Virginia Tech wrestling travels to Kansas City on Thursday for the NCAA Championships. The Hokies are sending a full 10-man lineup to the tournament for the second straight year and the third time in program history. They are only one of three programs to send 10 wrestlers in back-to-back years, joining Missouri and Oklahoma State.
Mekhi Lewis leads the way as the No. 1 seed at 174, one of Tech’s three wrestlers seeded in the top seven. Caleb Henson is the No. 4 seed at 149 and TJ Stewart landed as the No. 7 seed at 184.
The first time Tech sent a full lineup of the NCAA tournament was in 2016, when it finished a program-best fourth and had four All-Americans. Last year, Tech finished ninth with five All-Americans.
With another 10-man contingent competing in this year’s tournament, the Hokies have a realistic shot at earning their second-ever team trophy.
Here’s a look at every Hokies’ path through their respective brackets. Note that all projected opponents for Tech wrestlers after the first round come with the assumption that the higher seed will always advance.
125: No. 11 seed Cooper Flynn
Flynn enters the tournament after finishing second at the ACC Tournament two weeks ago. He fell to NC State’s Jakob Camacho in the championship bout (4-2) after losing to him to end the regular season (4-2) two weeks prior.
The redshirt sophomore is 14-4 on the year since having his Olympic redshirt pulled in December and climbed as high as No. 3 in Intermat’s poll this season.
He’ll get Chattanooga’s No. 22 seed Brayden Palmer in the first round before facing off against Oklahoma State’s No. 6 seed Troy Spratley in the second round. The earliest he could meet Camacho again — the No. 7 seed — would be in the semifinals.
133: No. 12 seed Sam Latona
The two-time All-American Latona is 18-7 on the season, including 11 b0nus-point victories.
He finished second at the ACC Tournament after falling to NC State’s Kai Orine for the second time in three weeks.
The Alabaster, Ala., native will face App State’s No. 21 seed Ethan Oakley in the first round. Michigan’s No. 5 seed Dylan Ragusin, who sits at 24-2 on the year, awaits in the second round. He’ll have a decent shot to make it to the semifinals if he gets past those two.
Rutgers’ No. 4 seed Dylan Shawver would likely be his matchup in the quarterfinals, who he beat in overtime in the regular season, 4-1.
Orine is the No. 3 seed. Latona won’t see him again unless they both make the finals.
141: No. 20 seed Tom Crook
Crook was given the No. 20 seed after being awarded an at-large bid for the tournament. He had a rough outing in Chapel Hill, finishing with two bonus-point losses to NC State’s Ryan Jack (14-6) and North Carolina’s Lachlan McNeil (12-2) to finish fourth.
He’s lost four of his last six bouts despite finishing the regular season with an impressive 16-5 record after toying with a potential redshirt to begin the year.
Crook won’t get any breaks in Kansas City, opening with a match versus West Virginia’s No. 13 seed Jordan Titus, who he lost to at the Midlands Championships in December, 9-6. If he’s able to get revenge over the Mountaineer wrestler in the first round, he’ll likely face Jack again in the second round, who he’s lost to twice this season and is the No. 4 seed.
Getting a win or two in the championship bracket would be a great showing from Crook.
149: No. 4 seed Caleb Henson
One of Tech’s legit contenders for a national title, Henson enters as the No. 4 seed after falling to NC State’s Jackson Arrington at the ACC Tournament to finish second.
The loss was only his second of the season and was hotly contested because of a controversial takedown call in overtime. The sophomore is 25-2 on the year, with his only loss coming against Nebraska’s No. 1 seed Ridge Lovett back in December at the Cliff Keen Invitational.
Assuming he cruises past South Dakota’s No. 29 seed Alek Martin (who he majored early this season 11-2) in the first round and Iowa’s No. 13 seed Caleb Rathjen in the second, he’ll likely face West Virginia’s No. 5 seed Ty Watters in the quarterfinals.
Henson majored Watters at the Southeast Open in November, 11-2. If he’s able to beat him again, he could have a rematch with Lovett again in the semifinals, with a win potentially setting up a rematch with Arrington in the finals. For reference, he’s 3-1 versus the NC State wrestler in his career.
If he can get past Lovett in the semis, he’s got a real chance to become the program’s second-ever national champion.
157: No. 12 seed Bryce Andonian
Following a third place finish at the ACC Tournament, Andonian enters Thursday seeking his third career All-American honors in his final year.
After missing the final seven weeks of the regular season with an injury and receiving his lowest tournament seed since 2020 (20), his path back to the podium won’t be easy.
He’ll face Penn’s No. 21 seed Lucas Revano in the first round before taking on Northern Iowa’s No. 5 Ryder Downey in the second.
An upset win over Downey would set Andonian up with a bout against NC State’s No. 4 seed Ed Scott in the quarterfinals. The pair have squared off seven times, with Scott taking the most recent meeting two weeks ago in Chapel Hill.
If Andonian is able to beat Scott in the quarters, he’ll clinch an All-American finish for the third-straight season.
165: No. 18 seed Connor Brady
Brady heads into the NCAA Tournament coming off of his second-straight runner up finish at the ACC Tournament.
The Powell, Ohio, native enters this year’s championships with the highest seed of his career after finishing the regular season with a 12-7 record.
He’ll open things up with Binghamton’s No. 15 seed Brevin Cassella, who he shut out 5-0 at last year’s NCAA Tournament. If he gets past Cassella, he’ll have a date with Penn State’s No. 2 Mitchell Messenbrink — who’s undefeated with 21 wins this year — in the second round.
Brady has shown the ability to make a run, but anything better than a first round exit would be a good showing.
174: No. 1 seed Mekhi Lewis
Entering the tournament as the program’s only second ever No. 1 seed (Scott Justus, 2002), Lewis seeks to close out his career with another national championship.
The three-time All-American has been nothing short of dominant in his curtain call season, owning a 15-0 record without allowing a single offensive point all year.
He added his fourth ACC title two weeks ago and has a decent shot to add some more hardware this weekend.
Lewis gets either Arizona State’s No. 33 seed Cael Valencia or Purdue’s No. 32 seed Brody Baumann before likely facing Rutgers’ Jack Turley in the second round.
Assuming he beats Turley, which he did in their regular season meeting (8-3), he’ll likely battle Penn State’s No. 9 seed Carter Starocci in the quarterfinals.
The three-time national champion will be the biggest challenge for Lewis as he looks to earn another title. He lost to Starocci two years ago in the championship bout, 6-5, and in this year’s NWCA All-Star Classic, 11-0.
The Nittany Lions star was given the No. 9 seed as a result of his two injury default losses at the Big Ten Tournament counting towards his season record — a new rule that was instituted this offseason. He finished the regular season 12-0 and would’ve been the No. 1 seed if not for the injury, which meant he and Lewis wouldn’t have met until the finals.
If Lewis can notch his first career win over Starocci in the quarters, his championship window will be wide open. He’d likely have matches versus Michigan’s No. 4 seed Shane Griffith — another former national champion — in the semis and South Dakota’s No. 2 Cade Devos in the finals. Lewis pinned Devos in 1:51 last season.
184: No. 7 seed TJ Stewart
Stewart has burst on to the scene in his redshirt freshman season with a 10-2 record and an ACC title.
He enters the NCAA Tournament riding an eight-bout winning streak and will face Penn’s No. 26 seed Maximus Hale in the first round. In the second, he’ll get NC State’s No. 10 seed Dylan Fishback, who he’s beaten twice over the last month.
Assuming he beats Fishback again, Stewart will likely go head to head with Minnesota’s No. 2 Isaiah Salazar in the quarterfinals, who’s 21-1 this season.
The Triangle, Va., native has shown the potential to pull off big upsets with his elite power and technique. If he’s able to sneak past Salazar in the quarters, he’ll secure an All-American finish in his first postseason.
197: No. 26 seed Andy Smith
Smith went 0-2 at last year’s NCAA tournament as the No. 21 seed and will face another uphill battle in Kansas City.
In the first round, he’ll get Iowa’s No. 7 seed Zach Glazier, who is 24-2 this season. If he’s able to nab the upset, he’ll likely face Nebraska’s No. 10 seed Silas Allred in the second round. NC State’s No. 2 seed Trent Hidlay will await in the quarterfinals — who he lost to by tech fall 18-3 in the regular season — if he makes it that far.
A win of any kind in the championship bracket would indicate a good outing from Smith at the tournament.
285: No. 26 seed Hunter Catka
Catka goes into the weekend with a 1-4 career record in the NCAA Tournament and last grabbed a win in 2021.
His path won’t be easy in Kansas City. He kicks things off against Campbell’s No. 7 seed Taye Ghadiali, who he’s 0-2 against in his career. An upset in the first round would set up a match with Michigan’s No. 10 seed Lucas Davison in the second, who Catka was majored by earlier this year at the Cliff Keen Invitational, 11-2.
Similar to Smith, a win in the championship bracket would be a good showing for the Virginia Tech heavyweight.
Where to watch:
All matches will be aired on ESPN and ESPNU throughout the weekend.
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How is Lewis 15-0 but lost 11-0 in the NWCA All Star Classic to Starocci?