Virginia Tech goes back-to-back at ACC Championships with five individual champions

Virginia Tech wrestling fans had to travel down to the state of North Carolina each of the last three years to watch their team at the ACC Wrestling Championships. In fact, Blacksburg had not hosted the ACCs since 2019, until this year.

The long wait for Hokie fans to cheer on their squad inside Cassell Coliseum, attempting to raise the team trophy, came to an end today as they defended their home mat and claimed a second straight ACC Championship.

The Hokies kept the trophy in Blacksburg with a 103-84 edge over second-place Stanford. NC State was a distant third with 57 points, while North Carolina took fourth with 53 points.

The ACC finals were a mini-Virginia Tech home dual, as eight of the 10 bouts featured a Hokie wrestler. But Stanford was hot on their tails in the team race as the finals got underway.

The first two Hokie titles came back-to-back at 184 and 197 pounds. Jaden Bullock was first, as he notched the lone takedown of the bout in extra time to down Jack Dailey of North Carolina, 4-1. Sonny Sasso followed with a 12-2 major decision over top seed Angelo Posada of Stanford. Sasso, the third seed, earlier in the day scored a win over the second seed, the only wrestler to defeat the top two seeds.

That pair of ACC titles gave the Hokies a 14.5-point lead in the team race over Stanford with five bouts left.

The team trophy was clinched with Eddie Ventresca’s title at 125 pounds over Stanford’s Nico Provo. It was his second straight ACC title, and maybe a rarity, Ventresca won both of his matches on the day without a takedown, as both went to ride outs tied 1-1.

The Hokies went back-to-back for the second time, as true freshman Aaron Seidel dominated Tyler Knox for an 18-3 tech fall at 133 pounds. Classmate Collin Gaj closed it out, winning the final match of the night over top seed Koy Buesgens of NC State in extra time, 2-1.

For the fourth time in program history, and the third time in the last four years, Virginia Tech qualified all 10 starters for the NCAA Championships. Stanford qualified eight, NC State seven, North Carolina six, Pitt five and Virginia three.

NC State’s Matty Singleton claimed his second straight ACC title at 174 pounds, with a 5-3 win in ride outs over the Hokies’ Sergio Desiante. A second title for the Pack came at heavyweight, as Isaac Trumble used a first-period seven-point move to get a 9-0 major decision over defending ACC champion Dayton Pitzer of Pitt.

With the finals starting at 157 pounds, Stanford’s Daniel Cardenas was the first individual champion, taking out Virginia Tech’s Ethen Miller, 5-2. Top-seeded R-Fr. Jack Consiglio added to the Cardinal total with a title at 141 pounds. Last year, in their first year in the ACC, Stanford won one ACC title; this year, they came away with a pair.

UNC’s Bryce Hepner was the lowest seed to take top honors, as the fourth seed at 165 pounds took out the top-seeded Will Denny of NC State in the semifinals (10-3) and claimed an ACC title with a 2-0 shutout over Virginia Tech’s Mac Church.

Complete brackets are available at FloWrestling.com.