NC State, led by three champions, wins ACC title, with Virginia Tech in second place

Graphic courtesy of NC State's wrestling Twitter.


BLACKSBURG, Va. – North Carolina State, led by three individual champions, claimed the team title at the Atlantic Coach Conference Championships on Saturday.


The NC State individual champions were Jamel Morris (141), Hayden Hidlay (157) and Malik McDonald (197).


NC State finished with 93.5 points, with Virginia Tech in second with 86 points and North Carolina in third with 47.5 points.


Virginia Tech had three champions, Junior World champion Mekhi Lewis (165), David McFadden (174) and Zack Zavatsky (184).


Other individual champions were Jack Mueller of Virginia (125) , Mickey Phillipi of Pittsburgh (133), Mitch Finesilver of Duke (149) and Demetrius Thomas of Pittsburgh (285).

North Carolina State press release by Brian Reinhart

BLACKSBURG, VA. – By placing six of its 10 wrestlers into the ACC Finals, and claiming three individual titles, the NC State wrestling team won the 2019 ACC Championship held in Blacksburg Saturday night.


R-So. Hayden Hidlay (157 pounds) won his second straight ACC title, R-Sr. Jamel Morris (141) captured ACC gold in his first ACC Championship, and fellow R-Sr. Malik McDonald (197) capped his career with his first ACC title. In addition, Sean Fausz (125), Tariq Wilson (133), and Thomas Bullard (165) all claimed second place finishes.


In all, 9 of the 10 Wolfpack wrestlers finished third or better (the 10th placed fourth), and all nine of of those top-three finishers qualified for the NCAA Championships by claiming an automatic bid.


NC State won the team race with 93.5 points. Host Virginia Tech was second with 86 points, North Carolina third (47.5), Pitt fourth (41), Duke fifth (39), and Virginia sixth (27.5).


The ACC Championship is the second for head coach Pat Popolizio since 2016. NC State has also claimed the ACC Dual Championship each of the past two seasons.

Virginia Tech Press release


BLACKSBURG - Nine of Virginia Tech's 10 starters qualified for the NCAA Championships and three won individual conference titles at the 2019 ACC Wrestling Championship in front of 3,742 for the finals held in Cassell Coliseum on Saturday.


The Hokies will send nine wrestlers to nationals for the second consecutive season, a first for the program. Redshirt senior Zack Zavatsaky won his third ACC title and redshirt junior David McFadden won his second. Redshirt freshman Mekhi Lewis won his first conference championship in his initial season.


Tech finished in second place in the team standings with 86.0 points. NC State placed first with 93.5 points. North Carolina (47.5), Pitt (41.0), Duke (39.0) and Virginia (27.5) rounded out the team standings.


NOTES

• Zavatsky is the sixth Hokie to win three or more ACC titles, joining Joey Dance, Jesse Dong, Nick Brascetta, Jarrod Garnett and Devin Carter.

• With his 7-3 decision over Matt Finesilver of Duke, McFadden is the 11th multi-time ACC champion in program history.

• Of Tech's six wrestlers on the back side, five of them wrestled back to claim third place.

ATLANTIC COACH CONFERENCE

At Blacksburg, Va.

Note: The ACC has 37 NCAA automatic qualifiers


125 pounds (2 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Jack Mueller (Virginia) won by major decision over Sean Fausz (NC State) (MD 10-2)

3rd Place Match - Joey Prata (Virginia Tech)won in sudden victory - 1 over Joseph Heilmann (North Carolina) (SV-1 3-1)


133 pounds (4 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Mickey Phillipi (Pittsburgh) won by decision over Tariq Wilson (NC State) (Dec 4-1)

3rd Place Match - Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) won by decision over Gary Wayne Harding (North Carolina) (Dec 5-2)


141 pounds (4 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Jamel Morris (NC State) won by decision over Mitch Moore (Virginia Tech) (Dec 6-3)

3rd Place Match - Josh Finesilver (Duke) won by decision over AC Headlee (North Carolina) (Dec 9-5)


149 pounds (4 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Mitch Finesilver (Duke) won by decision over Austin O`Connor (North Carolina) (Dec 5-1)

3rd Place Match - Justin Oliver (NC State) won by decision over Ryan Blees (Virginia Tech) (Dec 6-1)


157 pounds (4 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Hayden Hidlay (NC State) won by decision over Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh) (Dec 8-2)

3rd Place Match - BC LaPrade (Virginia Tech) won by decision over Ben Anderson (Duke) (Dec 10-7)

5th Place Match - Will Schany (Virginia) won by decision over Kaden Russell (Duke) (Dec 10-5)


165 pounds (4 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) won by decision over Thomas Bullard (NC State) (Dec 7-4)

3rd Place Match - Zach Finesilver (Duke) won by major decision over Cam Coy (Virginia) (MD 12-0)


174 pounds (3 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - David McFadden (Virginia Tech) won by decision over Matt Finesilver (Duke) (Dec 7-3)

3rd Place Match - Daniel Bullard (NC State) won by tech fall over Devin Kane (North Carolina) (TF-1.5 6:49 (18-3))


184 pounds (5 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) won by decision over Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) (Dec 4-1)

3rd Place Match - Nick Reenan (NC State) won by decision over Chip Ness (North Carolina) (Dec 12-8)


197 pounds (4 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Malik McDonald (NC State) won by decision over Jay Aiello (Virginia) (Dec 13-6)

3rd Place Match - Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech) won by fall over Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) (Fall 4:24)


285 pounds (3 NCAA qualifiers)

1st Place Match - Demetrius Thomas (Pittsburgh) won by decision over Cory Daniel (North Carolina) (Dec 3-2)

3rd Place Match - Billy Miller (Virginia Tech) won by decision over Deonte Wilson (NC State) (Dec 6-2)


Team Standings

1 NC State 93.5

2 Virginia Tech 86.0

3 North Carolina 47.5

4 Pittsburgh 41.0

5 Duke 39.0

6 Virginia 27.5