Tech heads to 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships this weekTech heads to 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships this week
Wrestling

Tech heads to 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships this week

Opens in a new window VIRGINIA TECH NCAA NOTES

No. 13 Virginia Tech - 2019 NCAA Championships
Date: March 21-23
    Session 1 (Eight Mats - Pigtails and First-Round): March 21, 12 p.m.
    Session 2 (Eight Mats - Preliminaries: Wrestleback Preliminaries, Wrestleback First Round; Championship Round: Second Round, Consolation Round): March 21, 7 p.m.
    Session 3 (Eight Mats - Quarterfinals and Wrestlebacks): March 22, 11 a.m.
    Session 4 (Six Mats - Semifinals and Wrestlebacks): March 22, 8 p.m.
    Session 5 (Three Mats - Wrestleback Semifinals and 3rd-5th-7th Medal Rounds): March 23, 11 a.m.
    Session 6 (One Mat - Finals and Awards Ceremony): March 23, 7 p.m.
Stream: WatchESPN - all mats, every match
Broadcast: ESPNU (Morning Sessions); ESPN (Evening Sessions)
Live Stats: Track Wrestling
Live Updates: @HokiesWrestling

 Gallery: (3/20/2019) 2019 WRESTLING NCAA PRACTICE SESSION


HOKIES HEAD TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • No. 13 Virginia Tech's nine qualifiers will head to Pittsburgh this week for the 2019 NCAA Championships from March 21-23 inside PPG Paints Arena.
  • The ESPN family of networks will have complete coverage of the championships as every mat and every match will be streamed on WatchESPN, the morning sessions will be broadcast on ESPNU and the evening sessions will be broadcast on ESPN.
  • Fellow ACC program Pitt is the host institution for the championships, which is being held in the Steel City for the first time since 1957.
  • Tech will send nine wrestlers to the national tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.
  • Among the qualifiers is redshirt senior Zack Zavatsky, who is one only 14 four-time NCAA qualifiers in program history.
  • The Hokies are coming off of a second-place finish at the ACC Championship in Blacksburg where they came away with three ACC champions, a second-place finisher and five third placers.
  • Redshirt freshman Mekhi Lewis (165), redshirt junior David McFadden (174) and Zavatsky all won titles, giving the Hokies three or more conference champions for the third-straight season.
  • 2018-19 marked the first season since 2011-12 where Virginia Tech failed to win either an ACC Dual Meet Championship or an ACC Championship.

TECH'S RECENT SUCCESS AT NATIONALS

  • Thanks in part to head coach Tony Robie, Virginia Tech has become a mainstay in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships over the last six years.
  • The Hokies are in search of their seventh-consecutive top 10 finish at the NCAA Championships.
  • Tech has also had a long run of success this decade of getting wrestlers on the podium.
  • The Hokies have had three or more All-Americans at the last six national tournaments, only Iowa, Penn State, Cornell and Oklahoma State have done the same.
  • Tech has had at least one All-American over the last seven years, an active streak that ranks 11th in the nation.
  • After only producing seven All-Americans between 1940 and 2009, The Hokies' 28 All-American medals this decade ranks eighth in the country.

3 PA NATIVES RETURN HOME

  • Three of Virginia Tech's nine qualifiers are Pennsylvania natives in Korbin Myers (Boiling Springs), Tom Sleigh (DuBois) and Zack Zavatsky (Latrobe)
  • Two of them, Sleigh and Zavatsky, will close out their careers in their home state.
  • Zavatsky's hometown of Latrobe is 50 minutes away from the Steel City.
  • Head coach Tony Robie is a native of Erie, about a two-hour drive north of Pittsburgh. 

TECH TIDBITS: NCAAs

  • Redshirt senior Ryan Blees, an NCAA qualifier for the second-consecutive season, will be the lone North Dakota native competing at this year's NCAA Championships.
  • Freshman Mitch Moore has the second-most falls (9) among the qualifiers at 141 pounds, trailing only Mizzou's Jaydin Eierman's 16 pins.
  • Mekhi Lewis' eight major decisions ranks fifth among 165-pound qualifiers.
  • The Hokies are one of eight programs in this year's field with nine NCAA qualifiers.
  • Tech has three four-time NCAA qualifiers in Zack Zavatsky, Tom Sleigh and Billy Miller, a total that ranks third among teams in the field this season.
  • The ACC will have 41 wrestlers competing at nationals this year, tying a league record set last season.