ACC Week One Recap

If week one of ACC duals showed us anything, it is that we should buckle up because the next six weeks are going to be bonkers. We saw two upsets - based on Intermat Dual Rankings - and a shutout for the six teams in action, while UVA made the most of the off week. 

North Carolina had a statement win at home over a top-10 Hokies team. The Tar Heels were propelled by upset wins from Spencer Moore, Josh Ogunsanya, and a huge Gavin Kane pin over TJ Stewart to notch their first win over Virginia Tech in five years. North Carolina did an impressive job of winning the tight bouts; three of their five wins were within a one-takedown score, with two of those coming in sudden victory. Bonus points from the Kane pin and a Lachlan McNeil tech fall proved huge. The Hokies will look to use this week off of conference competition to heal up and return with a full lineup against Duke in two weeks; they were without #12 Connor McGonagle and #1 Caleb Henson in Chapel Hill. 

Not a lot to say about Duke’s trip to NC State. The Wolfpack took care of business and won nine of 10 bouts by bonus points including six tech falls and one pin. Louie Gill filled in at 125 for Vincent Robinson and put on an impressive display; Tyler Tracy got the start at 141 and looked strong. Robinson made his return to the lineup on Monday against Oklahoma State, getting an upset win over #2 Troy Spratley, in what otherwise was a dual the Wolfpack would like to forget. Though the dual was much closer than the scoreboard indicated, the Cowboys reeled off nine straight wins - several in tight matches, after the opening upset by Robinson. 

The Pittsburgh/Stanford dual is worth a watch if you haven’t seen it. It was a back-and-forth match with the Panthers relying on the strength of their upper weights to pull away in the final three matches for the upset win. This was also the case in their dual against West Virginia on Sunday. Stanford initially had Nico Provo listed but gave up a forfeit at 125, so we are still waiting for his season debut. We did see the return to the lineup from Jason Miranda who had a solid weekend. The matches at 157 and 174 were both tight, entertaining bouts. Stanford did finish their weekend on a positive note, winning at Mizzou. 

Since they pushed up the start of the duals in North Carolina, this dual got my full attention in the later time slot. As I watched, it became more and more clear to me how much parity there is within the conference this year, specifically in how teams match up in duals. 

Coming into the season, the general consensus was that NC State and Virginia Tech would again be battling for the top spot in the conference, both in duals and the tournament. But as we get deeper into the season, we are seeing how much matchups are going to matter in each individual dual. Even if a team is stronger on paper, one upset or one wrestler out with an injury can and will completely change the outcome of a dual. 

Going through the lineups for the duals moving forward, there is a definite possibility that no team will make it through the dual season unscathed. After upsets from North Carolina and Pittsburgh in week one, I think we are only at the tip of the iceberg. We haven’t seen Virginia wrestle in conference yet, but outside of Duke who was shut out, there is an argument that can be made for any one of North Carolina, NC State, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Virginia, and/or Virginia Tech to be atop the dual standings on February 22nd. There is no tie-breaking criteria for the dual-title, it is won outright by the team with the best in-conference record, or shared if teams have the same record. I, for one, am here for the chaos. Bring on week two. 

No. 25 North Carolina 20, No. 8 Virginia Tech 17

January 10, 2025 | Carmichael Arena | Attendance: 1,247

125: No. 20 Spencer Moore (UNC) over No. 4 Eddie Ventresca (VT): 4-1 SV Dec

133: No. 15 Ethan Oakley (UNC) over Dillon Campbell (VT): 4-1 SV Dec

141: No. 11 Sam Latona (VT) over No. 27 Jayden Scott (UNC): 2-0 Dec

149: No. 6 Lachlan McNeil (UNC) over Hunter Mason (VT): 22-6 TF

157: No. 13 Rafael Hipolito (VT) over No. 26 Sonny Santiago (UNC): 14-7 Dec

165: No. 25 Mac Church (VT) over Collin Carrigan (UNC): 14-2 MD

174: No. 20 Joshua Ogunsanya (UNC) over No. 13 Lennox Wolak (VT): 7-5 Dec

184: No. 24 Gavin Kane (UNC) over No. 29 TJ Stewart (VT): Fall (3:29)

197: No. 8 Andy Smith (VT) over Cade Lautt (UNC): 4-1 SV Dec

285: No. 15 Jimmy Mullen (VT) over Nolan Neves (UNC): 20-8 MD

No. 18 Pitt 24, No. 15 Stanford 15

125: No. 17 Nick Babin (Pitt) FFT

133: No. 10 Tyler Knox (Stanford) tech. fall Matt Marlow (Pitt), 17-1 (4:23)

141: Jason Miranda (Stanford) dec. Briar Priest (Pitt), 11-8 SV 

149: No. 26 Finn Solomon (Pitt) tech. fall EJ Parco (Stanford), 15-0 (4:03) 

157: No. 22 Dylan Evans (Pitt) dec. No. 28 Grigor Cholakyan (Stanford), 4-1 SV

165: No. 14 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) maj. dec. Jared Keslar (Pitt), 15-6 

174: No. 4 Lorenzo Norman (Stanford) dec. No. 18 Luca Augustine (Pitt) 8-6 

184: No. 18 Reece Heller (Pitt) dec.  Abraham Wojcikiewicz (Stanford), 8-4 

197: No. 12 Mac Stout (Pitt) maj. dec. No. 24 Nick Stemmet (Stanford), 10-1

285: No. 14 Dayton Pitzer (Pitt) dec. Peter Ming (Stanford), 13-6 

Attendance: 724

#5 NC State 47, Duke 0

Attendance: 2,567

133 | #7 Kai Orine (NCSU) major dec. Raymond Adams (Duke), 12-1

141 | Tyler Tracy (NCSU) tech fall Christian Colman (Duke), 21-6 (3:14)

149 | #33 Koy Buesgens (NCSU) major dec. SP O'Donnell (Duke), 14-3

157 | #12 Ed Scott (NCSU) fall Logan Ferrero (Duke), 3:40

165 | #32 Derek Fields (NCSU) dec. #29 Aidan Wallace (Duke), 7-2

174 | #19 Matty Singleton (NCSU) tech fall Gaetano Console (Duke), 19-4 (4:33)

184 | #11 Dylan Fishback (NCSU) tech fall David Hussey (Duke), 20-3 (3:00)

197 | #26 Christian Knop (NCSU) tech fall Kwasi Bonsu (Duke), 20-4 (4:41)

285 | #4 Isaac Trumble (NCSU) tech fall #30 Connor Barket (Duke), 19-2 (5:30)

125 | Louie Gill (NCSU) tech fall Ethan Grimminger (Duke), 18-1 (5:33)