Noting the ACC in the upcoming NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, set this Thursday though Saturday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma ...
• The ACC’s 35-wrestler contingent in this year's field is led by No. 1 seeds Austin O’Connor of North Carolina (157 pounds) and Pitt’s Nino Bonaccorsi (197). NC State’s Trent Hidlay earned the No. 2 seed at 184 pounds, and Pitt’s Cole Matthews (141) and Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Lewis (174) are seeded No. 3 in their respective weight classes.
• Each of the top-three seeded ACC wrestlers have earned All-America honors at least once during their collegiate careers, and North Carolina’s O’Connor (at 149 pounds in 2021) and Virginia Tech’s Lewis (at 165 pounds in 2019) have claimed national championships in previous years.
• ACC wrestlers own 20 all-time NCAA titles.
• Virginia Tech leads all ACC teams in this year's NCAA field with a wrestler in each of the 10 weight classes. Five-time ACC champion NC State placed nine wrestlers in the field, followed by Pitt with six, North Carolina with five, Virginia with four and Duke with one.
• The ACC received 33 automatic qualifications and two at-large berths for the 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The ACC was awarded 2023 qualifications in the following weight classes: 125 (2), 133 (3), 141 (3), 149 (4), 157 (3), 165 (3), 174 (3), 184 (5), 197 (4) and 285 (3).
• This marks the eighth consecutive year that the ACC has received at least 31 AQ slots. This year’s 33 selections are one shy of the average of 34 since 2013-14, when Pitt began competition as a league member.
• O'Connor, Bonaccorsi and NC State's Trent Hidlay (184) were part of a historic ACC run in 2021 in which ACC wrestlers took home three silver medals in addition to O'Connor's NCAA title at 149.
• Virginia Tech’s Lewis (174) and North Carolina’s Kizhan Clarke (141) each reached the finals of the 2022 NCAA Championship. The ACC closed out the 2022 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships with four podium finishes and 10 total All-America honors.
• Host NC State placed eight wrestlers in the finals and claimed four individual gold medals to capture the Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestling Championship title for the fifth consecutive year on March 5 in Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C.
• An event record crowd of 3,834 looked on as the Wolfpack became only the second wrestling program to capture at least five consecutive ACC titles and the first since former conference member Maryland won 20 in a row from 1954 through 1973.
• This year’s league wrestling championship is the 20th overall for NC State, the most among current ACC programs, and the sixth overall under current head coach Pat Popolizio.
• NC State closed the regular-season ranked No. 3 nationally by the NWCA, while Virginia Tech was ranked 10th and Pitt was 15th. Those three teams shared the ACC Co-Dual Meet Championship during the regular season.
NCAA Wrestling Broadcast Info
Session 1- March 16, Noon: ESPNU
Session 2 - March 16, 7 p.m.: ESPN
Session 3 - March 17, Noon.: ESPNU
Session 4 - March 17, 8 p.m.: ESPN
Session 5 - March 18, 11 a.m.: ESPNU
Session 6 - March 18 - 7 p.m.: ESPN