ACC Weekly Preview (1/26/2024)

ACC Week One

It’s finally here! ACC Friday Night Duals kick off tonight, with Rock Harrison and Shawn Kenny heading to Pittsburgh to cover #8 NC State take on #22 Pittsburgh on ACC Network. The Hokies host the Tar Heels and the Hoos will travel to Durham to face the Blue Devils. 

#8 NC State at #22 Pittsburgh

The Wolfpack kick off their defense of the ACC crown with a trip to Pittsburgh to face a very talented Panther squad. There are solid matches throughout this dual with several ranked versus ranked bouts. Both teams will be without a ranked starter in the lineup; #22 Jakob Camacho will be heading to the App State Open and #9 Dayton Pitzer will be out with an injury he suffered last week against Oklahoma State--they hope to have him back for the ACC Championships. 

There are several intriguing matches up and down this lineup tonight. Jarrett Trombley will get the start at 125 and is the reigning ACC Champion, he will face Colton Camacho who has picked up some big wins this season. Kai Orine will face a very scrappy Vinnie Santaniello at 133 followed by a rematch of last year’s ACC title bout with Ryan Jack and Cole Matthews. Jack has looked incredible this year while Matthews has had an up-and-down year; however, Matthews holds a 4-0 advantage over Jack and I expect him to be strapped up and ready to go. Jackson Arrington will face former teammate Finn Solomon at 149 before fellow Pennsylvania native Ed Scott squares off with Jared Keslar at 157. 

In the back half of the dual, we have an interesting matchup with Derek Fields and Holden Heller; Fields has been consistent this year and Heller, who has had a great year so far, is coming off an uncharacteristic loss. Alex Faison will have his hands full with a dangerous Luca Augustine who is starting to make his rise in the rankings. The next two matches are the marquee matches in the dual in my eyes and both pair talented young wrestlers against accomplished veterans. Dylan Fishback will square off with a gritty Reece Heller at 184, followed by Trent Hidlay facing Mac Stout; both of these have the potential for fireworks as all four of them will let it fly. The dual will finish up with Owen Trephan squaring off with Geoff Magin in his first match of the year filling in for an injured Dayton Pitzer. 

The Wolfpack are favored on paper but Pitt has shown they can hang with any team in the country and have a win over #7 Ohio State already this season. Should be a fun dual and a great way to kick off Friday Night Duals. 

125: Jarrett Trombley vs #31 Colton Camacho

133: #5 Kai Orine v #20 Vinnie Sataniello

141: #4 Ryan Jack v #27 Cole Matthews

149: #3 Jackson Arrington v #29 Finn Solomon

157: #7 Ed Scott v Jared Keslar

165: #16 Derek Fields/AJ Kovacs v #11 Holden Heller

174: #32 Alex Faison v #15 Luca Augustine

184: #6 Dylan Fishback v #12 Reece Heller

197: #4 Trent Hidlay v #13 Mac Stout

285: #15 Owen Trephan v Geoff Magin 

North Carolina at #12 Virginia Tech

The Tar Heels head north to Blacksburg to face the Hokies; while Virginia Tech is the favorite, there will be some fun matchups to keep an eye on. Spencer Moore has put together a great start to his season at 10-2 and will face Cooper Flynn, who is shaping up to be a great story. He is 8-2 since coming out of Olympic Redshirt at semester to take over for injured All-American Eddie Ventresca; Flynn has four ranked wins and two over top-3 opponents. Lachlan McNeil has looked phenomenal all year stacking up a 17-2 record with his only losses to #4 Ryan Jack and #1 Real Woods. He will face Tom Crook who came out of redshirt at semester; he is 13-3 on the year and 7-2 at 141. I’ve been impressed with Max Shaw this year and I’m very interested in the matchup at 197 with Andy Smith--they both have the ability to be dynamic scorers but often rely on their defense, so it will be interesting to watch it play off. 184 will also be a big one with Gavin Kane trying to get back on track after some early-season struggles and TJ Stewart getting the nod for the Hokies. 

125: #29 Spencer Moore v #8 Cooper Flynn

133: Jace Palmer v #11 Sam Latona

141: #5 Lachlan McNeil v #17 Tom Crook

149: #33 Jayden Scott v #2 Caleb Henson

157: Sonny Santiago v Clayton Ulrey

165: Isaias Estrada v #24 Connor Brady

174: Tyler Eischens v #2 Mekhi Lewis

184: #23 Gavin Kane v TJ Stewart

197: #18 Max Shaw v #26 Andy Smith

285: Cade Lautt v #20 Hunter Catka

Virginia at Duke

The story of this dual is the return of a large chunk of the UVA lineup from injuries and illness. After talking with Coach Garland, it sounds like several starters will be cleared to go in Durham and will look to get back to form. I’m very interested to see how Marlon Yarbrough and Dylan Cedeno look as they were both wrestling great prior to injuries at Midlands. The match to watch for this dual will be at the top weight with Ryan Catka taking on Connor Barket. Catka has looked solid since taking over after Gabe Christensen went down with a season-ending injury. Barket has been the top wrestler for the Blue Devils with the highlight of his season thus far being an 8th place finish at the Southern Scuffle. 

125: Kyle Montaperto v Logan Agin

133: Marlon Yarbrough v Raymond Adams

141: Jack Gioffre v Christian Coleman/Peter Chacon

149: Michael Gioffre/Erik Roggie v Jared Papscy

157: #28 Dylan Cedeno v Logan Ferrero

165: Nick Hamilton v Gaetano Console

174: #12 Justin McCoy v Jack Wimmer

184: Griffin Gammell v Conor Becker

197: Krystian Kinsey v Kwasi Bonsu

285: Ryan Catka v Connor Barket