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Wrestling

Virginia Tech Wrestling 2022-2023 Weight Preview: 174 and 184

2022-2023 Wrestling Roster

BLACKSBURG - With the 2022-2023 season right around the corner, let's take a look at the 174 and 184 pound wrestlers suiting up for the Hokies.


174:
            
Taking a look at the first Hokie at 174 pounds is Tech great, redshirt senior Mekhi Lewis. Coming out of Somerset, New Jersey, Lewis won four district titles, four region titles, and two state titles for Bound Brook High School.
 


 
In his redshirt campaign, Lewis accrued an impressive 28-2 record at 165 pounds. Both of his losses came to eventual two-time All-American, Chance Marsteller of Lockhaven, at the Southern Scuffle where he placed fourth. Over the course of the season, Lewis claimed six wins over NCAA qualifiers, won the Hokie Open, the Wolfpack Open, the Storm Open, the Appalachian State Open, and the Edinboro Open.
 
In the summer of 2018, Lewis won the Junior World Team Trials. He defeated Wyoming's Hayden Hastings, Iowa's Alex Marinelli, Oklahoma State's Travis Wittlake, and Iowa's Jeremiah Moody to claim the title. In just his third-ever freestyle competiton, Lewis went on to claim the 74-kilogram Junior World Championships, doing so with two tech falls, a fall and a 5-1 decision over Azerbaijan's Abubakar Abakarov in the finals.
 


 
As a redshirt freshman, Lewis etched his legend with one of the most historic individual seasons in Virginia Tech wrestling's history. Lewis started the season by winning the Hokie Open, then went on to finish runner-up at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, falling to eventual All-American Isaiah White of Nebraska in the finals. Lewis earned the top seed at the ACC Championships with a perfect 5-0 ACC dual record and went on to win his first ACC title which automatically qualified him for the 2019 NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
 
Lewis entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 8 seed and claimed a pin over Virginia's Cam Coy and a decision over Army's Cael McCormick to open his first national tournament appearance. In the quarterfinals, PPG Arena erupted as Lewis claimed a a 3-1 upset over top-seeded Alex Marinelli of Iowa in the closing seconds. He continued his tear with a 5-2 victory over No. 4 seed Evan Wick of Wisconsin in the semis to become Virginia Tech's third national finalist. In the finals, Lewis shocked the wrestling world by defeating two-time defending national champion, Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State by a score of 7-1 to claim the 2019 NCAA title thus becoming the first NCAA Champion in Virginia Tech wrestling history. In addition, Lewis was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler by the NWCA, joining Cael Sanderson (Iowa State, 1999) as the only freshmen to win the award and the fourth ACC wrestler to earn the honor. Lewis was also named the 2019 ACC Wrestler of the Year and finished the season with a 28-2 record, racking up 13 bonus point victories along the way.
 



After taking an Olympic redshirt for the 2019-2020 season, Lewis returned to the mat for the Hokies at 165 pounds where he went 10-2 on the season. Both of Lewis' losses came by injury default due to an injury sustained in the final dual of the season against Pitt. Before that, Lewis was ranked No.1 in the country by Intermat, FloWrestling, and TrackWrestling. After medicially withdrawing from the 2021 ACC Championships, Leiws earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships where he went 2-0 before medically withdrawing from the tournament.
 
As a redshirt junior, Lewis made the move up to 174 pounds where he went 24-2 on the season. Lewis opened the season with a Southeast Open title, claiming two major decisions, a fall, and a 13-6 decision over Princeton's Mikey Squires in the finals. Lewis remained undefeated until falling in sudden victory to NC State's eventual five-time All-American, Hayden Hidlay, in the dual. Lewis would redeem this loss in the semis of the ACC Championships then going on to defeat North Carolina's Clay Lautt to claim his second ACC title and claiming the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler.
 
Lewis entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 2 seed and made his way back to the national finals - becoming the program's first two-time NCAA finalist. He claimed a major decision over West Virginia's Dennis Robin, a decision victory over Lance Runyon of UNI, another win over Clay Lautt of UNC, and an emphatic, emotional fall over Michigan's No. 3 seed Logan Massa in the semis en route to his finals appearance. In the finals, Lewis faced off against returning national champion Carter Starocci of Penn State where he fell in the second overtime via riding time in what many claim was among the best matches of the tournament. Lewis was named ACC Wrestler of the Year after yet another remarkable season - becoming the first wrestler to program history to garner the award twice. 
 


 
The second Hokie looking to make the Tech lineup at 174 pounds is redshirt senior Jordan Florence. Coming out of Bealeton, Virginia, Florence placed third at the 4A Virginia State Championships as a junior and won the 160-pound title as a senior for Liberty High School. In addition, Florence was a two-time NHSCA All-American.
 
In his redshirt year, Florence went 3-6 competing at the Patriots Open, the Franklin & Marshall Open and the Appalachian State Open. As a redshirt freshman, Florence went 1-2 at the Southeast Open before his season was ended due to injury. In his redshirt sophomore season, Florence competed in two matches, including the West Virginia dual match. Florence did not compete in his redshirt junior year due to injury.
 
The youngest Tech wrestler at 174 pounds is redshirt freshman Harrison Smith. Coming out of Chesapeake, Virginia, Smith was a state place winner at 170 pounds for Great Bridge High School.
 
In his redshirt year, Smith competed in the ARMS Software/GMU Patriots Open where he went 2-2.
 
184: 
 
The first wrestler looking to don the maroon and orange for the Hokies once again is the "Christiansburg Cowboy", redshirt senior Hunter Bolen. In high school, the Floyd, Virginia native won four district titles, four region titles, and three state titles for Christiansburg High School. In addition, Bolen was a two-time Fargo All-American.
 


 
In his first collegiate season, Bolen made the starting lineup at 174 pounds and posted a 20-9 record. During the season, Bolen claimed the Appalachian State Open title, went 3-0 at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, 3-2 at the Cliff Keen Invitational, 2-2 at the Southern Scuffle and claimed two victories over ranked opponents. Bolen entered the ACC Championships as the top seed but fell to North Carolina's Ethan Ramos in the finals. Bolen's runner-up finish automatically qualified him for the NCAA Championships where he went 0-2. Bolen was one of 16 true freshmen to qualify for the 2018 NCAA Championships.
 
Bolen went on to redshirt in his second collegiate season and made the move up to 184 pounds. During the season, Bolen accrued a record of 13-1 and was named one of the top redshirts in the country by The Open Mat. He won the Hokie Open with two tech falls and a 4-2 decision over North Carolina's eventual 2019 All-American Chip Ness, won the Wolfpack Open with all of his victories coming by bonus points, and placed second at the Southern Scuffle, falling 4-1 to 2018 NCAA All-American Shakur Rasheed of Penn State in the finals.
 
In his redshirt sophomore season, Bolen went 24-2 and finished the regular season ranked No.1 by InterMat. Bolen was a key component in Virginia Tech's upset victories over No. 9 Missouri and No. 3 Ohio state claiming wins over Dylan Wiseman of Missouri and Zach Steiner of Ohio State. In addition, Bolen won the Navy Classic, picking up two wins over ranked opponents, and placed third at the Cliff Keen Invitational, going 4-1 against ranked opponents. Bolen entered the ACC Championships as the top seed and defeated NC State's Trent Hidlay to claim his first ACC title and qualify for the NCAA Championships which were canceled due to COVID. Bolen was named a first team All-American by the NWCA.
 
In his fourth collegiate year, Bolen amassed a record of 13-3. Bolen went 8-0 in duals along with a 5-0 record in ACC duals. His victory over Trent Hidlay played a major role in Virginia Tech's victory over the Wolfpack to claim the ACC Dual Meet title. Bolen entered the ACC Championships as the No. 1 seed, but fell to Hidlay in the finals. His second-place finish qualified him the NCAA Championships where he was the No. 5 seed. Bolen went on to finish seventh, defeating Binghamton's Lou Deprez in the seventh-place bout to earn his second All-America honor.
 


In his fifth season with the Hokies, Bolen finished the season with a record of 23-7. Bolen started the season by winning the Southeast Open, claiming three falls, a tech fall, and a major decision along the way, and placed third at the Southern Scuffle. He also played a major role in Virginia Tech's upset over No. 3 Missouri with a decision over eventual All-American, Jeremiah Kent. At the ACC Championships, Bolen came in as the No. 3 seed and finished third, falling to North Carolina's Gavin Kane in overtime. His ACC performance qualified him for the NCAA Championships where he went 1-2 as the No. 15 seed.
 
The next Tech wrestler looking to make the line-up this season is redshirt sophomore, Sam Fisher. Fisher wrestled for Fauquier High School in Warrenton, Virginia where he won four state titles, was a two-time Ironman placer, two-time Beast of the East placer, and a two-time Fargo All-American. 
 


 
In his first year with the Hokies, Fisher went 0-5 at 174 pounds.
 
In his second collegiate season, Fisher moved up to 184 pounds and improved to a record of 6-3. He went 5-1 at the ARMS Software/GMU Patriots Open and 1-2 at the Southern Scuffle.
 
In the summer of 2022, Fisher claimed the 86-kilogram U20 US Open title, posting four tech falls along the way. He defeated Wolfpack Wrestling Club's Brock Del Signore 7-2 in the finals. His championship performance automatically placed him in the Junior World Team Trials finals where he fell to Bennet Berge of Pinnacle Wrestling Club in the best of three series. Fisher went on to compete at the U20 Pan-American Championships in Oaxtepec, Mexico where he claimed gold, earning a fall over Aiden Stevenson of Canada in the semis and a tech fall in 1:05 over Jhon Sebastian Solis of Ecuador in the finals.
 


 
The next wrestler at 184 pounds is redshirt freshman James Brown. Brown hails from Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania and wrestled for Abington Heights High School.
 
In his first collegiate season, Brown competed at the Southeast Open where he claimed a decision over Davidson's Anthony Spera and a fall over Appalachian State's Dalton Battle. Brown also competed at the ARMS Software/GMU Patriots Open, the Wolfpack Open, the Patriot Open and the David Lehman Open. Brown finished the season 2-7.
 
Another redshirt freshman looking to make the lineup is AJ Dempsey out of Huntington, West Virginia. Wrestling for Huntington High School, Dempsey was a three-time state placer and two-time state champion.
 


 
In his first year with the Hokies, Dempsey went 6-9. The highlight of his season came at the Southeast Open where he went 4-2, picking up a major decision, a pin, and two tech falls along the way.
 
The final and youngest Hokie at 184 pounds - and may also see action at 197 pounds - is Triangle, Virginia native, true freshman TJ Stewart. Wrestling for Blair Academy in high school, Stewart was a four-time National Prep placer, claiming the title in 2022. In addition, Stewart was the 2019 NHSCA champion at 160-pounds, a Fargo Cadet Double All-American, a 2019 Fargo Cadet champion, a 2021 Fargo Junior champion and the 2021 FloWrestling Who's #1 winner. At the end of his high school career, Stewart was ranked No. 1 at 182 pounds by FloWrestling and Intermat, No. 11 pound-for-pound by Intermat and No. 10 on Intermat's Class of 2022 Big Board.