Virginia Tech 165 lber Connor Brady (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)As we enter the final weekend before ACC duals kick off, the biggest story to watch for is injuries. We will keep a close eye on who is back in the lineup this weekend, and who is still out as lineups get settled for conference competition. I've been dealing with sick kiddos at home all week so I'm going to keep this one brief. We'll take a look at lineup watches for each program and highlight a couple matches in each dual I'm really looking forward to watching.
7 days until ACC duals. See you in Blacksburg next Friday.
Duke: The Blue Devils are off again this week and will return to action against Central Michigan next Thursday and kick off ACC action against North Carolina next Friday night.
North Carolina: The Tar Heels will head north for the second weekend in a row. This time they head to New England for an Ivy League double dip against Harvard and Brown.
Lineup watch: Clay Lautt has been out since the dual against Appalachian State in mid-December. Zach Sherman made his return last week after being out all season. Max Shaw didn't wrestle against Penn last week, so we'll look to see if he is in the lineup Saturday.
Matches to watch:
Harvard
125: #30 Jack Wagner vs #33 Diego Sotelo
165: Joey Mazzara vs Josh Kim
174: Clay Lautt vs Phil Coligniaro
Brown
133: Joey Melendez vs Hunter Adrian
North Carolina State: The Wolfpack will host Army in Reynolds Coliseum on Friday night. Both programs have spent time training together in the off-season and Coach Popolizio and Coach Ward have developed a great professional relationship.
Lineup watch: The Wolfpack have been able to stay relatively healthy, so we aren't watching much on the injury front. We will be keeping a close eye on who gets the start at 165 and 174.
Matches to watch:
125: #30 Jarrett Trombley vs #32 Ethan Berginc
165: Derek Fields vs Dalton Harkins
174: #31 Alex Faison vs #21 Ben Pasiuk
The Wolfpack will open ACC action next Friday in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech.
Pittsburgh: The Panthers will host Buffalo on Friday night and will look to get back on track after a loss to West Virginia last weekend. They rebounded well after their only other loss this season to Maryland, I expect a similar response on Friday.
Lineup watch: The Panthers have also been able to avoid major impacts to the lineup from injuries this season. Keep an eye on 157; this weight has been a tough one for the Panthers. They have both Dazjon Casto and Dan Mancini listed as probables. We are also still watching 285 to see if Dayton Pitzer takes the mat.
Matches to watch:
157: Dazjon Casto/Dan Manci vs #24 Michael Petite
184: #18 Reece Heller vs #28 Giuseppe Hoose
The Panthers will travel to Charlottesville to open ACC competition at UVA next Friday.
Virginia: The Hoos have traveled east on I-64 to the Hampton Coliseum for the Virginia Duals. They will face Kent State, Ohio, Navy and Maryland over the course of action on Friday and Saturday.
Lineup watch: The Hoos have probably been hit harder by injuries than any team in the ACC. The lineup this weekend may or may not be what we see for ACC action, but they are putting all their cards on the table to see who is ready to go. One of those wildcards they are pulling is the return of Brian Courtney. Courtney graduated last year after falling in the bloodround at the NCAAs; he has been teaching in South Carolina. He wrestled unattached at the Midlands and placed 4th at 141. At 157 Jake Keating has been out with injury since the dual against Northwestern in November.
Kent State:
125: Patrick McCormick/Kyle Montaperto vs #14 Jake Ferri
149: #30 Jarod Verkleeren vs #32 Kody Komara
Maryland:
141: Brian Courtney vs #33 Kal Miller
149: #30 Jarod Verkleeren vs #28 Ethen Miller
197: Michael Battista vs #12 Jaron Smith
The Hoos will be back in action next Friday--they will open ACC competition hosting Pittsburgh at Memorial Gym.
Virginia Tech: The Hokies head to North Carolina on Friday to face a very scrappy Appalachian State squad. This is the third ACC opponent for the Mountaineers who lost to NC State and took down North Carolina; they will face Duke in a couple weeks to wrap up the North Carolina/ACC trifecta.
Lineup watch: The Hokies were without two All-Americans in the lineup last week against Cornell---we will see both of them back in action this weekend. Mekhi Lewis is returning to the starting lineup after tweaking his knee against Stanford. Bryce Andonian is making his season debut at 157 in the Purple Raider Open at Mt. Union. He will compete unattached--they will be evaluating his status and want to maintain the ability to redshirt if needed.
Matches to watch:
The Mountaineers have a very tough team with multiple ranked wrestlers. The marquee match will be at 149 with #11 Caleb Henson facing off with two-time All-American #8 Jon Millner.
125: #20 Eddie Ventresca vs #21 Caleb Smith
133: #6 Sam Latona vs #24 Sean Carter
149: #11 Caleb Henson vs #8 Jon Millner
157: Clayton Ulrey vs #31 Tommy Askey
165: #20 Connor Brady vs #26 Will Formato
The Hokies will be back in action hosting NC State next Friday night.
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