Virginia Tech's Hunter Bolen, ranked No. 1 nationally, is seeded No. 1 at 184 pounds (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Atlantic Coast Conference has announced seeding and brackets for the 2020 ACC Wrestling Championship, which will be held this Sunday (March 8) at Pitt's Petersen Events Center.
The host Panthers lead with three wrestlers seeded No. 1 in their respective weight class brackets. Defending champion NC State, North Carolina and Virginia each earned two No. 1 seeds, and Virginia Tech has one. Seeds were determined by a vote of the league's six head coaches.
Each weight class champion and runner-up at the 2020 ACC Championship will earn All-ACC recognition. In addition to ACC honors, student-athletes will be vying for berths and seeding in the 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships, which will be held March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The ACC has been awarded 35 automatic berths - the second-highest total in league history - and is hopeful of earning several more at-large selections.
The ACC ended the regular season with a league-record four teams ranked among the nation's top nine, tying for the most among all conferences. No. 3 NC State, which posted an unbeaten dual meet record for the first time in the program's 91-year history, was followed by No. 7 North Carolina, No. 8 Pitt and No. 9 Virginia Tech.
Twenty-two Atlantic Coast Conference student-athletes are listed among the top 20 of their individual weight classes in the most recent InterMat national rankings, including 12 among the top 10. Virginia Tech sophomore Hunter Bolen holds the highest ranking at No. 1 in a strong 184-pound weight class that also features No. 2 Trent Hidlay of NC State and No. 5 Nino Bonaccorsi of Pitt.
Other nationally top-five ranked wrestlers from the ACC include Virginia senior Jack Mueller (No. 2 at 125), North Carolina's Austin O'Connor (No. 3 at 149) and NC State's Hayden Hidlay (No. 2 at 157).
In addition to Mueller and Hayden Hidlay, returning ACC champions from 2019 expected to compete on Sunday include 133-pound Micky Phillippi of Pitt (last year's ACC Championship Most Outstanding Wrestler and currently No. 6 nationally), 165-pound David McFadden of Virginia Tech (ACC champion at 174 last season, ranked 10th in his current weight class) and Pitt heavyweight Demetrius Thomas (currently ranked eighth).
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth (18 and under). Group tickets (15 people or more) are priced at $3 each. All seating for the tournament is General Admission.
The doors to the Petersen Events Center will open at 10 a.m. on Sunday, with first-round action kicking off the event at 11 a.m. Semifinals are set for 1 p.m., followed by the consolation semifinals at 3:30 p.m. and the consolation finals at 5 p.m. Championship matches begin at 7 p.m., followed by the awards presentation.
ACC Network and ACC Network Extra plan nearly 10 hours of live coverage from 11 a.m. through 9 p.m. ACC Network Extra will stream early and consolations rounds, with the 7 p.m. finals set for live linear broadcast on ACC Network.
Seeds for the 2020 ACC Wrestling Championship are listed below. Brackets for each weight class may be viewed here.
Entries are subject to change until noon on Saturday.
125:
1. Jack Mueller, Virginia
2. Jakob Camacho, NC State
3. Joseph Melendez, North Carolina
4. Joey Prata, Virginia Tech
5. Louis Newell, Pitt
133:
1. Micky Phillippi, Pitt
2. Jaime Hernandez, North Carolina
3. Jarrett Trombley, NC State
4. Louie Hayes, Virginia
5. Collin Gerardi, Virginia Tech
6. Harrison Campbell, Duke
141:
1. Tariq Wilson, NC State
2. Zach Sherman, North Carolina
3. Mitch Moore, Virginia Tech
4. Cole Matthews, Pitt
5. Brian Courtney, Virginia
149:
1. Austin O'Connor, North Carolina
2. Bryce Andonian, Virginia Tech
3. AJ Leitten, NC State
4. Denton Spencer, Virginia
5. Dallas Bulsak, Pitt
6. Wade Unger, Duke
157:
1. Hayden Hidlay, NC State
2. A.C. Headlee, North Carolina
3. Taleb Rahmani, Pitt
4. BC LaPrade, Virginia Tech
5. Justin McCoy, Virginia
6. Eric Carter, Duke
165:
1. Kennedy Monday, North Carolina
2. Thomas Bullard, NC State
3. David McFadden, Virginia Tech
4. Jake Wentzel, Pitt
5. Ben Anderson, Duke
6. Cam Coy, Virginia
197:
1. Gregg Harvey, Pitt
2. Daniel Bullard, NC State
3. Mason Eaglin, Duke
4. Clay Lautt, North Carolina
5. Cody Hughes, Virginia Tech
6. Vic Marcelli, Virginia
184:
1. Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech
2. Trent Hidlay, NC State
3. Nino Bonaccorsi, Pitt
4. Michael Battista, Virginia
5. Joseph Mazzara, North Carolina
6. Kai Blake, Duke
197:
1. Jay Aiello, Virginia
2. Kellan Stout, Pitt
3. Brandon Whitman, North Carolina
4. Stan Smeltzer, Virginia Tech
5. Vincent Baker, Duke
6. Tyrie Houghton, NC State
285:
1. Demetrius Thomas, Pitt
2. Deonte Wilson, NC State
3. Quinn Miller, Virginia
4. John Borst, Virginia Tech
5. Andrew Gunning, North Carolina
6. Jonah Niesenbaum, Duke
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