Blacksburg, Va. – Two perennial programs. Drama personified every year. Rivalry encapsulated in ten matches. The No. 7 Virginia Tech Hokies travel to Raleigh to face the No. 5 NC State Wolfpack in a top-10 match-up on Friday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. on the ACC Network.
Two of the ACC's most storied programs – and one of college wrestling's biggest rivalries – meet once again Friday night in Raleigh, North Carolina to start off conference competition in a top-10 match headlining Friday Night Duals. The Hokies (5-3, 0-0 ACC) are coming off a 31-15 victory over George Mason ahead of Friday night's match up against the Wolfpack (6-1, 0-0 ACC).
Tickets can be purchased using the link at the top of the page. A mask mandate is in effect for all in attendance at Reynolds Coliseum.
No. 7 Virginia Tech vs No. 5 NC State
Date: Friday, Jan. 21
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Live Stream: ACC Network
Live Updates: @HokiesWrestling (Twitter)
HISTORY RUNS DEEP – No. 7 HOKIES vs No. 5 WOLFPACK
- Friday night will be the 65th meeting between the two programs on the mat. NC State leads the all-time series 35-28-1.
- The Hokies' last victory over the Pack came in Blacksburg on Feb. 5, 2021 in a 17-16 victory on criteria. Before that, Tech dropped the previous three meetings by no more than four team points.
- Over the past seven years only Tech (2015-2017,21) and NC State (2018-20) have captured the ACC regular season title with the winner of the dual each season claiming the ACC Dual Meet title.
- In each of the past four meetings, the dual has come down to the final match – two of the last three being decided on criteria.
HOKIES IN THE RANKINGS
- Tech rises to No. 7 in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll Team Rankings.
- Nine Hokies are featured in the rankings in at least one ranking poll.
- Redshirt junior Mekhi Lewis (174) rose to No. 3 in the latest rankings, the highest by a Hokie this season. Lewis is also ranked No. 13 in Flowrestling's pound-for-pound rankings.
KEY MATCHUPS
125 – No strangers to each other, #21 Sam Latona will face #14 Jakob Camacho for the fourth time in a rematch of last year's ACC Final at 125. Latona holds the series lead at 3-0 – 10-5 at the 2020 Southern Scuffle, 7-4 in last year's electric dual, and 2-1 (TB1) in the 2021 ACC Final.
149 – In a meeting of top-6 grapplers, #6 Bryce Andonian and #3 Tariq Wilson meet for the first time in their careers. Andonian enters Friday night at 4-1 with a Junior World Bronze medal to his name. Andonian won the Junior World Team Trials series against NC State's 157-pounder, Ed Scott, en route to a spectacular summer. A two-time NCAA All-American, Wilson will be the second top-three opponent the Hokie faces this year.
157 – #23 Connor Brady has been on fire this season – three ranked wins to his name while his only losses this season coming to two top-5 opponents. He'll look to climb up the rankings once again this time against #10 Ed Scott who has also catapulted the rankings as a result of his showing at the Collegiate Duals. Scott has seen a familiar Hokie in Andonian at 149 last year, dropping bouts to Andonian in the dual, ACC Championships, and Junior World Team Trials.
174 – #3 Mekhi Lewis vs #4 Hayden Hidlay. The Headliner. The Marquee Bout of the Evening. History from both sides enter this matchup – Tech's first World and National Champion vs. NC State's first four-time All-American. Both moving up this season from their previous respective weight classes, they enter Friday night undefeated on the season as well as against ACC opposition.
184 – Another storied rivalry comes at 184 with #13 Hunter Bolen and #3 Trent Hidlay meeting for the fifth time in their careers – Bolen leads the series 3-1 dating back to 2020. Both have split ACC titles between each other with the widest margin of victory just two points in all four of their previous encounters.
FRIDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS
125 – #21 R-So. Sam Latona (7-6) vs. #14 R-So. Jakob Camacho (8-2)
133 – #5 Gr. Korbin Myers (11-1) vs. #17 R-Fr. Kai Orine (7-1) or R-So. Jarrett Trombley (8-2)
141 – So. Sam Hillegas (4-3) or R-Jr. Collin Gerardi (8-4) vs. #15 Ryan Jack (11-3)
149 – #6 Jr. Bryce Andonian (4-1) vs. #3 Gr. Tariq Wilson (6-0)
157 – #23 R-So. Connor Brady (11-2) vs. #10 Fr. Ed Scott (11-2)
165 – So. Clayton Ulrey (13-10) vs. #22 Gr. Thomas Bullard (7-4)
174 – #3 R-Jr. Mekhi Lewis (13-0) vs. #4 Hayden Hidlay (6-0)
184 – #13 R-Jr. Hunter Bolen (16-2) vs. #3 R-So. Trent Hidlay (7-0)
197 – #33 R-Jr. Dakota Howard (10-5) or So. Andy Smith (7-4) vs. #19 Fr. Isaac Trumble (9-3)
285 – #13 Gr. Nathan Traxler (13-1) vs. #23 R-Fr. Owen Trephan (13-4) or Jr. Tyrie Houghton (14-6)