@PackWrestle Breakdown of the ACC Championship
3/2/2017 8:48:00 AM | Wrestling
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RALEIGH, N.C. - The postseason for the NC State wrestling team gets underway this Saturday, as the Wolfpack will host the 2017 ACC Championship inside Reynolds Coliseum. For the defending ACC Champions, conference pride is on the line, but NCAA bids are also up for grabs.
Earlier this week, the NCAA announced its 2017 allocations, while the ACC announced the ACC Championship seeds and brackets.Â
For the ACC Championship, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in each weight class will get a bye into the semifinals. NC State claimed six of those, with a pair of top seeds and four wrestlers entering as the No. 2 seeds in their weight class. The Pack also has a pair of No. 3 seeds and another pair at No. 4, marking the second straight year all 10 from NC State have been seeded fourth or better.
Virginia Tech led the ACC with six No. 1 seeds (125, 149, 157, 174, 197, 285), while NC State (141, 184) and Pitt (133, 165) both had a pair. The Hokies also led the way with seven wrestlers receiving the first round bye, followed by NC State (6), Virginia (3), Pitt (2), North Carolina (1) and Duke (1).
Here is a breakdown of each weight class and the top contenders:
125 - 3 NCAA Allocations
Redshirt-sophomore Sean Fausz will be looking to secure his second straight trip to the NCAA Championships, as last year he earned an automatic bid with his second place finish at the ACC Championship. Fausz wrestled at 133 pounds the first semester this season, and has only been at 125 pounds since Jan. 23. He went 7-1 at 125 pounds, including 2-1 in ACC action. In his last match, he defeated two-time All-American Conor Youtsey of Michigan 5-3 in the Pack's NWCA National Dual. Fausz enters as the No. 3 seed, and is ranked 16th in the final Coaches' Panel Rankings.
The ACC features a pair of top-10 wrestlers at 125 pounds. Senior Joey Dance of Virginia Tech is ranked No. 3 nationally and is the top seed, while freshman Jack Mueller of Virginia is ranked No. 8 and is the second seed. Dance sits at 23-1 on the season, and has won the last two ACC titles at 125 pounds. Mueller is 22-3 in his first season at UVA, and was a top-15 overall recruit. Pitt's LJ Bentley is the fourth seed, ranked No. 32 nationally, and will also be in contention for one of the three NCAA bids at this weight.
Fausz and Mueller did not meet in the dual at UVA this year, and Fausz fell to Dance (12-3) and defeated Bentley (10-5).
133 - 2 NCAA Allocations
Redshirt-sophomore Jamal Morris will also be looking for his second straight NCAA trip, as last year he was an automatic qualifier at 133 pounds. Morris claimed the Pack's starting spot at 133 pounds at the start of the second semester, and went 18-8 including 2-3 in ACC duals. Morris also enters as the No. 3 seed, and is ranked 17th in the final Coaches' Panel Rankings. Last year at the ACCs, Morris was the first bout for NC State and came out and recorded a first-period pin. Morris will have to place a spot higher then his seed to get an automatic NCAA bid.
The ACC only has two wrestlers ranked at this weight in the final NCAA Coaches' Rankings, Morris and junior Dom Forys of Pitt. Forys is the top seed at 133 pounds, and ranks No. 8 nationally. Forys is 16-1 on the season, but just wrestled in two ACC duals. Virginia's Will Mason is the second seed, as he went 3-2 in ACC duals to grab a first round bye ahead of Morris.
Morris fell to both Forys (15-4) and Mason (5-2) during the regular season.
141 - 3 NCAA Allocations
Junior Kevin Jack will be looking to become the first Pack wrestler to win back-to-back ACC titles at 141 pounds. Overall, he is aiming to become the 23rd wrestler in school history to win back-to-back conference championships at the same weight. Jack was one of the most dominate ACC wrestlers this year, as he enters the ACC Championship with the nation's second-longest winning streak at 25 straight and was a perfect 5-0 in ACC duals. Jack outscored his conference foes 76-17, and did not surrender a single takedown. Jack earned the top seed for the second straight year, and is ranked No. 2 in the final Coaches' Panel Rankings.
The ACC's strongest weight is 141 pounds, as three grapplers enter this weekend ranked in the top-10 nationally. Three-time ACC champion at 133 pounds, Virginia's George DiCamillo is the second seed and ranked No. 6 nationally. 2016 All-American Joey Ward from North Carolina is seeded third and ranked No. 7. Jack, DiCamillo and Ward have gone a combined 70-8 this year.
Jack defeated both DiCamillo (10-1) and Ward (10-4) during the regular season.
149 - 2 NCAA Allocations
Redshirt-senior Sam Speno will be vying for this third NCAA trip in his fourth and final ACC Championship. After redshirting last season, Speno is having an impressive final campaign with a 21-6 record including 3-1 in ACC duals. He is 7-4 against ranked foes this year, having won seven of his last nine such matchups - including a pair of top-10 wins. Speno enters as the No. 2 seed, and is ranked No. 9 in the final Coaches' Panel Rankings.
The ACC has a pair of grapplers ranked in the top-10 nationally. Along with Speno, redshirt-sophomore Solomon Chishko, a 2016 All-American at 141 pounds, earned the ACC's top seed and is ranked No. 6. Chishko is 19-3 on the year, and went a perfect 3-0 in ACC duals. North Carolina's Troy Heilmann is the third ranked wrestler at 149 pounds, as he is No. 26 nationally and the third seed.
Speno fell to Chishko (8-3) and defeated Heilmann twice this year (6-3 in the dual and 8-6 at the Journeymen Classic in November).
157 - 4 NCAA Allocations
Freshman Thomas Bullard was suppose to redshirt this season, but No. 4 Max Rohskopf was lost for the season back in November and Bullard has filled the Pack's starting spot at 157 pounds ever since. A top-50 recruit, he has has gone 14-6 as the Pack's starter, including 8-4 in duals (3-2 in ACC action). He faced five ranked opponents in his final six duals, going 3-3 in that span with a pair of wins over ranked ACC foes. Bullard enters as the No. 2 seed, and is ranked No. 21 in the final Coaches' Panel Rankings.
The ACC lost one allocation spot at 157 pounds after a change to the UNC lineup, but still has four spots to be decided on Saturday. No ACC wrestler ranks higher then 16th, but the top four seeds are between 16-31 in the Coaches' Rankings. Virginia Tech's Sal Mastriani earned the top seed with a 4-0 ACC dual mark, and ranks 16th nationally. The third seed is Pitt's Taleb Rahmani, 31st in the rankings, and the fourth seed is Virginia's Andrew Atkinson who ranks 19th. Duke's Jake Faust is the fifth seed and will be looking to take one of the four bids by placing up, he was a NCAA Qualifier last year at 165 pounds.
Bullard has victories over Faust (7-6), Atkinson (7-6) and Rahmani (9-7) this year, but fell to Mastriani (12-6).
165 - 2 NCAA Allocations
Redshirt-junior Brian Hamann was also a veteran that redshirted last season for the Pack, and will be making his second appearance at the ACC Championship (2014). Hamann spent both his freshman and sophomore years at 149 pounds, but used last year to move up to 165. This year, he has posted a record of 19-10 overall and was 2-1 in ACC duals. Hamann enters as the No. 2 seed, and is ranked No. 28 in the final Coaches' Panel Rankings.
With only two NCAA Allocations, Pitt's sophomore Te'Shan Campbell is the only other conference wrestler ranked, as he is No. 9 nationally. The top seed for the ACCs, Campbell went 5-0 in ACC duals and is 17-2 on the year.
Hamann fell to Campbell in the dual 5-1.
174 - 3 NCAA Allocations
Freshman Nick Reenan stepped into the Pack's lineup from the Day 1 at 174 pounds. Reenan was a consensus top-10 recruit, and an ASICS All-American second-team selection at 195 pounds his senior season. He is 18-9 on the season, including a 2-3 mark in ACC duals. He is a perfect 10-0 in bonus point matches this year. Reenan enters as the No. 4 seed, and is ranked No. 32 in the final Coaches' Panel Rankings. He will need to finish a spot up in third to receive one of the automatic NCAA bids.
The ACC lost one allocation spot at 174 pounds after a change to the UVA lineup, but still has three spots to be decided on Saturday. The ACC has four ranked in the Coaches' Rankings vying for the three NCAA spots. A pair of top-10 wrestlers lead the way. Two-time All-American Virginia Tech's redshirt-junior Zach Epperly is ranked No. 4 nationally and is the top seed after a perfect 5-0 mark in ACC duals, 17-1 overall. North Carolina's Ethan Ramos is ranked No. 7 and is the second seed. The third seed is Duke's Connor Bass, who moved up from 157 pounds last year and is 17-10 and ranked No. 26 nationally.
Reenan fell to both Epperly (5-3) and Ramos (11-4). Reenan and Bass did not wrestle each other in the dual earlier this year.
184 - 2 NCAA Allocations
Redshirt-junior Michael Macchiavello secured the Pack's other No. 1 seed, as he went a perfect 4-0 in ACC action at 184 pounds this year (his ACC loss was at 197 pounds at UNC). A year after redshirting, Macchiavello has had an already impressive campaign. He went a combined 20-22 in his first two years at NC State, but is 22-5 this season and 5-5 against ranked foes. He has won his last seven matches at 184 pounds, including a win over No. 5 Zavatsky of Virginia Tech in the dual (9-3). Macchiavello is the top seed at 184 pounds, and is ranked No. 10 in the final Coaches' Panel Rankings.
The other top-10 wrestler in the ACC is Virginia Tech's Zavatsky. The defending ACC Champion at 184 pounds, Zavatsky is the second seed but is ranked No. 7 nationally thanks to his 22-2 record (18-1 in duals) thus far.
Macchiavello earned a takedown and a four-point near fall in the third period to defeat Zavatsky in the dual, 9-3.
197 - 2 NCAA Allocations
Redshirt-sophomore Malik McDonald will be wrestling in his first ACC Championship. McDonald is 18-8 on the year, and went 3-1 in ACC duals. He has won seven of his last nine matches on the year, with the only two losses to a pair of wrestlers ranked in the top-six. McDonald enters as the No. 2 seed, and is ranked No. 24 in the final Coaches' Panel Rankings.
There are only two NCAA allocations at 197 pounds, but the ACC has three ranked wrestlers at the weight. Virginia Tech's Jared Haught earned the top seed at 197 pounds, and he is ranked No. 3 nationally. An All-American last year with a sixth place finish, Haught is 22-2 on the season going a perfect 5-0 in ACC duals. North Carolina's Danny Chaid is ranked No. 28 in the rankings, and is the third seed. Chaid is 15-11 this year, but 4-1 in ACC action including a win over the Pack's Macchiavello in the dual, a year after transferring from Grand Canyon.
McDonald fell to Haught this year (8-2). McDonald and Chaid did not wrestle in the dual matchup this season.
285 - 5 NCAA Allocations
Redshirt-senior Mike Kosoy will be wrestling in his second ACC Championship, but his first since 2013 when he was the Pack's starter as a true-freshman and went 3-1 to place third. The Pack went back-and-forth all year on the starter at 285 pounds, but Kosoy secured the nod late in the year. Kosoy sits at 20-8 on the season, pushing his career win total to 76, and was 2-1 in ACC action. Kosoy enters as the No. 4 seed, and is ranked No. 21 in the final Coaches' Panel Rankings.
The ACC got a conference-best five bids at 285 pounds, as the weight class features two in the top-five nationally and five ranked in the top-30 overall. Virginia Tech's Ty Walz, a 2016 NCAA semifinalist, earned the top seed and is ranked No. 4 in the nation. Not far behind, Duke's Jacob Kasper is ranked No. 5 nationally and is the second seed. Pitt's Ryan Solomon knocked off Kasper recently and secured the ACC's third seed and is ranked 15th. The final ACC wrestler in the top-30 is UNC's Cory Daniel, the No. 30 ranked wrestler in the rankings is the ACC's fifth seed.
Kosoy fell to Solomon 5-2 in extra time, and defeated Daniel at the UNC dual 5-3 also in extra time. He did not face Walz or Kasper this season in duals.
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