Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech wrestling team will head upstate for the 62nd ACC Wrestling Championship Sunday inside the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia, seeking their third league title in four years. Ten Tech wrestlers will compete in hopes of bringing home an individual title and advancing to the NCAA Championships at the event, hosted by the University of Virginia.
The official championship website is here and it has links to directions, ticketing information, start times, official brackets and more. The brackets were released Tuesday, with Tech claiming the most first- and second-seeded wrestlers of any team in the conference. Changes can be made by schools up to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday night, at which time the brackets will be official.
For the fifth year in a row, the event will be broadcast on ESPN3 and will provide viewers the ability to watch the action on both mats simultaneously. The link to the broadcast can be found here.
Live results, brackets and scores will also be available through TrackWrestling.
Admission to John Paul Jones Arena is $10 for adults, $5 for Seniors (60+) & Youth (12 & under), and free to current students from ACC schools with a valid ID. Doors open at 10 a.m. and action gets underway at 11 a.m. The semifinals start at 1 p.m. and the consolation semifinals take place at 3:30 p.m. The consolation finals start at 5 p.m. and the finals begin at 7 p.m.
Tech will have two wrestlers going in the first round with a chance to earn bonus points. The top seeds at each weight class receive byes and those are: Joey Dance (1st at 125), Dennis Gustafson (3rd at 133), Solomon Chishko (2nd at 141), Nick Brascetta (2nd at 157), Zach Epperly (2nd at 174), Zack Zavatsky (1st at 184), and Ty Walz (2nd at heavyweight) for the Hokies. Based on the scoring system, a wrestler only receives points for the bye if they win their next match.
Tech won its first ACC title in 2013 and repeated in 2014 in Cassell Coliseum. The Hokies finished second twice (2006 and 2011), and took third place in last season. In the program’s history, 17 different Tech grapplers have won an ACC crown, including Joey Dance, who will seek his second title this weekend, and Nick Brascetta, who is aiming for title No. 4. Jon Bonilla-Bowman (2007; co), Matt Epperly (2008), Pete Yates (2012), Jarrod Garnett (2013) and Carter (2014) are the only Hokies to take home tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler honors.
Virginia Tech also won Colonial Athletic Association titles in 1993 and 1998 and won seven Southern Conference titles (1955, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963). The most NCAA qualifiers Tech has had in one trip to the Championships was 10 in 2013.
Below is the lineup that will take the mat for the Hokies this weekend, with their seed before their name and their official overall NCAA qualification record (vs. NCAA competition, at certified weight class) and ACC dual meet records in parenthesis, followed by their first mtachup.
125: #1 seed Joey Dance (24-1; 5-0) - BYE, semifinal vs winner of #5 seed Thayer Atkins (DUKE) vs #4 seed Nick Hermann (UVA)
133: #3 seed Dennis Gustafson (8-5; 3-2) - BYE, semifinal vs #2 seed Dom Forys (PITT)
141: #2 seed Solomon Chishko (24-3; 4-1) - BYE, semifinal vs winner of #3 seed Joey Ward (UNC) vs #6 seed Joey Van Hoose (UVA)
149: #3 seed Sal Mastriani (8-9; 3-2) – vs #6 seed Robert Lee (PITT)
157: #2 seed Nick Brascetta (6-2; 3-1) - BYE, semifinal vs winner of #3 seed Andrew Atkinson (UVA) vs #6 seed Ronnie Garbinsky (PITT)
165: #5 seed David McFadden (18-8; 1-4) - vs. #4 Cody Wiercioch (PITT)
174: #2 seed Zach Epperly (9-1; 4-0) - BYE, semifinal vs winner of #3 seed TeShan Campbell (PITT) vs #6 seed Alec Schenk (DUKE)
184: #1 seed Zack Zavatsky (21-5; 4-0) - BYE, semifinal vs winner of #5 seed Trey Adamson (DUKE) vs #4 seed Will Schany (UVA)
197: #2 seed Jared Haught (16-6; 2-1) - BYE, semifinal vs winner of #3 seed Zach Nye (UVA) vs #6 seed Nick Bonaccorsi (PITT)
285: #2 seed Ty Walz (21-1; 4-1) - BYE, semifinal vs winner of #3 seed Ryan Solomon (PITT) vs #6 seed Cory Daniel (UNC)
Each of these 10 men will be looking to advance to the NCAA Championships, held March 17-19 in Madison Square Garden. To make it to the Big Dance, each must finish a certain place or higher at the ACCs to automatically qualify (ex: place in top 5 at 174 pounds or top 2 at 157 pounds), as long as every wrestler who earned a spot for the league competes. If they don’t, they’ll be at the mercy of the selection committee, who will choose at-large selections and announce them next week. Below are the spots each wrestler must finish at or above to automatically qualify from the ACC:
125: 4th
133: 3rd
141: 4th
149: 2nd
157: 3rd
165: 5th
174: 2nd
184: 3rd
197: 5th
285: 3rd
NC State and Virginia Tech led all ACC schools with eight selections each, followed by North Carolina (6), Virginia and Pitt (5) and Duke (4). All eight Hokies are ranked 13th or higher, with six rated in the top eight.
ACC Championships Scoring
1st: 10
2nd: 7
3rd: 4
4th: 2
Championship Advancement: 1.0
Consolation Advancement: .5
Advancement After Bye (win only): 1.0
Fall/DQ/Forfeit/Injury Default: 2.0
Tech Fall (w/near fall): 1.5
Tech Fall (w/o near fall): 1.0
Major Decision: 1.0