BLACKSBURG – After ending the 2019-20 season with three wrestlers ranked by FloWrestling, Virginia Tech wrestling will start 2020-21 with six wrestlers ranked by the site, including a national No. 1 in Mekhi Lewis.
Lewis, who did not compete this past season after taking an Olympic redshirt, returns to folkstyle wrestling as the No. 1 165-pounder in the country according to FloWrestling. The 2019 NCAA Champion will look to defend his national title at the weight in 2021. Lewis qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in State College, Pennsylvania prior to the event being postponed due to COVID-19.
Hunter Bolen broke out onto the national stage at 184 pounds with a 24-2 season, capped by winning the title at the 2020 ACC Championships. Following his first ACC title, Bolen was the No. 2 seed for the 2020 NCAA Championships. He will start the 2020-21 season as the No. 2 184-pounder in the country, the same rank he ended last season at in FloWrestling's list.
Lewis and Bolen are also ranked among FloWrestling's top pound-for-pound wrestlers in the country. Lewis came in at No. 3, while Bolen was ranked 22nd.
Sam Latona breaks into the 125-pound rankings for the first time in his career at No. 12. The native of Alabaster, Alabama took a redshirt for the 2019-20 season, but he went 20-2 wrestling unattached during the campaign. Latona placed third at the 2020 Southern Scuffle after going 6-1 at the tournament, with his only loss coming at the hands of then-No. 4 Nick Piccininni of Oklahoma State.
Returning starters Bryce Andonian, Collin Gerardi and John Borst enter the 2020-21 rankings at No. 20, 22 and 22, respectively. Andonian began the 2019-20 season as a redshirt but then took over the starting role at 149 pounds. He ended the season with a second-place finish at the ACC Championships, securing an auto-bid for the NCAAs.
Ranked for most of the season last year, Gerardi re-enters the top-25 at No. 22 after a 14-11 record in his debut year as a starter at 133 pounds. Gerardi was an automatic qualifier for the 2020 NCAA Championships after a fifth-place finish at the ACCs.
At heavyweight, Borst appears at No. 22 in the country after a third-place finish at the 2020 ACC Championships. The Stephens City, Virginia native went 21-9 during the 2019-20 campaign, automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
The Hokies are ranked 11th in the team tournament list to begin 2020-21, up 10 spots from the final 2019-20 FloWrestling rankings.
