NCAA Brackets:  on.ncaa.com/2O4SXEP

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference will send a league-record tying 41 wrestlers to the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which begin Thursday and continue through Saturday at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

ESPN once again plans to air prime time sessions of the Championships all three nights, beginning at 7 p.m. Earlier sessions will air on ESPNU, and every one of the 640 matches will be available on ESPN3 via the ESPN App.
 
This year, ESPN3 will add a postgame show to its previously existing pregame show and complementary Championship night coverage, serving fans with even more content on the sport’s pinnacle night. Please see below for the complete ESPN broadcast schedule.

Pitt is serving as the host school for the NCAA Wrestling Championships for the first time since 1957. This will mark the sixth time an ACC member school has hosted the event and the first time since North Carolina hosted in 1994.
 
The ACC’s 41-wrestler contingent is led by a pair of No. 3 seeds in Duke’s Mitch Finesilver at 149 pounds and Virginia Tech’s Zack Zavatsky at 184. Finesilver’s No. 3 seeding is the best ever for a Blue Devil in the NCAAs.



ACC Wrestling Championship MVP Micky Phillipi drew the No. 4 seed at 133 pounds, while Virginia’s Jack Mueller is No. 5 at 125, and NC State’s Hayden Hidlay followed suit at 157. A total of 12 ACC wrestlers are ranked among the top 10 in their respective weight classes.

ACC champion NC State and runner-up Virginia Tech lead the conference’s six wrestling schools with nine NCAA selections each, and North Carolina has eight. 
 
The ACC received a league-record 37 automatic bids to this year’s NCAA Wrestling Championship, and qualifying for those slots was determined by the results of the 2019 ACC Championships held March 9 at Virginia Tech. In addition to those automatic qualifiers, the ACC was awarded four at-large berths.

Automatic bids were awarded to each conference based on the current strength of the weight class during the 2018-2019 season. Each wrestler in a given weight class was evaluated based on Division I winning percentage in his weight class, ratings percentage index (RPI) and coaches' ranking. For every wrestler who met two of those three criteria, his conference earned an automatic qualifying spot in that specific weight class.
 
Every conference earned at least one automatic bid per weight class, which was awarded to the conference champion, regardless of whether or not that wrestler met two of the three criteria listed above. 
 
The NCAA extended a total of 285 automatic bids. The remaining 45 spots were awarded as at-large bids by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee.
 
Thirty-three athletes in each of the following weight classes will qualify for the tournament either through automatic bids or at-large bids: 125 pounds, 133 pounds, 141 pounds, 149 pounds, 157 pounds, 165 pounds, 174 pounds, 184 pounds, 197 pounds, Heavyweights (183-285 pounds).
 
For the first time, all 33 athletes in each of the weight classes were seeded. A listing of all 330 qualifiers is available at NCAA.com.
 
The 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship will run as a double-elimination tournament, and the top eight finishers in each weight class will earn All-America honors. Wrestlers will also score team points for every win. 
 
Each match will last seven minutes unless ended early by a fall or a tech fall. The tournament will run across six sessions. All individual championship matches will be held during Session 6 on Saturday. 
 
2019 ESPN Broadcast Schedule:

Date	Time (ET)	Session	Networks	Number of ESPN3 Mat Feeds
Thur, Mar 21	12-3:30 p.m.	First Round	ESPNU/ESPN3	Eight Mats
	7-10:30 p.m.	Second Round	ESPN/ESPN3	Eight Mats
Fri,  Mar 22	11 a.m.-2 p.m.	Quarterfinals	ESPNU/ESPN3	Eight Mats
	8 p.m.-11 p.m.	Semifinals	ESPN/ESPN3	Six Mats
Sat, Mar 23	11 a.m.-2 p.m.	Medal Round	ESPNU/ESPN3	Three Mats
	6:30 -7 p.m.	Off the Mat Pregame Show	ESPN3	N/A
	7-10 p.m.	Championship	ESPN/ESPN3	One Mat
	Approximately 10 p.m.	Off the Mat Postgame Show	ESPN3	N/A

 
The ACC at the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championship
Listed by weight-class seeding

125
5. Jack Mueller, Virginia
15. Sean Fausz, NC State
 
133
4. Micky Phillippi, Pitt
11. Tariq Wilson, NC State
14. Korbin Myers, Virginia Tech
18. Gary Wayne Harding, North Carolina
 
141
14. Jamel Morris, NC State
21. AC Headlee, North Carolina
24. Mitch Moore, Virginia Tech
25. Josh Finesilver, Duke
26. Sam Krivus, Virginia
 
149
3. Mitch Finesilver, Duke
6. Austin O’Connor, North Carolina
9. Justin Oliver, NC State
26. Ryan Blees, Virginia Tech
 
157
5. Hayden Hidlay, NC State
12. Taleb Rahmani, Pitt
17. B.C. LaPrade, Virginia Tech
24. Josh McClure, North Carolina
33. Ben Anderson, Duke
 
165
8. Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech
16. Thomas Bullard, NC State
23. Zach Finesilver, Duke
25. Cam Coy, Virginia
 
174
6. David McFadden, Virginia Tech
12. Matt Finesilver, Duke
23. Daniel Bullard, NC State
33. Devin Kane, North Carolina
 
184
3. Zack Zavatsky, Virginia Tech
7. Nick Reenan, NC State
13. Nino Bonaccorsi, Pitt
15. Chip Ness, North Carolina
29. Will Schany, Virginia
 
197
7. Jay Aiello, Virginia
10. Tom Sleigh, Virginia Tech
13. Malik McDonald, NC State
23. Kellan Stout, Pitt
29. Brandon Whitman, North Carolina
 
289
8. Demetrius Thomas, Pitt
21. Cory Daniel, North Carolina
22. Billy Miller, Virginia Tech