Virginia Tech earned its first ACC Tournament title since 2018 on Sunday in Durham, N.C., as the Hokies crowned four individual champions and clinched nine automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.
No. 1 Caleb Henson (149), No. 1 Rafael Hipolito Jr. (157), No. 1 Eddie Ventresca (125) and No. 2 Connor McGonagle (141) all notched ACC titles as VT posted 91.5 team points to lead the conference.
Henson took down North Carolina’s No. 2 Lachlan McNeil in sudden victory, 4-1, to earn his second career ACC title. He crushed Virginia’s No. 5 Jack Gioffre via tech fall in the semifinals, 21-5. With his wins in Durham, the returning national champion has now gone undefeated over the last calendar year (23-0) and has essentially locked up the No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament.
Hipolito Jr. earned his first ACC crown by beating NC State’s No. 2 Ed Scott 7-3. The Manaus, Brazil, native pummeled Stanford’s No. 5 Grigor Cholakyan in the semifinals, 14-4. He’ll almost certainly be a top-nine seed at 157 in Philadelphia.
Ventresca doubled down on his statement regular-season victory over NC State’s No. 2 Vincent Robinson two weeks ago as he grinded out a 4-1 sudden victory win over the Wolfpack wrestler to secure his first ACC championship. The title gives him a real shot to earn the No. 2 or No. 3 overall seed at 125.
McGonagle secured the 133 title with a gritty 5-2 sudden victory win over NC State’s No. 4 Kai Orine. He eked out a 1-0 victory over Stanford’s No. 3 Tyler Knox in the semifinal round after dominating Duke’s No. 7 Raymond Adams 17-1 in the quarterfinal. With a 15-1 record this season and an ACC title, McGonagle is a virtual lock to be a top-eight seed at 133.
No. 1 Sam Latona (141) and No. 2 Jimmy Mullen (285) earned second-place finishes in Durham on Sunday.
Latona shut down Stanford’s No. 5 Jayden Scott 1-0 in the semifinals before falling to UVa’s No. 2 Dylan Cedeno 8-6 in the title bout. The two-time All-American clinched his fifth NCAA Tournament berth on Sunday and will still likely garner a top-13 seed.
Mullen performed admirably in his first ACC Tournament, taking Pitt’s No. 4 Dayton Pitzer to the wire in the heavyweight title bout before falling 4-1 in sudden victory. The Kearny, N.J., native beat Duke’s No. 6 Connor Barket 11-3 in the semifinals after pinning UVa’s No. 7 Gabe Christenson in the quarterfinal. His 2-1 showing in Durham clinched his first career NCAA Tournament berth, where he’ll likely be seeded in the top 14.
No. 3 Andy Smith (197) and No. 5 Mac Church (165) clocked third place finishes on Sunday and punched their tickets to the NCAA Tournament.
Smith beat UVa’s No. 6 Steven Burrell Jr. 4-2 in the third place match to swipe the final NCAA Tournament automatic qualifier bid at 197. He finished 3-1 in Durham with two wins over Burrell Jr. and a victory over NC State’s No. 5 Christian Knop. He should receive a seed somewhere in the middle teens at 197.
Church upset Pitt’s No. 4 Jared Keslar in the quarterfinal, 4-1, before falling to Stanford’s No. 1 Hunter Garvin in the semis, 11-1. He battled back with wins over UNC’s No. 7 Charlie Darracott and NC State’s No. 3 Derek Fields to earn third place. Church’s 3-1 finish in Durham could help him land a mid-20s seed in Philadelphia.
No. 5 Lennox Wolak (174) and No. 4 Thomas Stewart Jr. (184) both finished fourth on Sunday, with Wolak earning an AQ bid and Stewart falling one spot shy. Stewart will hope to earn an at-large bid. The 43 at-large bids will be announced by the NCAA on March 11.
Tony Robie and Co. will find out where they’re seeded when brackets are released on March 12 at 8 p.m. ET. The NCAA Tournament will begin on March 20 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
Team Results:
Virginia Tech: 91.5
Pitt: 63.5
NC State: 62.5
North Carolina: 44.5
Stanford: 45.0
Virginia: 38.5
Duke: 1.5
Individual Results:
Quarterfinals:
133: No. 2 Connor McGonagle (VT) Tech Fall No. 7 Raymond Adams (DUKE), 17-1, 6:33
165: No. 5 Mac Church (VT) Dec. No. 4 Jared Keslar (PITT), 4-1 SV-1
174: No. 4 Matty Singleton (NCSU) Dec. No. 5 Lennox Wolak (VT), 4-2
184: No. 4 Thomas Stewart, Jr. (VT) Dec. No. 5 Tye Monteiro (STAN), 7-1
197: No. 3 Andy Smith (VT) Dec No. 6 Steven Burrell Jr. (UVA), 8-2
HWT: No. 2 Jimmy Mullen (VT) Fall No. 7 Gabe Christenson (UVA), 1:49
Semifinals:
125: No. 1 Eddie Ventresca (VT) Maj. Dec. No. 4 Nick Babin (PITT), 19-5
133: No. 2 Connor McGonagle (VT) Dec. No. 3 Tyler Knox (STAN), 1-0
141: No. 1 Sam Latona (VT) Dec. No. 5 Jayden Scott (UNC), 1-0
149: No. 1 Caleb Henson (VT) Tech Fall. No. 5 Jack Gioffre (UVA), 21-4, 6:40
157: No. 1 Rafael Hipolito, Jr. (VT) Maj. Dec. No. 5 Grigor Cholakyan (STAN), 14-4
165: No. 1 Hunter Garvin (STAN) Maj. Dec. No. 5 Mac Church (VT), 11-1
184: No. 1 Recce Heller (PITT) Dec. No. 4 Thomas Stewart, Jr. (VT), 4-2
197: No. 2 Nick Stemmet (STAN) Maj. Dec. No. 3 Andy Smith (VT), 12-4
HWT: No. 2 Jimmy Mullen (VT) Maj. Dec. No. 6 Connor Barket (DUKE), 11-3
Consolation Semifinals:
165: No. 5 Mac Church (VT) Dec. No. 7 Charlie Darracott (UNC), 8-5
174: No. 5 Lennox Wolak (VT) Dec. No. 2 Lorenzo Norman (STAN), 8-5
184: No. 4 Thomas Stewart, Jr. (VT) Dec. No. 6 Justin Phillips (UVA), 9-4
197: No. 3 Andy Smith (VT) Dec. No. 5 Christian Knop (NCSU), 5-1
Third Place:
165: No. 5 Mac Church (VT) Dec. No. 3 Derek Fields (NCSU), 4-1 (NCAA AQ)
174: No. 1 Josh Ogunsanya (UNC) Dec. No. 5 Lennox Wolak (VT), 4-2 TB-1 (NCAA AQ)
184: No. 3 Gavin Kane (UNC) Dec. No. 4 Thomas Stewart, Jr. (VT), 4-1
197: No. 3 Andy Smith (VT) Dec. No. 6 Steven Burrell Jr. (UVA), 4-2 (NCAA AQ)
Finals:
157: No. 1 Rafael Hipolito, Jr. (VT) Dec. No. 2 Ed Scott (NCSU), 7-3 (NCAA AQ)
HWT: No. 4 Dayton Pitzer (PITT) Dec. No. 2 Jimmy Mullen (VT), 4-1 SV-1 (NCAA AQ)
125: No. 1 Eddie Ventresca (VT) Dec. No. 2 Vince Robinson (NCSU), 4-1 SV-1 (NCAA AQ)
133: No. 2 Connor McGonagle (VT) Dec. No. 4 Kai Orine (NCSU), 5-2 SV-1 (NCAA AQ)
141: No. 2 Dylan Cedeno (UVA) Dec. No. 1 Sam Latona (VT), 8-6 (NCAA AQ)
149: No. 1 Caleb Henson (VT) Dec. No. 2 Lachlan McNeil (UNC), 4-1 SV-1 (NCAA AQ)