KANSAS CITY, Mo. (theACC.com) – Virginia Tech’s Caleb Henson earned his first NCAA national title and the second in Virginia Tech program history on Saturday night at the 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Henson, a sophomore from Cartersville, Georgia, overcame an early deficit to storm back for a 15-7 major decision win over No. 6 Austin Gomez of Michigan in the championship match at 149 pounds.
Henson became the second individual national champion in VT history, joining current teammate and 2019 National Champion at 165 pounds Mekhi Lewis.
ACC wrestlers have now won 23 all-time individual NCAA titles, including four individual national titles on the mat since 2021.
NC State’s Trent Hidlay, a five-time All-American, reached the finals for the second time in his collegiate career on Saturday night but fell to four-time NCAA champion and No. 1 seeded Aaron Brooks of Penn State 6-1 in the championship match to pick up a silver medal at 197 pounds.
On top of Henson and Hidlay, six other ACC wrestlers finished in the top eight of their respective weight class at the NCAA Championships to also earn 2024 All-America honors.
At the lower weights, NC State’s Kai Orine placed eighth at 133 pounds, suffering a 10-5 loss to No. 4 Dylan Shawver of Rutgers in the seventh-place bout, while North Carolina’s Lachlan McNeil and NC State’s Ryan Jack finished sixth and seventh overall, respectively, at 141 pounds.
No. 6 McNeil was forced to take a medical forfeit due to an injury in each of his two matches on Saturday to place sixth, while No. 4 Jack scored a 4-3 decision over No. 26 Vance Vombaur of Minnesota to claim seventh.
In addition to Henson, three other Virginia Tech wrestlers secured All-America honors on Saturday in Bryce Andonian (157), Mekhi Lewis (174), and Thomas Stewart, Jr. (184).
Andonian, who lost to eventual 157-pound national champion No. 1 Levi Haines of Penn State in the semifinals on Friday, endured back-to-back pinfall losses to No. 3 Meyer Shapiro of Cornell (3:55) and No. 7 Peyten Kellar of Ohio (3:23) on Saturday to finish sixth overall at 157 pounds.
Lewis, who lost to the eventual national champion at 174 pounds in No. Carter Starocci of Penn State in the quarterfinals, picked up a 9-6 win over No. 7 Lennox Wolak of Columbia to advance to the third-place match where he fell to No. 4 Shane Griffith of Michigan 4-0 to finish fourth overall.
In the seventh-place match at 184 pounds, Stewart dominated for a 20-4 (6:50) technical fall win over No. 25 David Key of Navy to finish seventh overall.
Penn State three-peated as the NCAA team champions with an NCAA record 172.5 points. The Nittany Lions finished well in front of Cornell in second with 72.5 points and Michigan in third with 71.0 points. Virginia Tech led all ACC schools with 64.0 points, good enough for seventh overall, while NC State placed in a tie for 11th with 49.5 points.
Complete ACC team scoring and placement were as follows:
ACC in the Team Rankings:
7. Virginia Tech – 64.0
T11. NC State – 49.5
T26. Pitt – 13.0
T30. North Carolina – 12.5
T42. Virginia – 5.0
ACC 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling All-Americans (Finish)
133 pounds
No. 3 Kai Orine, NC State ^ (8th)
141 pounds
No. 4 Ryan Jack, NC State (7th)
No. 6 Lachlan McNeil, North Carolina ^ (6th)
149 pounds
No. 4 Caleb Henson, Virginia Tech ^ (Champion)
157 pounds
No. 12 Bryce Andonian, Virginia Tech @ (6th)
174 pounds
No. 1 Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech # (4th)
184 pounds
No. 7 Thomas Stewart, Jr., Virginia Tech (7th)
197 pounds
No. 2 Trent Hidlay, NC State $ (2nd)
^ - two-time All-American
@ - three-time All-American
# - four-time All-American
$ - five-time All-American