PITTSBURGH (theACC.com) – Following an all-day battle of nationally-ranked teams and elite college wrestlers, NC State sits atop the Atlantic Coast Conference for the second consecutive year.
Boosted by two individual titles and four runner-up finishes, the nationally third-ranked Wolfpack took home its 17th ACC Wrestling Championship on Sunday before a crowd of 1,714 at the Petersen Events Center.
In a meet that featured four of the nation’s top nine teams and 22 wrestlers ranked nationally in their respective weight classes, NC State finished with 81 points to edge the host Panthers, who followed with 77. North Carolina took third place with 67.5 points, followed by Virginia (60.5), Virginia Tech (52) and Duke (2).
The ACC wrestling title is the Wolfpack’s the third under eighth-year head coach Pat Popolizio, and NC State’s 17 overall conference titles match North Carolina for the most among current ACC programs.
“This is what we work for, what we train for – to win ACC championships and to compete and win trophies at the NCAAs,” Popolizio said. “This wasn’t our best overall performance of the year, and the guys know they have to step up for the NCAAs. But they found a way to score enough points and get I done today.”
Wolfpack redshirt freshman Jakob Camacho was voted the Championship’s Most Valuable Wrestler after claiming the 125-pound title in stunning fashion. The Danbury, Connecticut, native opened the finals with an 11-4 upset of Virginia’s Jack Mueller at 125 pounds.
Mueller, the defending ACC champion and 2019 NCAA Championship runner-up, entered the match ranked second nationally and 13-0 in dual matches, including 10 bonus-point wins. But Camacho, ranked No. 18 nationally, grabbed an early 8-2 lead and stayed in control throughout the match.
“I loved being the first match (of the finals),” Camacho said. “I went out excited, and I went out fearless. Before I went out there, I visualized how the match needed to go, and it went exactly the way I visualized it.”
NC State junior Hayden Hidlay became a three-time champion at 157 pounds as he turned back Pitt’s Taleb Rahmani in the final round for the second consecutive year. Hidlay’s 13-4 major decision win over the 2017 ACC champion pushed his all-time record versus conference opponents to 23-0.
Pitt’s Micky Phillippi successfully defended his ACC title at 133 pounds, defeating North Carolina’s Jaime Hernandez by an 8-5 score.
At 141 pounds, North Carolina’s Zach Sherman slipped past NC State’s Tariq Wilson with a third-period takedown and hung for a 5-4 win to avenge a regular-season loss. North Carolina’s Austin O’Connor, seeded first and ranked third nationally at 149 pounds, delivered the Tar Heels second title with an 11-7 decision over Virginia Tech’s Bryce Andonian.
The conclusion of the 165- and 174-pound brackets also saw a pair of No. 4 seeds – Pitt’s Jake Wentzel and North Carolina’s Clay Lautt – put the finishing touches on improbable gold medal runs that required them to run three-match gauntlets.
Wentzel’s path to the 165 title included wins over No. 1 seed Kennedy Monday of North Carolina and two-time ACC champion David McFadden of Virginia Tech. Lautt knocked off No. 1 seed Gregg Harvey of Pitt in the semifinals, then edged No. 2 seed Daniel Bullard of NC State in the 174 finals.
The much-anticipated battle of two of the nation’s top three wrestlers at 184 evolved into a low-scoring struggle similar to that of the regular season, with Virginia Tech’s Hunter Bolen holding off NC State’s Trent Hidlay for a 2-1 win.
The final two weight classes of the night proved eventful with Virginia’s Jay Aiello winning at 197 pounds to secure the ACC’s lone automatic qualifying spot in that weight class, while Pitt’s Demetrius Thomas took home the gold at 285 for the second consecutive year.
In addition to the bracket matches that figured into Sunday’s team scoring, three additional matches were held to determine the fifth NCAA Championship qualifying spots that have been allotted to the ACC in the 133-, 157- and 285-pound weight classes.
Virginia Tech’s Collin Gerardi (133) and BC LaPrade (157) claimed two of those spots, while Virginia’s Quinn Miller grabbed the bid at 285.
All totaled, 35 ACC wrestlers punched their tickets as automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Division I Championships, and several more hope to earn at large-bids for the event, which is set for March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Bracket PDF: https://theacc.co/wres20brackets
ACC Championship Most Valuable Wrestler
Jakob Camacho, NC State
ACC Championship Finals Results
125 – Jakob Camacho (NCSU) dec. Jack Mueller (UVA), 11-4
133 – Micky Phillippi (Pitt) dec. Jaime Hernandez (UNC), 8-5
141 – Zach Sherman (UNC) dec. Tariq Wilson (NCSU), 5-4
149 –Austin O’Connor (UNC) dec. Bryce Andonian (VT), 11-7
157 – Hayden Hidlay (NCSU) major dec. Taleb Rahmani (Pitt), 13-4
165 - Jake Wentzel (Pitt) dec. David McFadden (VT), 3-1
174 – Clay Lautt (UNC) def. Daniel Bullard (NCSU), 4-3
184 – Hunter Bolen (VT) dec. Trent Hidlay (NCSU), 2-1
197 – Jay Aiello (UVA) dec. Brandon Whitman (UNC), 10-4
285 - Demetrius Thomas (Pitt) dec. Deonte Wilson (NCSU), 5-4
The All-ACC Wrestling team is composed of the 20 wrestlers who reached the Championship finals.
2020 All-ACC Wrestling Team
125 – Jakob Camacho, NC State
125 – Jack Mueller, Virginia
133 – Micky Phillippi, Pitt
133 – Jaime Hernandez, North Carolina
141 – Zach Sherman, North Carolina
141 – Tariq Wilson, NC State
149 – Austin O’Connor, North Carolina
149 – Bryce Andonian, Virginia Tech
157 – Hayden Hidlay, NC State
157 – Taleb Rahmani, Pitt
165 – Jake Wentzel, Pitt
165 – David McFadden, Virginia Tech
174 – Daniel Bullard, NC State
174 – Clay Lautt, North Carolina
184 – Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech
184 – Trent Hidlay, NC State
197 – Jay Aiello, Virginia
197 – Brandon Whitman, North Carolina
285 – Demetrius Thomas, Pitt
285 – Deonte Wilson, NC State
Championship page:
theacc.com/wreschamp
Live Stats/Results:
https://theacc.co/acctwr2020