It has been a long wrestling season, and for the entirety of it, Virginia Tech and NC State have looked ahead to their February 22 dual meet showdown as a way to settle who's best in the ACC.
You can argue that both schools looked ahead to their detriment. Instead of this being a matchup of undefeated squads for all the marbles, each team was upset two weeks ago and instead enters this matchup with a loss on their record. Whoever wins this meet will likely tie with UNC for the ACC dual meet title.
Thud.
Oh, well, it's still a big-time, intriguing matchup. And the winner will be a dual-meet co-champion, with the tournament championship to be decided in a couple weeks in Blacksburg.
First, a look at the ACC standings and remaining schedule.
For either Virginia Tech or NC State to win the dual meet title, UNC would have to lose, and that's not likely. Duke is bottom of the barrel in ACC wrestling, and the WrestleStat.com Match Predictor sees an easy 26-6 victory for UNC.
Still, one can hope, so keep an eye on Duke-UNC while NC State and Tech are wrestling.
In Intermat's Dual Meet rankings, the top four ACC teams are clustered close, with Virginia lagging, and Duke unranked.
- 10: NC State
- 13: UNC
- 14: Virginia Tech
- 15: Pittsburgh
- 21: Virginia
- Unranked: Duke
Virginia Tech Wrestling vs NC State Preview
There have been a lot of close dual meets in the ACC this year, and Friday night promises to be another one. So close, as a matter of fact, that WrestleStat predicts a dead-even tie at 15-15.
Virginia Tech Marketing and Promotions has gone all-out on this one, with 400 T-shirts as a giveaway and two tasty raffles.
https://twitter.com/HokiesMKTG/status/1097924981495943169
For those unfamiliar with the sport, it can be difficult to know what you're looking at when it comes to watching a slugfest across ten weight classes. The dual meet predictor link above is helpful in knowing what to expect from weight class to weight class, and this week, the @HokiesWrestling account on Twitter produced a handy matchup guide as well.
As usual, Virginia Tech Wrestling's advantage is in the upper weight classes, where the feature is a big-time matchup at the 184 pound class between Tech's Zack Zavatsky (ranked No. 5 by Intermat) and NC State's Nick Reenan (last week's ACC Wrestler of the Week, ranked No. 4).
One thing to look for is whether or not Tom Sleigh wrestles for Tech at 197 pounds. Brooks Wilding has filled in the last couple of meets, and though Wilding has held his own, the Hokies would prefer a full-strength Tom Sleigh in that matchup.
Virginia Tech Wrestling is free, general-admission seating, and this is a big one. See you in Cassell.