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 (NCAA) Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for college football) as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) 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" (not to be confused with the on-site mascots, Mr. and Ms. Wuf). 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.
Contents
Sports sponsored
Baseball
Head Coach: Elliott Avent
Stadium: Doak Field
ACC Championships: 5 (1968, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1992)
CWS appearances: 4 (1968, 2013, 2021, 2024)
Men's basketball
Head Coach: Justin Gainey
Arena: Lenovo Center
National Championships: 2 (1974, 1983)
Southern Conference Championships: 7 (1929, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952)
ACC Championships: 11 (1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1965, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1983, 1987, 2024)
The above record of conference titles does not include regular season 1st place finishes as championships – the ACC recognizes only the winner of the ACC Tournament as its champion.
Women's basketball
Head Coach: Wes Moore
Arena: Reynolds Coliseum
ACC Championships (regular season): 6 (1978, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1990, 2022)
ACC Championships (ACC Tournament): 7 (1980, 1985, 1987, 1991, 2020, 2021, 2022)
Cross country
Head Coach: Laurie Henes
NCAA Southeast Region Championships: 9 (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2018)
ACC Championships: 16 (1953, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011)
Head Coach: Laurie Henes
National Championships (Team): 6 (1979†, 1980†, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025)
National Champions (Individual): 6 (1979†, 1980†, 1981, 1983, 1985, 2022)
(1979) Julie Shea
(1980) Julie Shea
(1981) Betty Springs
(1983) Betty Springs
(1985) Suzie Tuffey
(2022) Katelyn Tuohy
NCAA Southeast Region Championships: 13 (2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
ACC Championships: 30 (1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025)
The women's cross country team has competed in more NCAA championships than any other school in the nation (25). Additionally the Wolfpack women's cross country team has won more ACC cross country championships (30) than all other schools combined and are the most by an ACC women’s program in any sport.
†AIAW Women's National Championships
Football
Head Coach: Dave Doeren
Stadium: Carter–Finley Stadium
ACC Championships: 7 (1957, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1973, 1979)
Southern Conference Championships: 1 (1927)
South Atlantic Intercollegiate Championships: 3 (1907, 1910, 1913)
Bowl games: 37 (18-18-1)
Golf
Head Coach: Press McPhaul and Darby Sligh
Course: Lonnie Poole Golf Course
National Championships (Men's individual): 1 (2009 Matt Hill)
ACC Championships (Men's): 1 (1990)
Gymnastics
Head Coach: Kim Landrus
Stadium: Reynolds Coliseum
ACC Championships: 2 (1984, 2024)
EAGL Championships: 6 (1999, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2018)
Men's soccer
Head Coach: Marc Hubbard
Stadium: Dail Soccer Field
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 18 (1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2024, 2025)
ACC Regular Season Championships: 1 (1994)
ACC Tournament Championships: 1 (1990)
Women's soccer
Head Coach: Tim Santoro
Stadium: Dail Soccer Field
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 16 (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021)
NCAA Tournament Finalist: 1 (1988)
ACC Regular Season Championships: 1 (1988)
ACC Tournament Championships: 1 (1988)
Softball
Head Coach: Lindsay Leftwich
Stadium: Curtis & Jacqueline Dail Softball Stadium
ACC Championships: 2 (2006, 2013)
Swimming and diving
Head Coach: Braden Holloway
Stadium: Willis R. Casey Aquatics Center
National Champions (Individual): 26
ACC Championships (Men's): 33 (1954, 1955, 1956, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1992, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024)
ACC Championships (Women's): 4 (1979,1980, 2017, 2019)
Men's tennis
Head Coach: Kyle Spencer
Stadium: J. W. Isenhour Tennis Center
ACC Team Championships: 2 (1978, 1979)
ACC Singles Champions: 4 (1978, 1979, 1997, 1998)
ACC Doubles Champions: 5 (1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1992)
notable former players: John Sadri, Roberto Bracone
Women's tennis
Head Coach: Simon Earnshaw
Stadium: J. W. Isenhour Tennis Center
National Champions: 2
Doubles - 2022– Jaeda Daniel/Nell Miller
Doubles - 2025 - Gabbi Broadfoot/Tori Osuigwe
ACC Team Championships: 2 (2023, 2026)
Track and field
Head Coach: Rollie Geiger and Laurie Henes
Stadium: Paul Derr Track & Field Facility
National Champions (Men's Individual - outdoor): 2
National Champions (Women's Individual - indoor): 2
National Champions (Women's Individual - outdoor): 11
ACC Championships (Men's): (Indoor - 1988)(Outdoor - 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1996)
Volleyball
Head Coach: Megan Wargo-Kearney
Stadium: Reynolds Coliseum
ACC Tournament Champions: 1 (1987)
Wrestling
Head Coach: Pat Popolizio
Stadium: Reynolds Coliseum
NCAA National Champions (Individual): 10
NCAA All-Americans: 59
ACC Championships: 21 (1976, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
North Carolina State University's wrestling team was established in 1925 and goes by the team nickname of the "Wolfpack". Pat Popolizio was named head wrestling coach for the Wolfpack on April 10, 2012. Popolizio was a three-time NCAA qualifier at Oklahoma State University. The wrestling team competes their home matches in the Reynolds Coliseum.
In 2012, Popolizio left his previous program, Binghamton University, with All-American heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski leaving with him. After redshirting for a year (to avoid losing a year of eligibility per NCAA transfer rules), Gwiazdowski won national titles in 2014 and 2015, becoming the first Wolfpack wrestler to win multiple titles.
During the 2016 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, the programs highest finish at the national championships.
10 Individual NCAA Championships:
(1980) Matt Reiss 167 lbs
(1984) Tab Thacker Heavyweight
(1988) Scott Turner 150 lbs
(1993) Sylvester Terkay Heavyweight
(2009) Darrion Caldwell 149 lbs
Cheerleading
NC State also competes in one coed varsity sport.
Head Coach: Jennifer Marks
UCA National Titles: Championships: (3) 1986, 1990, 1991
NCA National Titles: Championships: (5) 2001, 2016, 2018 (Small Coed), 2018 (Gameday), 2023
UCA National Titles: Group Stunt (3) 2016, 2020, 2024
Cheerleading: NC State fields a full varsity cheerleading team, which is currently coached by head coach Jennifer Marks. The team has achieved impressive success, winning 3 national championships from the Universal Cheerleading Association, 4 national championships from the National Cheerleading Association, and 3 national championships in the Group Stunt competition from the Universal Cheerleading Association.
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 (ICSA). 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.
Championships
NCAA team championships
North Carolina State has won 6 NCAA team national championships.
Men's (2)
Basketball (2): 1974, 1983
Women's (4)
Cross Country (4): 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025
Other national team championships
Women's (2)
Cross Country (2): 1979*, 1980*
* Prior to 1982, the AIAW administered championships in women's cross country. The NCAA held its first women's cross country championship in 1981.
Co-Ed (8)
Cheerleading (3): 1986, 1990, 1991, 2001, 2016, 2018, 2018, 2023
see also:
ACC NCAA team championships
List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships
NCAA individual championships
NC State athletes have won 45 NCAA and 7 AIAW individual championships as of November 18, 2022
Notable alumni
Fourteen NC State athletes have won a total of 21 Olympic medals: Tommy Burleson and Kenny Carr in men's basketball; Joan Benoit in the women's marathon; Lucas Kozeniesky in rifle; Diana Shnaider in women's tennis; and Stephen Rerych, Steve Gregg, Dan Harrigan, Duncan Goodhew, David Fox, Cullen Jones, Ryan Held, David Bethlehem, and Katharine Berkoff in swimming. Additionally, Kay Yow coached the women's basketball team to a gold medal in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul South Korea
NC State Fight Song
The words to the Fight Song were written by Hardy Ray, Class of 1926, and the music was written by Edmund L. Gruber in 1908. It is essentially a sped-up version of "The Caisson Song", or more recently, "The Army Goes Rolling Along."
Red and White Song
The Red and White Song is a popular song sung by fans and played by the band at many NC State athletic events, especially at football and basketball games. It was written by J. Perry Watson, a former director of music at NC State, and was introduced in 1961; students first sang the "Red and White" song at the NC State – Maryland game on February 13, 1961. The song, although very popular, is in fact not the official Fight Song of NC State. The colors mentioned in the song refer to NC State's main athletic colors, while "Caroline", "Devils", and "Deacs" refer to NC State's rivals: North Carolina, Duke, and Wake Forest.
The NC State Alma Mater
NC State's Alma Mater was written by two students in the early 1920s. Dr. Alvin M. Fountain, a class of 1922 alumnus and editor of The Technician, wrote the words, while Bonnie Norris, from the class of 1923, composed the music.
In 2022, N.C. State changed the lyrics from "Where the winds of Dixie softly blow" to "Where the Southern winds so softly blow".
Mascot
Since 1975, the NC State Wolfpack athletic teams have been represented at athletic events by its mascots, Mr. and Ms. Wuf, who were married on February 28, 1981, at Reynolds Coliseum at halftime of a college basketball game between NC State and Wake Forest. Wake Forest's Demon Deacon mascot appropriately presided over the nuptials. In print, the "Strutting Wolf" is used and is known by the name "Tuffy." In September 2010, a purebred Tamaskan dog became the new live mascot, "Tuffy".