recognize the rivalry with the North Carolina Tar Heels as their biggest.
The logo for NC State athletics is a wolf head wearing a sailor cap. The wolf depicted is known by NC State fans as "Tuffy", and has been the primary athletic logo since 2021. The wolf head logo was preceded by the block S logo, which consisted of an 'N' and a 'C' inscribed in a larger 'S'.
NC State athletic teams are nicknamed the 'Wolfpack'. The name was unofficially adopted by the football program in 1921 following an unsigned letter to the NC State Alumni News suggesting the moniker "Wolf Pack". Other varsity teams of that era were called the "Red Terrors" until 1948, when a campus-wide vote chose "Wolfpack" as the nickname for all varsity teams. Prior to the adoption of the current nickname, North Carolina State athletic teams went by such names as the Aggies, the Techs, the Red Terrors, and Farmers.
Sports sponsored
Baseball
- Head Coach: Elliott Avent
- Stadium: Doak Field
- ACC Championships: 5
- CWS appearances: 4
Men's basketball
- Head Coach: Will Wade
- Arena: Lenovo Center
- National Championships: 2
- Southern Conference Championships: 7
- ACC Championships: 11
Women's basketball
- Head Coach: Wes Moore
- Arena: Reynolds Coliseum
- ACC Championships : 6
- ACC Championships : 7
Men's cross country
- Head Coach: Laurie Henes
- NCAA Southeast Region Championships: 9
- ACC Championships: 16
Women's cross country
- Head Coach: Laurie Henes
- National Championships : 6
- National Champions : 6
- * Julie Shea
- * Julie Shea
- * Betty Springs
- * Betty Springs
- * Suzie Tuffey
- * Katelyn Tuohy
- NCAA Southeast Region Championships: 13
- ACC Championships: 30
†AIAW Women's National Championships
Football
- Head Coach: Dave Doeren
- Stadium: Carter–Finley Stadium
- ACC Championships: 7
- Southern Conference Championships: 1
- South Atlantic Intercollegiate Championships: 3
- Bowl games: 37
Golf
- Head Coach: Press McPhaul and Darby Sligh
- Course: Lonnie Poole Golf Course
- National Championships : 1
- ACC Championships : 1
Gymnastics
- Head Coach: Kim Landrus
- Stadium: Reynolds Coliseum
- ACC Championships: 2
- EAGL Championships: 6
Men's soccer
- Head Coach: Marc Hubbard
- Stadium: Dail Soccer Field
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 18
- ACC Regular Season Championships: 1
- ACC Tournament Championships: 1
Women's soccer
- Head Coach: Tim Santoro
- Stadium: Dail Soccer Field
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 16
- NCAA Tournament Finalist: 1
- ACC Regular Season Championships: 1
- ACC Tournament Championships: 1
Softball
- Head Coach: Lindsay Leftwich
- Stadium: Curtis & Jacqueline Dail Softball Stadium
- ACC Championships: 2
Swimming and diving
- Head Coach: Braden Holloway
- Stadium: Willis R. Casey Aquatics Center
- National Champions : 26
- ACC Championships : 33
- ACC Championships : 4
Men's tennis
- Head Coach: Kyle Spencer
- Stadium: J. W. Isenhour Tennis Center
- ACC Team Championships: 2
- ACC Singles Champions: 4
- ACC Doubles Champions: 5
- notable former players: John Sadri, Roberto Bracone
Women's tennis
- Head Coach: Simon Earnshaw
- Stadium: J. W. Isenhour Tennis Center
- National Champions: 1
- ACC Team Championships: 1
Track and field
- Head Coach: Rollie Geiger and Laurie Henes
- Stadium: Paul Derr Track & Field Facility
- National Champions : 2
- National Champions : 2
- National Champions : 11
- ACC Championships :
Volleyball
- Head Coach: Megan Wargo-Kearney
- Stadium: Reynolds Coliseum
- ACC Tournament Champions: 1
Wrestling
- Head Coach: Pat Popolizio
- Stadium: Reynolds Coliseum
- NCAA National Champions : 9
- NCAA All-Americans: 57
- ACC Championships: 21
In 2012, Popolizio left his previous program, Binghamton University, with All-American heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski leaving with him. After redshirting for a year, Gwiazdowski won national titles in 2014 and 2015, becoming the first Wolfpack wrestler to win consecutive titles.
During the 2015–16 season, North Carolina State went as high as number two in the national rankings and had the school record for most wins in a single season. The Wolfpack finished tied for fourth at the 2018 NCAA Tournament, sharing a distinction with Virginia Tech's wrestling team in 2016, as the highest tournament finish for an ACC team.
- 9 Individual NCAA Champions:
- * Matt Reiss 167 lbs
- * Tab Thacker Heavyweight
- * Scott Turner 150 lbs
- * Sylvester Terkay Heavyweight
- * Darrion Caldwell 149 lbs
- * Nick Gwiazdowski Heavyweight
- * Michael Macchiavello 197 lbs
- * Vincent Robinson 125 lbs
Cheerleading
- Head Coach: Jennifer Marks
- UCA National Titles: Championships: 1986, 1990, 1991
- NCA National Titles: Championships: 2001, 2016, 2018, 2018, 2023
- UCA National Titles: Group Stunt 2016, 2020, 2024
Rifle
NC State sponsored a rifle team from 1958 to 2023. In recent decades, this was a coed team, as were most NCAA rifle programs; rifle is the only NCAA sport in which men and women compete alongside and against one another as equals. The Wolfpack won 10 team titles in the South East Air Rifle Conference, a conference specifically for the air rifle discipline, and had also been a member of the Great America Rifle Conference. Rifle was dropped at the end of the 2022–23 season.Non-varsity sports
North Carolina State University offers numerous non-varsity and club level sports throughout the year. This includes, but is not limited to; baseball, basketball, cheerleading, crew, hockey, lacrosse, rugby, sailing, soccer, swimming, ultimate frisbee and many others.The North Carolina State University Men's Rugby Football Club was founded in 1965. NC State plays college rugby in the Atlantic Coast Rugby League against its traditional ACC rivals. The NC State rugby team is led by head coach Jim Latham. The Wolfpack plays their home games at the Upper Method Road Field. NC State won the Atlantic Coast Invitational 7s tournament in 2010 and 2011. The Wolfpack finished 13th at the 2011 USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships. NC State finished 12th at the 2012 Collegiate Rugby Championship, a tournament broadcast live on NBC from PPL Park in Philadelphia. NC State scored a notable upset against #7 ranked Davenport to reach the finals of the 2012 ACI 7s tournament in Blacksburg, only to lose in the final to host Virginia Tech. In 2018, the Wolfpack won the USA Rugby Division II National Championship over Wisconsin-Whitewater and would add the USA Rugby College Sevens National Championship in 2019.
As the university's oldest active sports club, the NC State Sailing Club was founded in 1954, and since 1973 has fielded a competitive intercollegiate co-ed fleet racing team. The program added a women's sailing team in 2013, and an offshore yacht-racing program in 2016. With their home facility at Lake Crabtree County Park, the "SailPack," as the club is known, competes in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association, a division of the Intercollegiate Sailing Association. NC State is a Division 1/Cross-Regional classified team within the ICSA competing on par with varsity programs. The SailPack has qualified for SAISA conference championship regattas in coed fleet racing consecutively since the fall of 2012. NC State won the SAISA Conference Coed Fleet Racing title in 2021-2022, and 2022-2023 seasons. As of spring 2024, NC State Sailing is ranked 32nd nationally in coed fleet racing, while the program is ranked 16th nationally in women's fleet racing. NC State has qualified for ICSA College Sailing National Coed Fleet Racing Championships each year from 2021 through 2024, four years consecutively; while the women's program has qualified for the ICSA College Sailing Women's Fleet Racing National Championships for three years consecutively beginning in 2022. As of 2024 NC State is the highest ranking active program in North Carolina ahead of Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Wilmington, Wake Forest, UNC-Charlotte, ECU, and Davidson. Lake Crabtree is also the home venue for NC State's annual Triangle Tango Regatta which features college sailing teams from each active program in North Carolina and other regional states. Additional dinghy and offshore coastal training activities for the SailPack are located in Oriental, North Carolina where NC State Sailing hosts a major intercollegiate regatta each spring known as the SailPack Oriental Intercollegiate Regatta. The 2018 edition of this event was the largest-ever one-design, collegiate regatta ever held in North Carolina. NC State Sailing, together with the SailPack Foundation, host community sailing during the summer and teach sailing and racing skills to the public free of charge.
NC State's ski team is a member of the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association and competes in races regularly during the winter season.
NC State ultimate frisbee was established in 1978 and currently participates in the USA Ultimate D-1 men's league. The men's team has had 8 national tournament appearances and won the national championships in 1999.
The NC State men's and women's club hockey team participates in the ACCHL. The Wolfpack has been coached by Timothy Healy since 2019, and he has been assisted by Alex Rossetto, Nagib Ward, and Alex Fong. The team calls the Invisalign Arena home. Each year, the Wolfpack hosts the Stephen Russell Memorial Tournament to kick off the season in memory of a goaltender for the team from 2006 to 2009. In 2018–19, NC State finished with an undefeated regular season capped off with an ACCHL title, regional championship and a Nationals appearance. The men's team won the ACCHL tournament 4 times. The women's team has won the ACCHL tournament 1 time.
NC State also boasts a growing men's lacrosse team, formerly an NCAA Division I program from 1973 to 1982. Under head coach Chris Demarest, the Wolfpack went 11–3 in 2017 and advanced to the SELC Tournament in Johns Creek, Georgia before falling to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who advanced to the semi-final round of the MCLA D1 national championship.
NC State college bass fishing team won the 2006 and 2012 Collegiate bass fishing series.
NC State club sports and intramural championships are covered by PackTV, a division of the Office of Information Technology at the university. PackTV is a student-driven sport channel that is on channel 32.2 on campus as well as streamed online through Apple TV and Roku. Along with intramural championships, club soccer, hockey, lacrosse, and basketball among others, PackTV has also covered varsity-level men's and women's soccer, softball and swimming.