CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – NC State’s Kai Orine was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week following his first-place finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational over the fifth week of the season, Nov. 28-Dec. 3.
 
Orine claimed his championship with a 5-0 performance in the 133-pound weight class. His wins over the weekend included three ranked victories over No. 11 Evan Frost (Iowa State), No. 18 Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State), and No. 25 Gabe Whisenhunt (Oregon State). 
 
The Imperial, Missouri, native opened his weekend with a 15-1 major decision win over Christopher Betancourt of Long Island and then recorded a 22-5 tech fall win over Ethan Qureshi of Cornell to advance to the quarterfinals. There, he held off Whisenhunt of Oregon State with a 6-4 decision and then defeated Cardinal of South Dakota State 6-3 in the semifinals to advance to the final.
 
In the final, he picked up a 12-4 major decision win over Frost of Iowa State to win the championship.
 
Overall, the second-ranked NC State wrestling team tallied six individual placements, including two first-place championships to secure the team a fourth-place overall finish at the 41st annual Cliff Keen Invitational.
 
NC State accumulated 115 team points, following behind Iowa State (130.5), Nebraska (125.5), and Ohio State (123.5).
 
2023-24 ACC Wrestlers of the Week
Nov. 7 – Caleb Henson, Virginia Tech | Mac Stout, Pitt
Nov. 14 – Jakob Camacho, NC State
Nov. 21 – Dayton Pitzer, Pitt
Nov. 28 – N/A
Dec. 5 – Kai Orine, NC State