Hokie ClubGREENSBORO, N.C. – Virginia Tech swept the Atlantic Coast Conference's season awards for the 2019 wrestling season, as national champion Mekhi Lewis earned ACC Wrestler of the Year honors, Mitch Moore was tabbed as the ACC Freshman of the Year and Tony Robie picked up ACC Coach of the Year accolades.
The annual awards are determined by a vote of the league's head coaches.
Lewis, a redshirt freshman from Bound Brook, N.J., became the first ACC student-athlete in a decade to be named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the NCAA Championships after his remarkable run to the 165-pound national title March 21-23 in Pittsburgh.
Seeded No. 8 in his weight class, Lewis defeated top-seeded Alex Marinelli of Iowa and No. 4 seed Evan Wick of Wisconsin en route to the 165 final. Lewis then defeated No. 2 seed and two-time NCAA champion Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State by a 7-1 margin to win Virginia Tech's first-ever NCAA wrestling title and the 19th by an ACC wrestler.
Lewis' NCAA gold medal capped a season in which he posted a 28-2 overall record, an unbeaten record against ACC opposition and claimed the 165-pound title in the ACC Championship on March 9 at Blacksburg, Virginia.
Moore finished his true freshman campaign at 18-9 overall and earned All-ACC honors with a silver medal showing in the 141-pound weight class at the ACC Championship. The St. Paris, Ohio native won three of his five conference dual matches before his strong showing at the ACC finals.
Lewis is the fourth Virginia Tech wrestler be voted the ACC Wrestler of the Year, and Moore is the Hokies' eighth ACC Freshman of the Year honoree.
Virginia Tech picked up the ACC Coach of the Year award for the sixth time in last seven seasons. The honor is the second for Robie, who shared the award after taking the head coaching reins for the Hokies late in the 2017 season.
Under Robie's watch this season, Virginia Tech earned an 11th-place NCAA finish and produced three All-Americans – Lewis, David McFadden (174) and Zack Zavatsky (184) – for the seventh consecutive season, a streak shared with Penn State, Oklahoma State, Cornell and Iowa.
The Hokies claimed three individual gold medals at the ACC Championship while placing second in the team scoring, and Virginia Tech's nine qualifiers for the NCAA Championships tied for first in the conference.
This marked the second consecutive season that the Hokies sent nine wrestlers to the NCAAs and the fourth straight season in which Virginia Tech placed among the top two teams at the ACC Championship.