ACC Recap/Preview (11/17/2023)

Duke:

The Blue Devils notched their first two dual wins of the season over Cleveland State (19-16) and Kent State (24-17) in Morgantown; they fell to WVU but picked up a huge individual win in the process. Gaetano Console earned a fall over All-American Peyton Hall at 165 in what is the best individual win of the season-to-date for Duke.  

I said going into the weekend that was going to be a great measuring stick for Duke and they performed very well. Console was 2-0 on the day while Logan Agin, Connor Becker, Logan Ferrero, Jarred Papscy, and Jack Wimmer all went 2-1 on the weekend. 

The Blue Devils are back in action this weekend at the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia. 

North Carolina:

The Tar Heels were in Pennsylvania for the Journeymen WrangleMania Duals where they faced Buffalo and Arizona State. They had a solid performance in both duals and were 2-0 on the day. They opened with a 32-7 win over Buffalo before topping the #9 Sun Devils 22-16. The Heels were led by Spencer Moore, Lachlan McNeil, Max Shaw, and Cade Lautt all going 2-0 on the day. Lautt made his debut at 285 on the weekend and looks very comfortable up a weight. 

Marisol Nugent captured an individual title at the Princeton Open this weekend for the Tar Heels as well. She will compete at the Bill Ferrell this weekend. 

They travel to Illinois for Sunday duals against Central Michigan and Illinois.

North Carolina State:

The Wolfpack competed in both days of the Journeymen WrangleMania event last weekend with dual wins over Bloomsburg and Purdue, followed by individual round-robin action on Sunday. 

They went 18-2 in dual matches, dropping only one match in each dual beating Bloomsburg 45-4 and Purdue 37-3. Jakob Camacho earned a huge win against NCAA finalist Matt Ramos in a controlling decision. Kai Orine and Dylan Fishback also picked up ranked wins against Purdue. 

NC State has headed back north again this week, this time to a New York homecoming for Coach Pop. They wrestled a dual at Army last night, picking up a 34-6 win in West Point. They will wrestle in the Armbar at the Armory event on Friday against Sacred Heart and Binghamton. I really like the idea of this event Frank Poplizio put together for Journeymen, inviting teams with NY coaching ties. Fellow New Yorker Steve Garland will be bringing UVA up for the event as well. 

Pittsburgh:

The Panthers had their first dual action of the year last weekend, traveling to Annapolis for duals against VMI, Morgan State, and Navy. They went 2-1 on the day with shutout wins over VMI 47-0 and Morgan State 54-0. The Panthers lost the dual to Navy in a down performance where they dropped several close matches. Finn Solomon, Holden Heller, Luca Augustine, and Mac Stout were all 3-0 on the day. 

The Panthers will be on the road this weekend. They will face Lehigh on Sunday afternoon and Maryland on Monday night. 

Virginia: 

The Hoos traveled south to the Appalachian Invite/Open in Boone last weekend. They had a much better performance across the board than opening weekend. They crowned several champions in both divisions. Marlon Yarbrough (133), Jack Gioffre (141), Justin McCoy (174), and Colden Dorfman (197) earned Invite titles while Evan Buchanan (133) and Griffin Gammell (184) earned them in the Open division. Kyle Montaperto (125), Michael Gioffre (149), and Dylan Cedeno (157) were also finalists while Gable Porter (133), Michael Murphy (165), and Ethan Weatherspoon (197) finished in 3rd.

The Hoos will travel to New York for the Armbar at the Armory on Friday where they will open dual competition against LIU and Buffalo. 

Virginia Tech: 

The Hokies had an up-and-down weekend, dropping a top-10 dual to Ohio State 24-12 on Friday and putting up a lopsided win over American 39-4 on Sunday. Coach Robie felt the team underperformed in a big dual and took away some important things for the team to focus on. They responded well to the adjustments and we saw a very focused team on Sunday. Sam Latona, Caleb Henson, Bryce Andonian, and Mekhi Lewis all had big ranked wins on Friday and also won in the Sunday dual. 

The Hokies are on the road this weekend and will face another tough test against a scrappy Rutgers squad in Piscataway on Friday night. They will also send most of their starters to the Keystone Classic this weekend.