No. 8 Virginia Tech Wrestling Travels To Raleigh For ACC Tournament

The postseason begins for No. 8 Virginia Tech wrestling on Sunday in Raleigh when the Hokies compete in the ACC tournament. VT won a portion of the regular season title with a 4-1 record in the conference, sharing it with No. 3 NC State and No. 14 Pitt. Sunday’s tournament provides an opportunity for one school to separate itself from the pack.

Tech has a pair of No. 1 seeds in the tournament in Caleb Henson (149) and Mekhi Lewis (174). Following the duo are five Hokies in the No. 2 spot in their brackets. Pitt leads the conference with four No. 1 seeds.

Virginia Tech has a decent shot to bring home its first ACC tournament title since 2018, but it will require every Hokie wrestler to make some noise in their respective weight classes. 

Here are some things to look out for in Raleigh.

Bounce-back performances from veteran wrestlers

Sam Latona (133), Bryce Andonian (157) and Hunter Bolen (184), all No. 2 seeds for Virginia Tech, enter the tournament with vengeance on their minds after falling just short of ACC titles last year.

Latona lost to NC State’s Jakob Camacho in the championship match at 125 and Andonian placed second at 149 for the third time in his career following his loss to NC State’s Tariq Wilson. Bolen placed third after falling in overtime to North Carolina’s Gavin Kane in the semifinal match at 184.

All three enter Sunday with a chip on their shoulder, looking to right the wrongs of last year’s tournament. 

“Honestly, both tournaments [ACC and NCAA] definitely fuel me throughout the whole year and I’m just excited to go out there [and compete],” Latona said. “I was telling my dad the other day, ‘I think this is the most excited I’ve been for the postseason in a while.’ [Last year’s loss] definitely fueled me the whole year to work harder and get better and get back on top of the podium this year.”

Latona and Bolen will each try to nab their second conference titles of their careers; Andonian will try for his first ACC championship after three-straight runner-up finishes. 

Younger guys rising to the occasion

No. 2 Eddie Ventresca (125), No. 4 Tom Crook (141) and No. 1 Caleb Henson (149) will all get their first taste of postseason wrestling on Sunday.

One of the most talented true freshmen in the country, Henson enters the tournament as the top seed at 149 and will play a big role in the team performance for Virginia Tech in Raleigh. 

Fellow true freshman Crook owns the fourth seed in a stacked 141-pound division, despite being ranked No. 12 in the country. Ventresca earned the No. 2 seed at 125 and will look to continue the tear he’s been on since being named starter before the North Carolina match.

Although this will be the first time wrestling in the postseason for each of these guys, they shouldn’t be too surprised after facing many of the same opponents in conference duals.

The familiarity should help relieve some of the outside pressure, if they feel any at all.

“I try to block the noise out, focus on my own goal, my goal is to be a national champion,” Henson said. “I put pressure on myself and I feel like I thrive under it.”

Mekhi Lewis continuing to dominate

Lewis (174) is no stranger to winning at the ACC tournament. He’s done it twice before and will look for his third title on Sunday.

Entering as the No. 1 seed, the New Jersey native will look to build on a dominant 16-1 regular season and defend the 174-pound title.

Lewis finished the regular season with a 4-0 record in ACC dual matches, not including the forfeit he received against Duke.

Nothing is a guarantee, but the former national champion earning his second-straight ACC title is pretty close to one.

Pulling off upsets 

While No. 4 Connor Brady (165), No. 2 Andy Smith (197) and No. 3 Hunter Catka (285) won’t enter Sunday as the top seeds, but all have shown the ability to compete with elite competition.

Brady completed the ACC portion of the regular season with a 2-3 record and will face an uphill battle to finish on the podium. The gap between him and the top three seeds isn’t as large as it may seem, though. The redshirt sophomore kept all three of his losses close, never suffering a bonus-point defeat.

Smith upset NC State’s No. 3 Isaac Trumble in Tech’s ACC opener and kept things close with Pitt’s No. 1 Nino Bonaccorsi, narrowly losing 3-1. He has a decent shot to win at 197 on Sunday.

The same could be said for Catka at 285, who took NC State’s No. 2 Owen Trephan to overtime before falling 3-1. The redshirt sophomore is 2-1 against Duke’s No. 1 Jonah Neisenbaum, so he should be in contention for the heavyweight crown in Raleigh.