Jack Mueller Leads The Way At The 2020 ACC Wrestling Championship
Jack Mueller Leads The Way At The 2020 ACC Wrestling Championship
With teams like NC State and talents like Jack Mueller, the ACC is primed for a dynamite tournament. Here's what you need to know.
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The ACC flexed its wrestling muscle by placing four teams among the nation’s top 10 for the first time ever this winter. All four finished the year there in Flo’s final dual team rankings — No. 2 NC State, No. 7 North Carolina, No. 9 Pittsburgh, and No. 10 Virginia Tech.
Of course, the tournament format of the postseason renders those rankings useless . . . but the six-team league still offers plenty of talent sure to make noise at the NCAA Championships. The ACC has developed into a national player that has earned 65 All-America honors the last seven years, and this season it boasts three weight classes that earned five NCAA automatic qualifying bids.
Eight weights feature one of Flo’s top 10 in the nation and two will boast multiple such entrants vying for the title March 8 in Pittsburgh.
The team race has had NC State and Virginia Tech place as the top two in each of the last four years. North Carolina has been third three times during that span, but host Pittsburgh actually enters the competition with the most No. 1 seeds. Check out the full pre-seeds here.
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Favorite: Virginia senior Jack Mueller
Watch Out For: NC State redshirt freshman Jakob Camacho, and Virginia Tech redshirt junior Joey Prata
Mueller is ranked second nationally and has lost only once in the last two years (to Spencer Lee). He’s one of the biggest favorites in the league over a field led by Camacho (No. 15 nationally) and Prata (No. 24), and trying to become his program’s first-ever national champion.
Camacho gave Mueller one of his tougher matches so far in a 12-0 campaign, a 5-2 decision, one of just three non-bonus point wins this year for the Cavalier.
Prata is actually seeded fourth, behind North Carolina’s Joey Melendez, who has beaten Prata once in each of the last two years, including by 8-7 decision in the dual earlier this season. For what it’s worth, Camacho also owns a pair of wins over Melendez, who he’ll see in the semifinals.
That third-place match will be the most intriguing, especially with an NCAA bid on the line.
Predictions
Finals: Mueller over Camacho
NCAA Qualifiers (3): Mueller, Camacho, Prata
133
Favorite: Pittsburgh redshirt sophomore Micky Phillippi
Watch Out For: North Carolina redshirt sophomore Jamie Hernandez, NC State redshirt freshman Jarrett Trombley, Virginia redshirt junior Louie Hayes, and Virginia Tech redshirt freshman Colin Gerardi
This is one of the ACC’s most competitive weight classes, evidenced by the five automatic NCAA bids that will be handed out, though Phillippi is still a clear favorite. The rest of the group have taken turns beating each other.
Hernandez posted a 2-0 win over Trombley, who beat everybody else except for Phillippi. Gerardi beat Hernandez, Hayes beat Gerardi, Hernandez beat Hayes. All of these guys wrestled Phillippi to within four points during the regular season, so this bracket is likely to be filled with tough matches.
Phillippi — whose only loss this year is to Rutgers’ Sammy Alvarez — enters the postseason ranked sixth nationally, well ahead of No. 23 Trombley, No. 24 Gerardi, and No. 25 Hernandez. However, seeds 2-5 went: 2 Hernandez, 3 Trombley, 4 Hayes, 5 Gerardi.
Predictions
Finals: Phillippi over Trombley
NCAA Qualifiers (5): Phillippi, Trombley, Hernandez, Hayes, Gerardi
141
Favorite: NC State redshirt junior Tariq Wilson
Watch Out For: North Carolina redshirt sophomore Zach Sherman, and Virginia Tech sophomore Mitch Moore
In the regular season, Moore beat Wilson, who beat Sherman. Sherman beat Moore, so we’ll call the former All-American and No. 1 seed Wilson the favorite. The national rankings also favor No. 13 Wilson, but he’s just ahead of No. 14 Sherman and No. 18 Moore, who have each won an NCAA match in their careers already.
No. 22 Cole Matthews of Pittsburgh is also an exciting young talent and can make some noise. He wrestled Wilson to a 5-2 decision in the dual and a 2-1 decision at the Southern Scuffle, and also wrestled within two points of both Moore and Sherman in the duals. Virginia’s Brian Courtney is the 5 seed but has a win over All-American Sa’Derian Perry along with some really close losses to his ACC foes this year. That could be a sneaky-tough semifinal for Wilson.
Prediction
Finals: Wilson over Sherman
NCAA Qualifiers (3): Wilson, Sherman, Moore
149
Favorite: North Carolina redshirt sophomore Austin O’Connor
Watch Out For: Virginia Tech freshman Bryce Andonian and NC State redshirt sophomore A.J. Leitten.
O’Connor, last year’s third-place NCAA finisher, checks in at No. 3 nationally and has only lost one time since returning from injury (8-4 to Iowa’s Patricio Lugo at Midlands). There isn’t another ACC wrestler in the top 25, but Andonian is the 2 seed, followed by Leitten.
O’Connor’s closest ACC match came against Leitten’s backup, Matt Grippi, 6-5, while he was battling cramps.
Andonian was ranked No. 28 on the 2019 big board, while Leitten is not the most recognizable name on the NC State roster but was elected a team captain. There will be an NCAA bid up for grabs in that semifinal on the bottom half.
Predictions
Finals: O’Connor over Andonian
NCAA Qualifiers (2): O’Connor, Andonian
157
Favorite: NC State redshirt junior Hayden Hidlay
Watch Out For: North Carolina redshirt senior A.C. Headlee, Pittsburgh redshirt senior Taleb Rahmani, Virginia Tech redshirt junior BC LaPrade, and Virginia redshirt freshman Justin McCoy
Hidlay has been downright dominant over a loaded field of conference rivals. The four contenders took turns beating each other and are therefore ranked Nos. 21-24 nationally, in this order: Headlee, Rahmani, McCoy, and LaPrade. All five will move on to nationals.
Headlee is already a two-time NCAA qualifier — both times were at 141 pounds, though — and has wrestled just about everybody in the country close. He beat LaPrade (3-2) and Rahmani (10-4) in the duals, but lost to McCoy (3-2). Rahmani, a three-time NCAA qualifier who lost in the blood round last year, is 5-0 in his career versus LaPrade, but three times it’s been by one point and/or in overtime. Rahmani and LaPrade both beat McCoy in their dual.
Predictions
Finals: Hidlay over Headlee
NCAA Qualifiers (5): Hidlay, Headlee, Rahmani, LaPrade, McCoy
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Favorite: None
Watch Out For: North Carolina junior Kennedy Monday, NC State redshirt junior Thomas Bullard, Virginia Tech fifth-year senior David McFadden, and Pittsburgh redshirt junior Jake Wentzel
There’s no favorite here, just four contenders, each of whom has spent time inside of Flo’s national top 10 since Jan. 1. It’s easy to imagine any of the four contenders claiming gold.
To make things really kooky, the regular season went as such that the lone All-American in the group enters as the No. 3 seed.
Monday and Bullard both go into the postseason undefeated in ACC action, but Bullard missed the UNC match. Monday also has the more impressive win over McFadden, a shocking 21-6 tech fall, while Bullard pulled out a 2-1 decision. As the 1 seed, Monday won’t have to see McFadden again until the finals if he wins his first match.
Bullard enters the postseason ranked highest nationally, at No. 8, but will see No. 9 McFadden in the semifinals. No. 13 Monday will battle No. 14 Wentzel on the top side.
Duke redshirt sophomore Ben Anderson, an NCAA qualifier last year, is the 5 seed.
Predictions
Finals: McFadden over Monday
NCAA Qualifiers (4): McFadden, Monday, Bullard, Wentzel
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Favorite: Pittsburgh redshirt junior Gregg Harvey
Watch Out For: NC State redshirt junior Daniel Bullard
This is another situation where the two main players are directly on top of each other in the national rankings. No. 14 Harvey has the regular-season win over No. 15 Bullard, and is 2-1 in his career against Bullard after they split last year. Both Harvey wins were by two points.
There’s a second tier that will be battling hard for two more NCAA bids.
Duke’s Mason Eaglin is just a redshirt freshman and has been up and down, but may be the Blue Devil in the best position to punch his ticket to NCAAs. North Carolina’s Clay Lautt and Virginia Tech’s Cody Hughes snuck into the final NCAA coaches’ panel rankings, at Nos. 31 and 32, respectively.
In the regular season, Eaglin beat Lautt, who beat Hughes, who beat Eaglin. Lautt is 2-0 in his career versus Hughes; Hughes is 2-0 against Eaglin.
Predictions
Finals: Harvey over Bullard
NCAA Qualifiers (4): Harvey, Bullard, Lautt, Hughes
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Favorite: Virginia Tech redshirt sophomore Hunter Bolen
Watch Out For: NC State redshirt freshman Trent Hidlay and Pittsburgh redshirt sophomore Nino Bonaccorsi
Bolen lost to Bonaccorsi but beat Hidlay during the regular season. Hidlay beat Bonaccorsi but lost to Bolen. All three are currently ranked among the nation’s top five — No. 2 Bolen, No. 3 Hidlay and No. 5 Bonaccorsi.
The high-end depth on this weight class is unbelievable for the six-team league. It’s a good bet to become the ACC’s first weight class with three All-Americans in the same year.
If Bolen or Hidlay win, that strengthens their case for the No. 1 seed at NCAAs. It’s hard to imagine a bigger resume-boosting opportunity at this weight than what Hidlay or Bonaccorsi has ahead of them.
Predictions
Finals: Bolen over Hidlay
NCAA Qualifiers (3): Bolen, Hidlay, Bonaccorsi
197
Favorite: Virginia redshirt junior Jay Aiello
Watch Out For: Pittsburgh redshirt senior Kellan Stout
Aiello is a big favorite, the only ACC wrestler ranked among the top 25 going into the postseason at 197.
Stout spent some time in the top 25 this year, but fell out just before the postseason. He was a first-time NCAA qualifier last year, as was North Carolina’s Brandon Whitman.
The true wildcard in the tournament may be that while NC State revealed on its own podcast Tuesday that redshirt junior Nick Reenan recently had his knee “cleaned up” and is not expected to wrestle at ACCs, head coach Pat Popolizio left the door open and said: “He’s back on the mat this week, and we’re going to leave it in his hands. Still a minor, slight chance [Reenan wrestles at ACCs].”
While Reenan was just 5-5 on the year, he is still a talented former Final X competitor and two-time NCAA qualifier who made it to nationals last year while wrestling on a torn ACL.
Predictions
Finals: Aiello over Stout
NCAA Qualifiers (1): Aiello
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Favorite: Pittsburgh senior Demetrius Thomas
Watch Out For: NC State sophomore Deonte Wilson, Virginia Tech redshirt sophomore John Borst and Virginia redshirt sophomore Quinn Miller
No. 10 Thomas is an All-America contender after falling in the blood round last year. The former NAIA national champ is a big favorite in the league, but will have to hold off a host of youngsters trying to make a name for themselves.
Wilson missed NCAAs by one spot last year but is much improved and beat everybody else during the regular season, though he still enters the postseason ranked below No. 20 Miller (at No. 24). Borst checks in at No. 25 nationally, and North Carolina’s Andrew Gunning has been ranked at times this year and earned the league an NCAA bid.
Miller earned the 3 seed, despite going just 1-2 in league duals. He lost to Thomas and Wilson, but beat Borst, who beat Gunning. Miller and Gunning did not wrestle this year, but Gunning beat Miller, 5-2, way back in Nov. 2017.
Predictions
Finals: Thomas over Wilson
NCAA Qualifiers (5): Thomas, Wilson, Miller, Borst, Gunning
Team Race Prediction
Pittsburgh enters the tournament with three No. 1 seeds, more than any other squad, but depth favors NC State, who has seven of their 10 seeded first or second, and North Carolina, who has five among the top two seeds. Virginia Tech may be able to score at every weight but lacks a little of the top-end depth on paper with just two 1 or 2 seeds.
The prediction is that NC State wins out, while Pitt, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech battle it out for second, with all three programs within striking distance of one another.
NC State could have as many as eight finalists, but things will get interesting if the Wolfpack wind up with only one champion.