DSC_0743DSC_0743
Wrestling

Mekhi Lewis, Caleb Henson win ACC crowns

2023 ACC Championship Brackets

RALEIGH, NC – For the first time in program history, the Virginia Tech Wrestling team has qualified the full starting lineup to the NCAA Championships. The Hokies finished second in the team race behind championship performances from Mekhi Lewis and Caleb Henson alongside runner-up finishes from Eddie Ventresca, Connor Brady, and Bryce Andonian.


 
Mekhi Lewis went back-to-back crown at 174-pounds and the third of his career on Sunday night in Raleigh. In a final that was a calculated chess match it was the Hokie with a decision victory over North Carolina State's Alex Faison with an escape in the first tiebreaker period and a gritty rideout in the second period. Lewis was stalwart with his signature defense and nearly had multiple finishes through the bout but to no avail as regulation expired. After a scoreless sudden victory period, it was Lewis who selected bottom first and garnered an escape in 0:14 into the tiebreaker period. Needing 0:15 to secure the victory in Faison's turn in the bottom position, the Hokie put on a rideout to secure his second crown at 174-pounds despite the hostile crowd.


 
Caleb Henson showed the poise he had all season long in his young career, wrestling to his top-seed with a champion finish. The freshman took on fellow freshman from NC State, Jackson Arrington, in the 149-pound finale. It was the Hokie scoring first with a single in the opening period with Arrington getting an escape in the closing seconds. Henson would then add an escape to increase his lead to 3-1 with one more period to go. Arrington would then choose bottom in the closing period but Henson would put on a hard, savvy ride to pick up riding time advantage. Henson would give up an escape but Henson would hold on to the 4-2 decision and capture his first ACC title in his debut season.


 
Connor Brady's stellar day was capped in the finals in a tight 2-3 loss to Virginia's Justin McCoy. Brady nearly secured a takedown in the second period after getting an escape but ran out of real estate. Brady was again on a leg with the score tied at 1 into the third after a McCoy escape but the Cavalier countered for the score. Brady managed an escape and tried to muster offense but time expired for the redshirt sophomore Hokie.
 
The fourth Hokie making an appearance in the finals was redshirt freshman Eddie Ventresca taking on North Carolina State's Jarrett Trombley at 125-pounds. Ventresca was on his offense throughout the match but was just unable to finish as time expired in the first period. Ventresca picked up an escape to open the second period and would again pick shots but just couldn't finish as the period ended. Trombley picked up an escape in the third to tie up the score and it was Ventresca with multiple scoring attempts but time would run out in regulation to send the period to sudden victory. Ventresca again nearly picked up the deciding takedown but Trombley was instead hit with a diving out of bounds call with no takedown awarded. On the reset, Ventresca attempted yet another attack but fell counter to a match ending takedown by the Pack wrestler. Ventresca finished his first ACC outing with a silver finish and a trip to his first national championships.
 
Capping off the night in the finale was No. 2 seed Bryce Andonian taking on No. 1 seed Austin O'Connor of North Carolina in the 157-pound finals. In no resemblance of their earlier meeting this season, it was a tight match throughout with fireworks in a clash of styles between the two top-seeded wrestlers. Andonian was close in securing his first victory – and first ACC title – but fell just short on an offensive attempt in the closing period to finish second for the fourth time in as many appearances.
 
Hokies Through the Day
 
Starting the day off in the quarterfinals for the Hokies was No. 4 seed Tom Crook in his first ACC Championship. The freshman took the mat against Virginia's No. 5 seeded Dylan Cedeno in a Commonwealth battle. In a tight battle that was scoreless after 3:00 of wrestling, it was Crook earning an escape in the second and a takedown with 0:04 left in the second to lead 3-0 at the end of the second and would not surrender the lead. Cedeno hit a reversal with :30 remaining in the bout followed by a Crook escape to push the Hokie's lead to 4-2 in what would be the final score and the first victory of the day for the Hokies and the first league championship victory for the Tampa native.
 
Continuing action was redshirt sophomore Connor Brady at 165-pounds against No. 5 seed Joey Mazzara of North Carolina. The Hokie entered as the No. 4 seed looking to duplicate a result from their dual season match up and pulled through to make the semifinals. Brady was offensive early but was unable to score on multiple shot attempts throughout the first period. Mazzara struck first with an escape in the second but Brady answered back with an escape of his own in the third. With just under :35 remaining in the third, Brady fired off a high crotch and managed to finish for the deciding takedown to advance to the semifinals.
 
Capping off the first session for Tech was No. 3 seed Hunter Catka taking on Virginia's No. 6 seeded Ethan Weatherspoon. In a tight match in the Commonwealth Clash, it was all Catka on Sunday putting up 15 points to earn the tech fall over the Cavalier early into the third period to secure a trip to the semifinals.
 
Seeded second in his first league championship was redshirt freshman Eddie Ventresca taking on No. 3 seed, Jack Wagner of UNC for the second time this season with a trip to the finals and an NCAA bid on the line. Ventresca found himself down 0-2 via escape and penalty point midway through the second period, but Wagner was eventually called for a penalty point at the end of the second period. Ventresca would then escape to begin the third frame to tie up the match with 1:45 remaining. A Wagner injury time reset Ventresca on bottom and the Hokie redshirt freshman would earn an escape to take and eventually hold the 3-2 victory to advance to the 125-pound finals and a trip to Tulsa.
 
Two-time NCAA qualifier and All-American Sam Latona took to his third conference championship against North Carolina State's Kai Orine in a battle of No. 2 versus No. 3 seeds. In a pivotal bout towards the team race title, there would be two lead changes in the final :35 of regulation. With the score tied at one a piece via escapes, it was Latona with a takedown on the edge to go up 3-1. Orine would then escape after the reset and score a takedown with :12 left in the bout as action went out of bounds. Latona looked to have secured a reversal just as time expired but replay review showed no takedown for the Hokie, dropping him to the consolation bracket. Latona would respond with two wins over Jace Palmer of North Carolina and Duke's Logan Agin in dominating fashion to claim third place and punch his ticket to this third NCAA Championships – his first at 133-pounds.
 
At 141-pounds it was Crook taking on top-seeded Pittsburgh's Cole Matthews in the semifinals. Crook battled tough throughout the bout but counterattacks from Matthews proved to be the difference as Crook would drop the bout 3-6. Crook would then wrestle in the consolation bracket, picking up a win over Jarred Papscy of Duke in sudden victory to claim an allocation to his first NCAA Championship in as many tries. The young Hokie would then face North Carolina's Lachlan McNeil in the third place bout but would fall 2-12 to wrap up his league championship appearance.
 
Freshman phenom Caleb Henson lived up to his moniker with a gritty win over yet another All-American in North Carolina's Zach Sherman – the fourth victory over a top-eight placer for the Hokie this season. After a scoreless first period, it was Henson striking first with an escape in the second period to lead 1-0 in his first ACC Championships match. The Tar Heel would select bottom to begin the third period but the Hokie would put on a gritty ride to secure riding time advantage before a Sherman escape in the waning moments of the period. Henson would take the 2-1 decision to advance to his first league finals appearance and a trip to the national tournament in as many times.
 
In a matchup of familiar at 157-pounds it was No. 2 seed Bryce Andonian facing off against the No. 3 seed Ed Scott of North Carolina State for the sixth time in their careers. In an action-packed match, there was a combined 24 points on the board with Andonian taking the 15-9 victory to push his lead over Scott to 6-0. Andonian surrendered the early takedown but went full signature mode with an upperbody counter for the six-point move to take the 7-2 lead and would never look back with more acrobatic counter attacks into back points to take the victory and advance to his fourth ACC final and claim his fourth trip to the national championship.
 
Busting the bracket was Brady knocking off the top-seeded Holden Heller of Pittsburgh to advance to his first conference finals. Brady flipped the script from the dual season result with crisp reattacks and stingy defense to earn the 7-5 decision. Brady scored the opening points and would not look back as he would pick up three more reattacks to push himself to the finals and a third trip to the national championships in Tulsa.
 
The returning champion, Mekhi Lewis opened his fourth ACC Championships in dominating fashion – putting up the 14-3 major decision over Virginia's Victor Marcelli. Lewis was clinical in his takedowns and racked up two sets of back points over Marcelli en route to the bonus point victory for the Hokies. Lewis nearly added more team points on the board with a near fall as time expired. With his semifinal win, Lewis advanced to the finals for the third time in his career and punched his ticket to a fourth national championship.
 
Hunter Bolen led all but the last :05 seconds of his opening bout against North Carolina's Gavin Kane. Bolen secured two early takedowns but was taken down in the closing seconds to drop the consolation bracket where he would pick up two wins over Virginia's Neil Antrassian and Pittsburgh's Reece Heller to claim his fifth podium finish. With his third place ending, Bolen became Tech's first five-time national qualifier.
 
Making his second appearance at the conference championships was No. 2 seed Andy Smith at 197-pounds. Smith went 2-1 on the day to secure a podium finish and a trip to the national championships for the first time in his career. Smith dropped an opening round to No. 3 seed Isaac Trumble of NC State but would rebound on the back side with victories over Duke's Vincent Baker and Virginia's Michael Battista. Smith was dominant against Baker racking up the major decision victory in the consolation semifinals to solidify his allocation and would then improve his previous ACC finish with a takedown in the closing seconds against Battista to conclude his tournament.
 
Hunter Catka was the final Hokie to punch his ticket to the national championships with a decision victory over Virginia's Ethan Weatherspoon in the third-place bout in the final bid for the NCAA championships. Catka dropped a tie-breaker criteria bout to NC State's Owen Trephan in the semifinals after a tight match in regulation. Catka would defeat Brandon Whitman of North Carolina in the consolation semifinals to push himself in contention for an allocation with a third-place match.
 
The Hokies return to action at the 2023 NCAA Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 16-18. Follow Virginia Tech Wrestling on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for the latest Hokies Wrestling news and information.
 
Eddie Ventresca, 125-pounds  – 2nd Place

  • DEC Jack Wagner (UNC), 3-2
  • loss Jarrett Trombley (NCSU), 1-3 SV

 
Sam Latona, 133-pounds  – 3rd Place

  • loss Kai Orine (NCSU), 3-4
  • DEC Jace Palmer (UNC), 10-6
  • MAJ DEC Logan Agin (DUKE), 13-2

 
Tom Crook, 141-pounds – 4th Place

  • DEC Dylan Cedeno (UVA), 4-2
  • loss Cole Matthews (PITT), 3-6
  • DEC Jarred Papcsy (DUKE), 3-1 SV
  • loss Lachlan McNeil (UNC), 2-10

 
Caleb Henson, 149-pounds  – Champion

  • DEC Zach Sherman (UNC), 2-1
  • DEC Jackson Arrington (NCSU), 4-2

 
Bryce Andonian, 157-pounds – 2nd Place

  • DEC Ed Scott (NCSU), 15-9
  • loss Austin O'Connor (UNC), 5-6

 
Connor Brady, 165-pounds – 2nd Place

  • DEC Joey Mazzara (UNC), 3-1
  • DEC Holden Heller (PITT), 7-5
  • loss Justin McCoy (UVA), 1-3

 
Mekhi Lewis, 174-pounds - Champion

  • MAJ DEC Victor Marcelli (UVA), 15-3
  • DEC Alex Faison (NCSU), 2-1 TB1

 
Hunter Bolen, 184-pounds – 3rd Place

  • loss Gavin Kane (UNC), 3-4
  • DEC Neil Antrassian (UVA), 5-4
  • DEC Reece Heller (PITT), 7-5

 
Andy Smith, 197-pounds  – 3rd Place

  • loss Isaac Trumble (NCSU), 1-6
  • MAJ DEC Vincent Baker (DUKE), 16-5
  • DEC Michael Battista (UVA), 3-1

 
Hunter Catka, 285-pounds – 3rd Place

  • TECH FALL Ethan Weatherspoon (UVA), 16-0
  • loss Owen Trephan (NCSU), 2-2 TB2
  • DEC Brandon Whitman (UNC), 4-2
  • DEC Ethan Weatherspoon (UVA), 3-0

 
Final Team Standings
1. NC State 101.5
2. Virginia Tech 78.0
3. Pitt 60.0
4. North Carolina 37.0
5. Virginia 35.0
6. Duke 14.0