A compact tournament with highly ranked teams should make for an exciting ACC Championship

Photo of two-time ACC champion Hayden Hidlay of North Carolina State

Although the ACC only has six teams, the conference is still littered with talented wrestlers. It makes sense given that four of the six teams are ranked in the NWCA’s top ten and five of the six are ranked in Trackwrestling’s tournament rankings, with four falling in the top 20. After winning a title in a tight team race last year, NC State will look to stave off the rest of the conference in order to repeat.

At 125 pounds, returning NCAA finalist Jack Mueller of Virginia is the overwhelming favorite. He has wrestled a limited schedule this year and holds a 12-0 record. The fight for the other two qualifying bids will be between Jakob Camacho of NC State, Joseph Melendez of North Carolina and Joey Prata of Virginia Tech, who are all listed in at least one national ranking. Camacho has defeated Melendez and Prata this season, winning 9-4 and 5-4. Melendez also defeated Prata, 8-7.

Pittsburgh’s Micky Phillippi, who was the tournament’s outstanding wrestler last season, will look to earn his second ACC title. Phillippi finished in the round of 12 at the NCAA Tournament and holds a 23-1 record.

133 is a deep weight class for the ACC, earning 5 NCAA bids. Jaime Hernandez of North Carolina, Jarrett Trombley of NC State, Louie Hayes of Virginia and Collin Gerardi of Virginia Tech will all duke it to for their podium spots. This group is extremely close skill-wise, and it is hard to predict where each wrestler will place.

2018 NCAA All-American Tariq Wilson of NC State earned the top seed at 141 pounds. Wilson has split this season with No. 3 seed Mitch Moore, dropping their most recent match, 7-3. He does hold a win over No. 2 seed Zach Sherman, who defeated Moore, 5-2, in their only match this year. With only 3 spots available at this weight class, Pittsburgh’s Cole Matthews will look to crash the party. Matthews has lost to Wilson twice this year and fallen once to both Sherman and Moore. However, all four matches have been decisions within three points.

Returning third place All-American Austin O’Connor of North Carolina is the top seed at 149 pounds. O’Connor is 23-1 this season with his only loss coming to Iowa’s Pat Lugo. With only two spots available, No. 2 seed Bryce Andonian of Virginia Tech and No. 3 seed AJ Leitten of NC State could go head to head in the semifinals with an NCAA berth on the line. Andonian, a true freshman, pinned Leitten in their only meeting this season.

Two-time All-American Hayden Hidlay of NC State will be looking to win his third ACC title at 157 pounds. With five bids up for grabs, North Carolina’s A.C. Headlee, who is up from 141 pounds, Pittsburgh’s Taleb Rahmani, Virginia Tech’s B.C. LaPrade and Virginia’s Justin McCoy seem like the wrestlers likely to punch their tickets.

Returning ACC champion at 174 pounds, David McFadden is the No. 3 seed at 165 pounds. McFadden, a three-time All-American always seems to know how to turn it on at the NCAA tournament. The top seed in the bracket is Kennedy Monday of North Carolina. Monday made it to the round of 12 at the NCAA tournament two seasons ago as a freshman and had his 2019 season cut short due to injury. Monday earned a technical fall over McFadden earlier this season and has put together a strong, 20-6 record.

With 4 qualifier spots available, No. 2 seed Thomas Bullard of NC State and No. 4 seed Jake Wentzel of Pittsburgh, who both appear in the national rankings, seem likely to qualify for the NCAA tournament as well. Cam Coy of Virginia, who is seeded No. 6, has only wrestled 7 matches this season but qualified for the tournament in 2019 as a redshirt freshman.

174 pounds also has 4 qualifier spots and feels like a wide open weight class. Top seeded Gregg Harvey of Pittsburgh and No. 2 seed Daniel Bullard of NC State seem to be wrestling a notch above the rest of the bracket currently. Mason Eaglin of Duke, Clay Lautt of North Carolina and Cody Hughes of Virginia Tech will be the likely candidates competing for the other two qualifier spots. The trio are currently ranked No. 30, No. 31 and No. 32 by Trackwrestling.

184 is a top-heavy weight class with three NCAA qualifier spots available and three wrestlers primarily ranked in the top-five competing. Hunter Bolen of Virginia Tech earned the top seed, although he does have a, 10-8, loss to Pittsburgh’s Nino Bonaccorsi, who is seeded No. 3. The No. 2 seed, Trent Hidlay of North Carolina State has a, 6-3, win over Bonaccorsi and a, 3-1, loss to Bolen this year.

197 pounds only has one qualifier spot. The heavy favorite is Jay Aiello of Virginia. Aiello is 25-4 on the year and has defeated every wrestler in the bracket this season besides No. 6 seed Tyrie Houghton of NC State, who he has not faced. The No. 2 seed Kellan Stout of Pittsburgh and the No. 3 seed Brandon Whitman of North Carolina were both NCAA qualifiers last season and will look to challenge Aiello for the spot.

Pittsburgh’s Demetrius Thomas is the top seed at 285 pounds. Thomas, who is 19-3 on the season, was an NAIA champion and two-time finalist for Williams Baptist before transferring to Pittsburgh last season.

With five spots available at heavy weight, it seems likely that Deonte Wilson of NC State, Quinn Miller of Virginia, John Borst of Virginia Tech and Andrew Gunning of North Carolina will claim their berths to the NCAA tournament as well.

Event: ACC Wrestling Championship
Location: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Date: March 8

ACC Conference: 35 automatic qualifiers
125 (3), 133 (5), 141 (3), 149 (2), 157 (5), 165 (4), 174 (4), 184 (3), 197 (1), 285 (5)

NWCA Dual Meet Ranked Teams
3. NC State
7. North Carolina
8. Pittsburgh
9. Virginia Tech

Trackwrestling Tournament Ranked Teams
10. (Tie) NC State
18. (Tie) Pittsburgh
18. (Tie) Virginia
20. (Tie) Virginia Tech
22. (Tie) North Carolina

Pre-seeds and Individual ranked wrestlers (Track/WIN/Flo)
125 Pounds
1. Jack Mueller, Virginia (2/2/2)
2. Jakob Camacho, NC State (15/18/15)
3. Joseph Melendez, North Carolina (27/UR/UR)
4. Joey Prata, Virginia Tech (16/UR/24)
5. Louis Newell, Pittsburgh
133 Pounds
1. Micky Phillippi, Pittsburgh (6/6/6)
2. Jaime Hernandez, North Carolina (26/UR/25)
3. Jarrett Trombley, NC State (25/UR/23)
4. Louie Hayes, Virginia (27/UR/UR)
5. Collin Gerardi, Virginia Tech (19/UR/24)
6. Harrison Campbell, Duke
141 Pounds
1. Tariq Wilson, NC State (14/11/13)
2. Zach Sherman, North Carolina (16/19/14)
3. Mitch Moore, Virginia Tech (13/9/18)
4. Cole Matthews, Pittsburgh (24/UR/22)
5. Brian Courtney, Virginia
149 Pounds
1. Austin O’Connor, North Carolina (3/3/3)
2. Bryce Andonian, Virginia Tech (22/UR/UR)
3. AJ Leitten, NC State
4. Denton Spencer, Virginia (23/UR/UR)
5. Dallas Bulsak, Pittsburgh
6. Wade Unger, Duke
157 Pounds
1. Hayden Hidlay, NC State (2/2/2)
2. A.C. Headlee, North Carolina (23/UR/21)
3. Taleb Rahmani, Pittsburgh (25/UR/22)
4. BC LaPrade, Virginia Tech (26/UR/24)
5. Justin McCoy, Virginia (22/UR/23)
6. Eric Carter, Duke
165 Pounds
1. Kennedy Monday, North Carolina (14/10/13)
2. Thomas Bullard, NC State (15/16/8)
3. David McFadden, Virginia Tech (16/11/9)
4. Jake Wentzel, Pittsburgh (17/19/14)
5. Ben Anderson, Duke
6. Cam Coy, Virginia
174 Pounds
1. Gregg Harvey, Pittsburgh (15/19/14)
2. Daniel Bullard, NC State (16/20/15)
3. Mason Eaglin, Duke (30/UR/UR)
4. Clay Lautt, North Carolina (31/UR/UR)
5. Cody Hughes, Virginia Tech (32/UR/UR)
6. Vic Marcelli, Virginia
184 Pounds
1. Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech (3/2/2)
2. Trent Hidlay, NC State (4/3/3)
3. Nino Bonaccorsi, Pittsburgh (6/5/5)
4. Michael Battista, Virginia
5. Joseph Mazzara, North Carolina
6. Kai Blake, Duke
197 Pounds
1. Jay Aiello, Virginia (8/6/7)
2. Kellan Stout, Pittsburgh
3. Brandon Whitman, North Carolina
4. Stan Smeltzer, Virginia Tech
5. Vincent Baker, Duke
6. Tyrie Houghton, NC State
285 Pounds
1. Demetrius Thomas, Pittsburgh (12/11/10)
2. Deonte Wilson, NC State (25/UR/24)
3. Quinn Miller, Virginia (17/20/20)
4. John Borst, Virginia Tech (26/UR/25)
5. Andrew Gunning, North Carolina (29/UR/UR)
6. Jonah Niesenbaum, Duke

2019 All-Americans returning
Jack Mueller (2nd at 125), Austin O’Connor (3rd at 149), Hayden Hidlay (4th at 157), David McFadden (5th at 174)

2019 ACC champions returning
125 – Jack Mueller, Virginia
133 – Mickey Phillipi, Pittsburgh
157 – Hayden Hidlay, NC State
174 – David McFadden, Virginia Tech (Competing at 165 this year)
285 – Demetrius Thomas, Pittsburgh

2019 ACC standings
1. NC State – 93.5
2. Virginia Tech – 86
3. North Carolina – 47.5
4. Pittsburgh – 41
5. Duke – 39
6. Virginia – 27.5

Event Schedule (Eastern time)

Sunday, March 8
11 a.m. – First-round matches (ACC Network Extra)
1 p.m. – Semifinals (ACC Network Extra)
3:30 p.m. – Consolation semifinals (ACC Network Extra)
5 p.m. – Consolation finals (ACC Network Extra)
7 p.m.- Finals (ACC Network)