No. 12 Virginia Tech Wrestling Seeks ACC Title In Chapel Hill

No. 12 Virginia Tech begins the postseason on Sunday in Chapel Hill at the ACC Championship. Tech finished second in the ACC in the regular season with a 4-1 conference record, landing behind undefeated No. 7 NC State.

The Hokies have three No. 1 seeds in the tournament in Caleb Henson (149), Mekhi Lewis (174) and TJ Stewart (184). Cooper Flynn (125), Andy Smith (197) and Hunter Catka (285) all earned No. 2 seeds. The Wolfpack lead the conference with four No. 1 seeds.

Tech has a chance to bring home its first ACC tournament title since 2018 on Sunday if it can get some big performances at key weights.

Here’s what to look out in Chapel Hill:

Bryce Andonian’s return

Andonian is set to return to action for Virginia Tech on Sunday for the first time since suffering a knee injury against Cornell on Jan. 7.

The two-time All-American was given the No. 3 seed at 157 pounds after finishing the regular season with a 14-4 record. He didn’t appear in any of the Hokies’ ACC duals, but was majored by NC State’s Ed Scott 18-7 at the Cliff Keen Invitational back in December. Scott is the No. 2 seed.

“We’re excited to see Bryce back in action,” Tech head coach Tony Robie said in an interview with Tech Sideline. “I think he’s going to be in good health and I think he’s going to be ready to go.”

Andonian looks to earn his first ACC title in his final season after finishing second in each of his first four seasons. He’ll get Duke’s Logan Ferrero in the first round and will see Scott in the semifinal round with a win.

Mekhi Lewis and Caleb Henson seeking to repeat

Lewis and Henson brought home Tech’s only ACC titles last season and are favored to do it again this year. 

The pair have a 37-1 combined record this season, including 22 bonus-point victories. Both swept the ACC slate and are legitimate threats to win national championships.

Before trying to finish at the top of the podiums in Kansas City, they’ll try to do it in Chapel Hill.

TJ Stewart’s postseason debut

The redshirt freshman burst onto the scene for Tech in February, nabbing six-straight wins to end the regular season.

Stewart took down Pitt’s Reece Heller and NC State’s Dylan Fishback to finish ACC play and earned the No. 1 seed in his first ACC Tournament.

“TJ’s done a great job, just being really dialed in, being focused [and] coming into practice and being engaged,” Robie said. “I think TJ is the kind of kid that needs to be in the fire, so to speak. He’s better when he’s in the fire, his discipline is better, his attention to detail is better. His talent is obvious. He’s an incredibly gifted kid.

“What he can’t have happen is let a little bit of success change the way he’s doing things. He still needs to go out there and be hungry and still go out there with a chip on his shoulder that he’s got something to prove.”

His only loss in ACC play came against North Carolina’s Gavin Kane, who he’ll likely face in the semifinals. With more comfortability at 184 since that meeting, Stewart should have an easier time against the Tar Heel wrestler in Chapel Hill.

A stacked 141 pound bracket

One of the deepest weight classes in the ACC, 141 features four wrestlers ranked in the top 16.

Tom Crook was dealt the No. 3 slot, behind Pitt’s Cole Matthews NC State’s Ryan Jack, both of whom he lost to in ACC play. He landed a spot in front of North Carolina’s Lachlan McNeil, who he upset in January, 5-4.

“[Crook’s] gotta go one match at a time,” Robie said. “He’s capable of beating any of those guys, but he’s going to have to wrestle his best match. He’s going to have to wrestle smart. Tom has to balance his aggressiveness with wrestling with intelligence and sticking to a game plan, and it’s easier said than done sometimes, for sure. If he does that, I think he’ll be fine.

“The one thing we know with Tom is he’s going to give you great effort and he’s going to make it hard on his opponent. If he does that, I think he can do well. If he wrestles his best, he can win.”

Crook will have an uphill battle to finish at the top of the podium on Sunday, but could help Tech’s chances to win the tournament with a solid finish.

Getting hot at the right time

While the dual season is inherently valuable, all competition during the year is designed to prepare the team to wrestle its best in March.

Tech faced a tough schedule, and the team is hoping that all of the battles faced throughout the regular season will make it that much more prepared for the postseason.

“Every match is really, really important,” Robie said. “You’ve got to have really good focus, but you’ve got to approach them all the same, regardless, whether it’s the first round of the ACC’s [or] whether it’s the NCAA finals. Your approach, this time of year and really the whole season, mentally, physically, emotionally — it’s got to be just the same. Hopefully these guys, and I think they do, have that part of it dialed in.

“That’s kind of what we try to accomplish through the course of the season, and in addition to that, trying to fix some things, maybe holes that we need to fix throughout the course of the year and that’s why we wrestle the schedule that we wrestle, it’s to prepare us for the end of the year and hopefully get 10 guys at the NCAA championships and let it fly once we get out there. I do feel good about where we’re at mentally right now as a team.”

ACC Championship seeding:

125:

1. Jakob Camacho, NC State
2. Cooper Flynn, Virginia Tech
3. Spencer Moore, North Carolina
4. Kyle Montaperto, Virginia
5. Logan Agin, Duke
6. Colton Camacho, Pitt

133:

1. Kai Orine, NC State
2. Marlon Yabrough II, Virginia
3. Sam Latona, Virginia Tech
4. Vincent Santiello, Pitt
5. Jace Palmer, North Carolina
6. Raymond Adams, Duke

141:

1. Cole Matthews, Pitt
2. Ryan Jack, NC State
3. Tom Crook, Virginia Tech
4. Lachlan McNeil, North Carolina
5. Jack Gioffre, Virginia
6. Christian Colman, Duke

149:

1. Caleb Henson, Virginia Tech
2. Jackson Arrington, NC State
3. Jayden Scott, North Carolina
4. Finn Solomon, Pitt
5. Michael Gioffre, Virginia
6. Jarred Papcsy, Duke

157:

1. Sonny Santiago, North Carolina
2. Ed Scott, NC State
3. Bryce Andonian, Virginia Tech
4. Jared Keslar, Pitt
5. Dylan Cedeno, Virginia
6. Logan Ferrero, Duke

165:

1. Derek Fields, NC State
2. Holden Heller, Pitt
3. Connor Brady, Virginia Tech
4. Nick Hamilton, Virginia
5. Isaias Estrada, North Carolina
6. Gaetano Console, Duke

174:

1. Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech
2. Justin McCoy, Virginia
3. Tyler Eischens, North Carolina
4. Alex Faison, NC State
5. Luca Augustine, Pitt
6. Jake Wimmer, Duke

184:

1. TJ Stewart, Virginia Tech
2. Reece Heller, Pitt
3. Dylan Fishback, NC State
4. Gavin Kane, North Carolina
5. Ethan Weatherspoon, Virginia
6. Conor Becker, Duke

197:

1. Trent Hidlay, NC State 
2. Andy Smith, Virginia Tech
3. Max Shaw, North Carolina
4. Mac Stout, Pitt
5. Krystian Kinsey, Virginia
6. Kwasi Bonsu, Duke

285:

1. Owen Trephan, NC State
2. Hunter Catka, Virginia Tech
3. Ryan Catka, Virginia
4. Dayton Pitzer, Pitt
5. Connor Barket, Duke
6. Cade Lautt, North Carolina

For the brackets for the ACC Championship, click here.