No. 12 Virginia Tech travels to Charlottesville on Friday to take on Virginia in the latest edition of the Commonwealth Clash. The Hokies and Cavaliers will face off in John Paul Jones Arena for the first time since the 2019-20 season. The match is at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra.
The Hokies (5-3, 1-0 ACC) come into Friday night coming off of their 33-3 demolition of North Carolina to open ACC play.
Tech looks to continue its dominance against Virginia (7-2, 1-0) after winning the last nine meetings dating back to 2014-15. The Hokies destroyed UVa in last season’s dual in Cassell Coliseum, 33-3.
Here are a few things to watch out for on Friday night:
Sibling Rivalry
No. 20 Hunter Catka and Virginia’s No. 33 Ryan Catka are set to square off on Friday. It will be the first time the brothers meet in their collegiate career.
Hunter, a redshirt junior, sits at 10-5 on the season and is 11-1 against common opponents with his brother. In his first season in Charlottesville since transferring from Navy, Ryan, a junior, owns a 10-2 record and is 6-4 against common opponents.
The brothers from Brookhaven, Pa., are each looking to extend their winning streaks on Friday night. Ryan’s won six in a row; Hunter’s trying for his third consecutive victory.
While Hunter is given the edge in the rankings, anything can happen between siblings who’ve competed against each other their entire lives. The heavyweight bout will be one to look out for on Friday night.
Top 15 bout at 174
The only other ranked vs. ranked matchup on Friday is at 174 between No. 2 Mekhi Lewis and Virginia’s No. 14 Justin McCoy.
They will square off for the first time on Friday, aiming to add ranked wins to both of their impressive 2024 seasons.
Lewis looks to move to 8-0 in duals on the season while McCoy will try to improve to 15-2 on the year. Both wrestlers won an ACC title last year — Lewis at 174, McCoy at 165 before he jumped up a weight class.
Hokies seek first 2-0 start to ACC play in three seasons
Tech hasn’t started 2-0 in ACC play since the 2020-21 season and will look to end the streak against Virginia. That year, it won the dual meet title outright with a perfect 5-0 conference record, made possible by a last-second takedown by Sam Latona vs. No. 3 NC State.
With Virginia only being favored in one bout on Friday, the Hokies should cruise to 2-0 and continue their trek to repeat as ACC dual meet champions.
Prediction: No. 12 Virginia Tech 32, Virginia 3.
Virginia Tech should cruise in its second ACC match of the season and has a chance to shut out Virginia for the first time since 2004 if Clayton Ulrey can pull off the upset at 157.
Here’s my bout-by-bout prediction:
*All matches based on Wrestlestat’s projected matches combined with a few educated guesses for starters at certain spots*
125: No. 6 Cooper Flynn dec. Kyle Montaperto
133: No. 11 Sam Latona maj dec. Gable Porter
141: No. 13 Tom Crook dec. Jack Gioffre
149: No. 2 Caleb Henson tech fall Michael Gioffre
157: No. 27 Dylan Cedeno dec. Clayton Ulrey
165: No. 22 Connor Brady dec. Nick Hamilton
174: N0. 2 Mekhi Lewis dec. No. 14 Justin McCoy
184: No. 20 Sam Fisher/Dakota Howard/TJ Stewart maj dec. Griffin Gammell
197: No. 25 Andy Smith maj dec. Krystian Kinsey
285: No. 20 Hunter Catka dec. No. 33 Ryan Catka
Expect Tech to win handily on Friday night and earn its sixth victory of the year in dominant fashion in Charlottesville.
Print
Hokie domination forthcoming. Suck it Hoos!
Love the predictions and I hope they all come true except for the Ulrey match of course. A shut out would be AWESOME.
Thanks for all the insight Jack. Keep em coming.
Enjoyed the article!