With both teams riding a six-match winning streak, sharing 4-0 conference records and boasting a combined 11 wrestlers among the top 13, Friday’s ACC championship rumble between Virginia Tech (9-3) and North Carolina State (15-2) might give new meaning to the word toss-up.

The rivalry resumes at 7 p.m. Friday night at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh on the ACC Network. Tech, ranked #9 and on a scoring binge in its last three matches with 113 points, pulled out a 16-14 win last season but trails the series 36-29-1. The Wolfpack, ranked #5, have wrestlers rated higher than their Hokie counterparts in six of the 10 bouts, but the spread between is narrow in many cases.

“They obviously have a great team, and they're very solid … very few holes in their lineup, if any,” Virginia Tech coach Tony Robie said about State. “There's all kinds of toss-up matches. They are slight favorites in a lot of places, matches where maybe their guy is ranked a little higher than ours or vice-versa. But at the end of the day, I think there's several matches that could go either way.

“You’ve got to win those toss-up matches just like any other dual meet, and the team that can win the toss-up matches and the close ones is going to come out on top. We've got to figure out a way to do that. It's gonna be a challenge, we understand that. They've got a great team, but we're excited for it. We're excited for the environment. We're excited to go down there and be able to compete and have an opportunity to win an ACC title.”

If you’re looking for highlight bouts, don’t tune in late. If the match begins at 125, the first four matchups with Tech’s wrestlers listed first are #7 Cooper Flynn vs. #16 Jacob Camacho at 125, #13 Sam Latona vs. #5 Kai Orine at 133, vs. #13 Tom Crook vs. #4 Ryan Jack and #2 Caleb Henson vs. #4 Jackson Arrington. 

Whether that’s a split or if someone steps up early and takes control is the prevailing question.

“I feel good about where our team is right now heading toward the homestretch of the season,” Robie said. “I think our guys are wrestling pretty well, in most places. I think our lineup has come together. We've been able to figure that part of it out. 

“I think with Cooper (Flynn) in there (at 125) and having him wrestle the way he is and then getting Tom Crook (at 141) in there and have him wrestle in the way he has, has really kind of made our team a lot more solid.”

Lineup Not Quite Complete

Tech is unlikely to be at full strength as Robie said All-America 157-pound senior Bryce Andonian remains on track to be healthy for the ACC tournament at Chapel Hill on March 10.

“Bryce is doing great,” Robie said. “I think he'll be close to 100 percent by the time the ACC championships roll around. The last couple of weeks has been back on the mat. He's been able to handfight, progressed into drilling, and now he's sparring pretty hard.

“I'm not saying it's the same as wrestling; it's hard to duplicate that. But Bryce can push himself. His mentality helps in that fashion and the history with Bryce is when he does have a little break sometimes or gets injured, he usually comes back stronger. So we're hoping that's the case again this year.”

Robie also said redshirt freshman T.J. Stewart (5-2), who started against Pitt and defeated then #9 Reece Heller on a penalty point in sudden victory at 184, has been performing well. 

“He had a big win last weekend against Pitt, so I’m excited to see him compete again. And I think he's capable of some great things,” Robie said.

Hokies On A Roll

Tech’s streak includes convincing wins over Appalachian State, North Carolina, Virginia, Duke, George Mason and Pitt by an average score of 33-6.

Robie is hoping that momentum can carry into Friday on the road.

“Obviously, you want to get off to a good start,” he said. “The degree of difficulty is gonna go up on Friday night.”