No. 6 Virginia Tech Wrestling Welcomes No. 23 Pitt To Blacksburg On Friday

Andy Smith and Virginia Tech prevailed against NC State. Can they do so vs. Pitt on Friday? (Ivan Morozov)

No. 6 Virginia Tech looks to stay undefeated in the ACC against No. 23 Pitt on Friday night in Cassell Coliseum. The Hokies host the Panthers at 7 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.

Coming off a huge win over No. 9 NC State, VT can further distance itself in the race for the ACC dual meet title with a win over Pitt.

The Hokies’ 16-14 win over the Wolfpack last Friday was decided by a handful of close matches. While Tech is favored more heavily against the Panthers, there are a few bouts that could dictate the direction of the dual. 

Here are some of the biggest matches to watch against Pitt:

*All matchups are based on Wrestlestat’s projected matches*

133 pounds: No. 5 Sam Latona vs No. 7 Micky Phillippi

Latona enters Friday night riding an eight-match winning streak, most recently taking down NC State’s No. 25 Kai Orine, 3-1.

Two weeks ago, the Alabama native upset Cornell’s then-No. 3 Vito Arujau, 3-2. He’ll have a shot at another top-ten win this week against No. 7 Phillippi.

Latona and Phillippi will meet for the first time on Friday night, but Latona owns the slight advantage against common opponents with a 5-3 career record. Philippi is 4-3 against that group.

The only projected top-ten bout of the night should be one of the most thrilling matches in the dual and could be another impressive win for Latona this season.

141 pounds: No. 12 Tom Crook vs No. 3 Cole Matthews

Matthews owns an impressive 14-1 record on the year. His lone loss came against West Virginia’s Jordan Titus, who is currently unranked on Intermat.com. Crook should have a good chance of pulling off the upset.

Could Tom Crook get his first big win of his Virginia Tech career vs. Pitt? (Ivan Morozov)

At 13-5, the true freshman had a hot start to his collegiate career but has yet to record a signature win. A big victory over Matthews could be an early sign of a very successful career for Crook.

197 pounds: No. 22 Andy Smith vs No. 2 Nino Bonaccorsi

Smith earned the biggest win of his career against NC State, taking down No. 9 Isaac Trumble, 3-2. His victory iced the dual for the Hokies.

He’ll have another chance to beat a top-ranked guy this week against Bonaccorsi. The former All-American owns the lone win in his only meeting with Smith and currently sits at 9-0 this season.

A second-straight top-seven victory for Smith could help the Hokies cruise past a talented Pitt squad. Don’t count him out, either — the underdog role suited him well against the Wolfpack.

Prediction: No. 6 Virginia Tech over No. 23 Pitt, 23-9

VT is the favorite in this match and should handedly take down Pitt if the favored wrestlers do their jobs.

Here’s how I predict the dual will unfold:

125: Cooper Flynn (VT) dec. Colton Camacho (PITT)

133: No. 5 Sam Latona (VT) dec. No. 7 Micky Phillippi (PITT)

141: No. 3 Cole Matthews (PITT) dec. No. 12 Tom Crook (VT)

149: No. 9 Caleb Henson (VT) maj dec. No. 29 Tyler Badgett (PITT)

157: No. 5 Bryce Andonian (VT) maj dec. No. 33 Dazjon Castro (PITT)

Bryce Andonian had a huge win for Virginia Tech against NC State, and he should be reliable vs. Pitt. (Ivan Morozov)

165: No. 25 Connor Brady (VT) dec. No. 23 Holden Heller (PITT)

174: No. 3 Mekhi Lewis (VT) dec. Luca Augustine (PITT)

184: No. 7 Hunter Bolen (VT) dec. No. 19 Reece Heller (PITT)

197: No. 2 Nino Bonaccorsi (PITT) dec. No. 22 Andy Smith (VT)

285: No. 5 Dayton Pitzer (PITT) dec. No. 23 Hunter Catka (VT)

I think Flynn gets the nod at 125 since Ventresca has struggled recently, and he has the ability to snag a win against Camacho. 

Brady has a decent shot to earn a bounce-back victory over a ranked opponent against Heller. Even if he can’t pull off the upset, the Hokies should still have a decent cushion against the Panthers.

As long as things go as expected for Virginia Tech, the Hokies should face little adversity against Pitt and move to 2-0 in the ACC, one inch closer to earning the dual meet title.

2 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. Looking forward to tonight’s match tech looked very good last week 4 of 5 losses last week in ot, need to do better in ot , but overall very happy with effort.

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