ACC Weekly Recap (11/7/2024)

The season is officially upon us and we had all sorts of action in the ACC this weekend. We saw dominant dual performances and the youth of the conference showing out at tournaments. Let's take a look at some of the highlights from the weekend. 

Dual Dominance

The conference finished the first week of the season with an unblemished dual record and did so in dominating fashion. Virginia handled the Bison of North Dakota State 31-6, including ranked wins from Gable Porter (133) and Kyren Butler (141) and bonus point wins from new starters Rocco Contino (174) and Max Shulaw (197). Further south in Roanoke, the Hokies dispatched the Mocs of UTC 37-6. Eddie Ventresca returned to the lineup with a tech fall, Sam Latona picked up his first ranked win at 141 and we saw an impressive debut in the lineup from Connor McGonagle, who picked up a first-period pin. 

The Panthers took it to the Midshipmen in Pittsburgh on Saturday, reversing a lopsided loss from last season. The 35-3 showing was highlighted by #19 Luca Augustine picking up a ranked win over #22 Danny Wask. The lone loss in the dual was a 5-4 decision win from #9 Josh Koderhandt over redshirt freshman Anthony Santaniello. They picked up bonus points from Nick Babin, Vince Santaniello, Reece Heller, and Dayton Pitzer. 

The new guys in town, Stanford, picked up two dual victories on the weekend. They won by the same score, 29-12, in duals against CSU Bakersfield and Utah Valley. They were on the losing side of the two most anticipated matchups of the weekend; Hunter Garvin dropped an 11-9 decision to Terrell Barraclough and Nick Stemmett lost the Battle for the Emojis 5-0 to AJ Ferrari. They looked solid up and down the lineup with Tyler Knox (133), Jaden Abas (149), Grigor Cholakyan (157), and Lorenzo Norman (174) all going 2-0 in the duals this weekend. 

Power of the Youth

The young Hokies showed out this weekend! Highlighting the new blood was a phenomenal weekend by Sammy Sasso. He won his first dual match against UTC by pin in 1:26. Then he continued that run at the Southeast Open, winning the title on the strength of four first-period pins. Sasso is 5-0 with 5 falls and his longest match is 2 minutes and 42 seconds. I’d say that’s a pretty stellar start. Fellow Hokie freshmen Jimmy Mullen and Rafael Hipolito also had incredible performances. Mullen was 5-0 on the weekend, winning the Southeast Open and his dual match; he had three pins, a tech fall, and one win by decision. Hipolito started putting together his season-long highlight reel early with a second-period tech fall in the dual. He followed that up with a Southeast Open title with two pins and two wins by decision.

Open Performances

Every ACC team sent some reps to opens across the country this weekend - Menlo Open, Southeast Open, Clarion Open, and Battle at the Citadel. We already hit on the Hokies performance at the Southeast Open but the Tar Heels also had a great run in Roanoke. Their performance was highlighted by Spencer Moore winning the title at 125 with a win by major decision over #14 Jett Strickenberger in the finals. Ethan Oakley made his UNC debut winning the title at 133, followed by Jayden Scott earning the crown at 141. Lachlan McNeil took the mat at 149 for the first time, making a strong run to the finals before dropping a tight match to #3 Ty Watters in sudden victory. The Tar Heels also won four titles in the Freshman/Sophomore division; Elias Navida (133), Nick O’Neill (141), Jake Dailey (184) and Robert Platt (197) all finished atop the podium.

Duke and NC State headed south for the Battle at the Citadel. The Wolfpack took a large contingent and brought home five titles. Vincent Robinson (125), Draegen Orine (133), Kai Orine (141), Derek Fields (165) and Christian Knop (197) all won individual titles. Fields and Knop also both picked up ranked wins on the day. Owen Trephan competed unattached and met up with Blue Devil Connor Barket in the finals; both wrestlers bonused their way to the title match. Trephan won by tech fall over Barket to earn the top spot on the podium.