BLACKSBURG – The final dual of the season for No. 8 Virginia Tech will be for the ACC dual meet championship as the Hokies (14-2, 4-0 ACC) travel to Raleigh, N.C., to take on sixth-ranked NC State (14-1, 4-0 ACC) in a 7:30 p.m. match on Friday in Reynolds Coliseum.
The Hokies have won the last three regular season championships in the ACC and have defeated the Wolfpack in nine of the last 10 meetings. One of those wins came in the final regular season dual of last season when Tech topped NC State, 20-14, for the dual meet title in Cassell Coliseum.
Over the last three seasons, the Hokies and the Wolfpack have been two of the top dual meet teams in the nation. Only Penn State (43-0) has a better winning percentage in duals than NC State (.926) and Virginia Tech (.906) since the 2015-16 season.
RANKED BOUTS
133: #18 Dennis Gustafson vs. #13 Tariq Wilson
149: #16 Ryan Blees vs. #13 Beau Donahue
184: #8 Zack Zavatsky vs. #3 Pete Renda
197: #2 Jared Haught vs. #7 Michael Macchiavello
285: #18 Andrew Dunn vs. #19 Michael Boykin
HOKIES = ACC DOMINANCE
- The Hokies have won 19 consecutive ACC dual matches with its last loss coming on Feb. 7, 2014, a 19-14 decision at No. 6 Pitt.
- Tech is in search of their fourth consecutive undefeated season in ACC duals.
- Last season, the Hokies won the ACC tournament and dual meet championships in the same season for the first time in program history.
ROBIE NEARS MILESTONE
- Virginia Tech first-year head coach Tony Robie has guided the Hokies to wins in 14 duals this year.
- A win over NC State would tie Robie with former Clemson coach Wade Schalles for the most wins by a coach in his first season at an ACC school.
- Schalles guided the Tigers to a 15-3 mark in 1978.
- Robie currently holds the top winning percentage (.875) of any rookie head coach in ACC history.
- After leading the Hokies to the ACC tournament and dual meet championships and a sixth-place finish at the NCAA championships, Robie was named head coach after serving as associate head coach for 11 seasons.
- Robie was named Co-ACC Coach of the Year after leading the Hokies through the 2016-17 postseason.
MCFADDEN STILL UNDEFEATED
- Redshirt sophomore David McFadden enters this weekend with a record of 28-0 and will face NC State’s Brian Hamann as he looks to finish the regular season undefeated.
- McFadden has the chance to be the first Hokie wrestler to finish with a flawless record in the regular season since Scot Justus went 29-0 at 184 pounds in 2001-02.
- This season has seen McFadden win ACC Wrestler of the Week honors twice and take the 165-pound title at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
- McFadden currently owns the top RPI ranking at 165 and is ranked as at the No. 2 wrestler in the nation at his weight.