BLACKSBURG – Four Virginia Tech wrestlers qualified for the 2019 NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh during the morning session of the ACC Wrestling Championship in Cassell Coliseum Saturday morning.
Freshman Mitch Moore (141 pounds), redshirt freshman Mekhi Lewis (165), redshirt junior David McFadden (174) and redshirt senior Zack Zavatsky (184) all punched their tickets to nationals. The quartet will all wrestle for ACC titles this evening.
Six Hokies are still alive on the backside of the bracket. Consolation semifinals will begin at 3:30 p.m. followed by the consi finals at 5 p.m. and the championship finals at 7 p.m.
MORNING NOTES
- Zavatsky becomes the 14th four-time NCAA qualifier in program history and will face Pitt's Nino Bonaccorsi in the 184-pound final tonight.
- McFadden qualifies for nationals for the third time while Lewis and Moore each qualify for the first time in their first years of eligibility.
- Tech's four finalists trail NC State's six. The Wolfpack is in first place with 63.5 team points ahead of the Hokies' 45.0 points.
- Joey Prata used three first period takedowns to win his first career match at the ACC Championship with a 10-6 decision over Duke's Harrison Campbell.
- Billy Miller's second period pin at 4:14 was his second of the season and the second over Duke's Araad Fisher.
(3/9/2019) 2019 ACC WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
125 Joey Prata
QF - Joey Prata dec. Harrison Campbell (Duke), 10-6
SF - Sean Fausz (NC State) MD Joey Prata (Virginia Tech), 10-1
133 Korbin Myers
QF - Korbin Myers MD Louie Hayes (Virginia), 10-1
SF - Mickey Phillipi (Pittsburgh) dec. Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) 2-1 (TB-1)
141 Mitch Moore
SF - Mitch Moore (Virginia Tech) dec. AC Headlee (North Carolina), 6-3
149 Ryan Blees
QF - Ryan Blees (Virginia Tech) dec. Michael Murphy (Virginia), 2-0
SF - Mitch Finesilver (Duke) dec. Ryan Blees (Virginia Tech), 4-0
157 B.C. LaPrade
QF - BC LaPrade (Virginia Tech) MD Ben Anderson (Duke), 11-2
SF - Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh) dec. BC LaPrade (Virginia Tech), 4-3 (TB-4)
165 Mekhi Lewis
SF - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec. Zach Finesilver (Duke), 14-7
174 David McFadden
SF - David McFadden (Virginia Tech) MD Devin Kane (North Carolina), 9-1
184 Zack Zavatsky
SF - Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) dec. Chip Ness (North Carolina), 8-1
197 Tom Sleigh
SF - Malik McDonald (NC State) dec. Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech), 3-2
285 Billy Miller
QF - Billy Miller (Virginia Tech) WBF Araad Fisher (Duke), 4:14
SF - Demetrius Thomas (Pittsburgh) dec. Billy Miller (Virginia Tech), 10-9