Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - The brackets and seeds, along with the list of competitors, were released Wednesday evening for next week’s NCAA Wrestling Championships, to be held March 19-21 at St. Louis’ Scottrade Center. Joey Dance, Devin Carter, Sal Mastriani, Zach Epperly and Ty Walz all grabbed national seeds while Kevin Norstrem (133 pounds), Mastriani (149 pounds), Jared Haught (197 pounds) and Walz (heavyweight) were awarded one of the at-large bids.
In all, Tech will send eight competitors to the event. The ACC received seven at-large bids and will send 36 wrestlers to St. Louis for Nationals.
Sophomore Joey Dance was seeded third at 125 pounds while senior Devin Carter grabbed the No. 4 seed at 141 pounds. Mastriani and Epperly are seeded seventh and Walz is seeded 10th.
Below are the initial matchups for all eight competitors, barring no changes between now and next week.
125: #3 seed Joey Dance
First Round: vs. Dom Forys (Pittsburgh)
133: Kevin Norstrem
First Round: vs. #12 seed George DiCamillo (Virginia)
141: #4 seed Devin Carter
First Round: vs. Tyler Small (Kent State)
149: #7 seed Sal Mastriani
First Round: vs. Matthew Cimato (Drexel)
165: Nick Brascetta
First Round: vs. #9 seed Joseph LaVallee (Missouri)
174: #7 seed Zach Epperly
First Round: vs. Sean Mappes (Chattanooga)
197: Jared Haught
First Round: vs. #13 seed Shane Woods (Wyoming)
285: #10 seed Ty Walz
First Round: vs. Nick Tavanello (Ohio State)
Be sure to check back next week for a full preview and once again when action begins for Twitter updates, stories and more from St. Louis.