We’re under two weeks away from No. 4 Virginia Tech wrestling’s first action of the year in Salem for the Southeast open on Nov. 4. The Hokies are coming off a season that featured five All-Americans and a portion of the ACC dual meet title. They’re tied for second with Missouri in Intermat’s preseason tournament poll.
Ahead of the season, Tech held media day on Monday morning and head coach Tony Robie, Sam Latona and Eddie Ventresca spoke to reporters. Here are some notes:
New Starters at 141 and 184
Two spots in the Virginia Tech lineup that will feature new faces in 2024 will be at 141 and 184 pounds.
The departure of Hunter Bolen left a hole in the lineup at 184 heading into the offseason. Tech currently has three wrestlers listed on the roster at 184: Sam Fisher (redshirt junior), Dakota Howard (redshirt senior) and TJ Stewart (redshirt freshman).
Robie said on Monday that the starter at 184 will be someone they’ve “seen in some capacity over the course of the last couple years.” That rules out Stewart, who took a redshirt last year during his freshman season.
That means the nod will likely go to Fisher. Howard is dropping down to 184 this year after competing at 197 the last two seasons and only wrestled in five matches in 2023.
For comparison, Fisher wrestled 28 times last year, including three dual appearances. He finished 2023 with a 23-5 record.
In an interview with Tech Sideline in early September, Robie said Fisher had the early edge in the competition at that time. Expect to see Fisher in the starting lineup when Tech takes the mat against No. 7 Ohio State on Nov. 10.
Robie said he anticipates a new starter at 141 pounds this season, at the very least at the beginning of the year. With Tom Crook having an up-and-down freshman season last year, a redshirt could be in play if a new starter shines at 141.
Both Robie and Ventresca mentioned that true freshmen Mac Church and Hunter Mason have looked really good in their first couple of months of college. It’s reasonable to expect one of those two to take over starting duties at 141 to begin the season.
Tech is focused on peaking at the right time
Intense competition in the regular season is obviously important in order to get tuned up for the postseason. Tech has a juggernaut of schedule for 2024 that features four opponents ranked in the top seven: No. 7 Ohio State, No. 3 Missouri, No. 2 Cornell and No. 6 NC State.
How Tech performs against these schools will be a good indicator of how strong the team’s chances are to go far in the NCAA tournament.
While these matches matter, the overarching goal for the Hokies is to wrestle their best come March as they look to bring home their first team trophy since 2016.
“Everything we do is with a focus on the NCAA championships, that’s really what our goal is every year,” Robie said. “Not saying that everything else isn’t important, because it is. We want to win everything that we’re in, but we’re not going to sacrifice putting an easy schedule together so we can be ranked higher or we can have a good dual meet record at the expense of not being prepared for the NCAA championships.”
That strategy has proved to be effective for Virginia Tech since Robie took over in 2017. In that time, Tech has four top-ten finishes at the NCAA Tournament and 22 All-Americans.
“I think it’s big to be tested early in the year, November, December and the beginning of January,” Latona said. “I think it’s really important to be tested just so you’re ready and peaked and primed come March when the ACC and NCAA Championships are. Our coaches have done a great job of doing that for whatever reason. The last three years I think our team has done our best wrestling in March.”
If the Hokies are able to peak once the calendar turns to March, they’ll be well on their way to finishing in the top four in Kansas City.
New faces are meshing well
Virginia Tech welcomed 10 new true freshmen to the program this season, ushering in a wave that will make up the bulk of the roster in years to come. Latona said the new faces have already bought into the program’s culture.
“Our culture is so strong, like everyone’s on board with it, you don’t really have to say much,” Latona said. “I feel like everyone just kind of gets on board, even the freshmen. It’s so easy for them to kind of see what we’re doing and just hop on board and be able to go right into it.”
Ventresca mentioned three true freshmen that have stood out: Church, Mason and 197-pounder Sonny Sasso. The younger brother of four-time All-American Sammy Sasso, who wrestles at Ohio State, Sasso and heavyweight Jimmy Mullen were also noted by Robie as being impressive early on.
Despite only being a redshirt sophomore, Ventresca is embracing his new leadership role with the younger guys on the team, helping mold the next era of Virginia Tech wrestlers.
“It’s pretty cool because it’s like a new little generation of ten different freshmen in there, so it’s like a whole different team and a whole different atmosphere,” Ventresca said.
Tech’s consistency over the last decade is in part due to the team’s ability to pass its values down to incoming classes. This year’s group wants to continue that trend.
“I saw what the older guys did [when I was a freshman],” Latona said. “Eddie kind of saw what I did, and now the younger generation is watching me and Eddie and Caleb [Henson] and all these other guys and just hopping on board.”
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People need to realize this is Tech’s best performing athletic team over the last 10 years. Our coaching staff is excellent and their recruiting efforts have been outstanding. Come to Cassel Coliseum watch the excitement.
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So true!
Go Hokies
High expectations and difficult schedule. Look forward to watching some great matches on ACC network.