ACC Weekly Matchups (1/12/2024)

This is the last big weekend of out-of-conference duals in the ACC before the start of Friday Night Duals. Four of the six teams will be in action this weekend - Duke wrestled on Monday - and only two teams will be in action next week. Pitt will split action with a home dual against Oklahoma State on Friday and they will for a Sunday afternoon matchup with Iowa State. UVA will have duals on Friday and Saturday at the Virginia Duals. The Hokies host their final non-conference opponent with App State coming to Cassell Coliseum for a Friday night dual. The Tar Heels will host Penn on Friday and Harvard and Brown on Saturday. 

Several wrestlers will have a great opportunity for a ranked win to take momentum into the conference duals. Let’s take a look at some of the ranked matchups we will see this weekend. 

Pittsburgh: 

The Panthers have one of the tougher non-conference schedules in the country and this weekend will highlight that with two top-10 opponents. #7 Oklahoma State comes to Fitzgerald Field House on Friday night, coming off an upset win over North Carolina State last Friday. They finish up with a visit to #5 Iowa State. Every Pitt wrestler will have two ranked opponents this weekend and will be in position to make some big noise nationally. 

What I’m watching: The lower weights for the Panthers will play a huge role in the success of the team this weekend. Camacho and Santaniello have both wrestled well as of late and will face very tough opponents, with Vinnie facing two top-10 ranked wrestlers in Fix and Frost. I’m hopeful that this is an opportunity for Cole Matthews to get back on track after struggling the last few outings; he has the ability to beat both Jamison and Echemendia and I would love to see this be a bounce-back opportunity for Cole before conference duals. Sataniello, Matthews, Holden Heller, and Reece Heller all have two top-10 matchups on the weekend. I’m also very interested to see how Dayton Pitzer stacks up against two talented opponents. 

North Carolina:

The Tar Heels host a trio of Ivy League squads this weekend. They will face Penn on Friday night and both Harvard and Brown on Saturday afternoon. Spencer Moore has a great opportunity this weekend with two ranked matches, including against Sotelo, who just upset #1 Anthony Noto. I also really like the spot that Tyler Eischens is in this weekend. He is unranked, coming in as a second-semester transfer but will face two top-15 opponents and has a chance to make a big impression. 

125: #25 Spencer Moore v #33 Max Gallagher (Penn) and #24 Diego Sotelo (Harvard)

133: Jace Palmer v #10 Michael Colaiocco (Penn)

141: #5 Lachlan McNeil v #12 CJ Composto (Penn)

157: Jared Keslar v #25 Lucas Revano (Penn)

165: Isaias Estrada v #31 Josh Kim (Harvard)

174: Tyler Eischens v #12 Phil Conigliaro (Penn) and #11 Nico Incontrera (Harvard) 

184: #24 Gavin Kane v #17 Maximus Hale (Penn)

197: #18 Max Shaw v #25 Cole Urbas (Penn) 

Virginia: 

The Hoos have had an incredible run of bad luck between injuries and illness and are down multiple starters across the lineup. Coach Garland and company are leaning on a lot of young wrestlers and may look to some true freshmen this weekend at Virginia Duals where they face Kent State on Friday and Wisconsin on Saturday. I’m looking for this team to step up in a difficult situation and try to end non-conference duals on a positive note before getting some needed rest and recovery time before ACC duals. We will only see one ranked versus ranked matchup for the Hoos this weekend; team captain and leader #13 Justin McCoy will face #18 Max Maylor in the Saturday dual against Wisconsin. 

125: Kyle Montaperto v #4 Eric Barnett (UW)

149: Luca Errico v #22 Joseph Zargo (UW)

165: Michael Murphy or Mason Stefanelli v #6 Dean Hamiti (UW)

174: #13 Justin McCoy v #18 Max Maylor (UW)

184: Griffin Gammel or Dylan Newsome v #16 Shane Liegel (UW)

Virginia Tech: 

The Hokies are also adjusting their lineup due to injuries, trying to ensure they are at full strength to face UNC in their opening ACC dual. The Hokies will feature different starters at four weights this week. Cooper Flynn is coming off two huge wins last week and continues to impress since making his second-semester debut. The only ranked-versus-ranked matchup we will see on Friday is at 149, where #2 Caleb Henson will face a scrappy #27 Cody Bond. 

Clayton Ulrey will fill in at 157 after the injury to Bryce Andonian. Thankfully, as bad as it looked in the moment, the injury isn’t season-ending and they hope to have BA back before the ACC Tournament. Logan Frazier will be filling in at 133 to allow Sam Latona extra recovery time after his early season injury; TJ Stewart will make his dual debut at 184 against Tomas Brooker. 

125: #8 Cooper Flynn v Chad Bellis

133: Logan Frazier v #34 Ethan Oakley

141: #18 Tom Crook v Riley Edwards

149: #2 Caleb Henson v #27 Cody Bond

157: Clayton Ulrey v #23 Tommy Askey

165: Ty Finn v #32 Will Miller

174: #2 Mekhi Lewis v Luke Uliano

184: TJ Stewart v Tomas Brooker

197: #26 Andy Smith v Carson Floyd

285: #20 Hunter Catka v Jacob Sartorio