With a win, NC State would claim its second straight regular-season conference crown, which it had not won before last season since 2004.
If Virginia Tech wins and UNC also beats Duke Friday night, the Tar Heels win the title. If Virginia Tech wins but UNC loses, the Hokies take home the trophy. So three teams are still alive for the regular-season title, but keep in mind the trophy everybody wants and truly cares about — and also where the all-important national bids are earned — is not until the ACC Tournament, March 9 in Blacksburg.
I’ve been saying for a while the tournament race is going to be a tight one, but a lot of important things for it will be decided Friday night (seeds, etc.).
The biggest and most important question for this match is not, does NC State repeat as regular-season champs? Though that'd be nice, it’s does All-American 133-pounder Tariq Wilson return and wrestle for the first time since Jan. 6 vs. Ohio State?
Wilson, when healthy and on his game, can beat anybody in the country. 133 pounds has been complete chaos on the national scale this year. FloWrestling had a fun article about the craziness yesterday. But here’s my quick cliff notes version of it: of Flo’s preseason top 10 at the weight, four are not in the current top 10 — and they were each replaced by a wrestler who wasn’t even in the preseason top 20.
But back to NC State-Virginia Tech … IF Wilson wrestles, he’s No. 13 in the most recent Flo national rankings (has fallen due to injury and inactivity, not losses). Virginia Tech’s 133, Korbin Myers, is ranked 12th currently and was the No. 14 seed at NCAAs last year while at Edinboro (but he’s been 12-15ish nationally most of this year). Myers rocketed up the national rankings after beating current No. 5 Micky Phillippi of Pitt, who a week before that beat current No. 2 Daton Fix. But two weeks after Myers beat Phillippi, he lost to UNC’s Gary Wayne Harding (No. 18 currently) and Cornell’s Chaz Tucker (No. 11, thanks in large part to the win over Myers) in back-to-back matches. Is your head spinning yet? Both Wayne Harding and Tucker are solid but like 15-20ish guys nationally. 133 is anybody’s weight this postseason — in the ACC and nationally (Michigan’s Stevan Micic is the current No. 1, but his schedule hasn’t been that tough and he’s only 13-0 this year).
I don’t have ACC records for all on the year in front of me, but according to Flo’s ACC rankings, these “seeds” could be on the line in the bout:
• I’m honestly not sure what the seeding guidelines are, but if there’s no minimum match requirement, it could make sense that an undefeated Wilson (if he wrestles and beats Myers) gets the 1 seed at 133 over Phillippi, who’d have one loss in conference. But that’d be Wilson’s only ACC match, so I’m not sure what the affect of that would be on seedings. But that scenario would mean Wilson beat Myers who beat Phillippi.
Obviously, earning the 1 seed vs. the 2 at this weight would be a huge boost for ACCs — instead of facing Phillippi/Myers in semis, it would be Wayne Harding or Virginia’s Louie Hayes. Not an easy road still, but better than Phillippi or Myers … who he would only see one of in the finals.
• I think the top 141-pounders in the league are either Mitch Moore or Jamel Morris, although I’m not sure if this is “for” the 1 seed. Stilll, I think this is a huge match for many reasons.
• Justin Oliver and Ryan Blees are probably wrestling for the 3 seed at 149, behind UNC’s Austin O’Connor and Duke’s Mitch Finesilver. The difference between the 3 and 4 seed? The 3 seed gets the sixth seed round one and second seed in the semifinals; the fourth seed gets the fifth seed round one and the top seed in the semifinals.
• I think the 1 seed for 184 is on the line between Reenan and Zavatsky, but again not sure if Reenan’s limited ACC matches impacts his ability to earn the top seed or not. Regardless, it’s an incredible match I haven’t even really talked about yet. Reenan beat Zavatsky 8-6 in overtime at the Hokie Open last year while redshirting. Zavatsky is a two-time ACC Champion and was an All-American last year. In my opinion, both of these guys are national title contenders. Flo currently has Reenan second and Zavatsky fifth (down from 2, after a 9-0 (!!!) loss to Cornell’s Max Dean, who was 12th at the time but is now sixth). Like 133, 184 is stacked in the conference and could go anybody’s way … and will be huge for the team score with both VT and NCSU having a legit title contender.
The matchup with the latest coaches’ panel rankings (Feb. 14) with some final thoughts below:
125: No. 11 Sean Fausz (9-1) vs. Joey Prata (12-11)
133: No. 11 Tariq Wilson (12-2) vs. No. 14 Korbin Myers (15-6)
141: No. 23 Jamel Morris (19-3) vs. No. 25 Mitch Moore (16-5)
149: No. 7 Justin Oliver (14-4) vs. No. 29 Ryan Blees (14-11)
157: No. 4 Hayden Hidlay (17-2) vs. No. 18 BC LaPrade (14-7)
165: No. 17 Thomas Bullard (18-6) vs. No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (20-2)
174: No. 23 Daniel Bullard (17-7) vs. No. 7 David McFadden (15-2)
184: No. 4 Nick Reenan (12-2) vs. No. 2 Zach Zavatsky (21-3)
197: No. 21 Malik McDonald (15-8) vs. No. 8 Tom Sleigh (18-5) OR Brooks Wilding (0-2)
HWT: Colin Lawler (15-10) or Deonte Wilson (15-9) vs. No. 20 Billy Miller (12-6) OR John Borst (13-9)
• Don’t sleep on Ryan Blees at 149. He’s solid and shouldn’t be overlooked based on his 14-11 record. He gave UNC's Austin O’Connor (No. 5 nationally) problems in their dual, falling 2-1, and also had a close 3-1 loss to Duke’s Mitch Finesilver (No. 6), who thumped Oliver 10-0. I’d call this match a must-win, but I think it’s also closer to a tossup than it appears on paper.
• As evidenced by the national rankings, VT’s lineup is full of hammers from 165 on up. It's really just a tough matchup for the Pack. On paper, State isn’t favored in any of those matches. You can make the argument that the only winnable one is 184. And the past would indicate it would be a win for State to not give up bonus points at several of those weights (Lewis beat Bullard by 7 - one point shy of bonus - in January and McFadden majored and pinned Bullard in their two matchups last year).
The positive, if you want to call it that, is that VT's 197, Sleigh, has not wrestled in the last two duals for Tech. His last match was an upset loss to UNC’s Brandon Whitman (7-4), which was one of the surprise results that swung that match in UNC’s favor.
• UNC kind of laid the blueprint for a VT upset. However, you could look at that as a positive or negative (as in it refocused VT). Also, VT routinely has been “up” for the Pack, it's become a pretty intense rivalry, and I’d expect this year to be no different, especially with it being the final dual, Senior Day, at home, etc.
• The keys for this match are NC State cannot give up bonus points … anywhere (tall task), and you’d always like for them to get some at 125 or 149 so it doesn't come down to criteria (would be third such match of the season). But Oliver just needs to beat Blees. Obviously an upset somewhere else would help, because on paper I think it’s a 5-5 split, with NC State winning the first five matches and VT the final five. To me, the swing matches are 133, 141 and 184 (and like I've said, I'd throw 149 in there too right now). If Sleigh is out, I’d call McDonald a heavy favorite and that changes things a lot. If Wilson's out at 133, that also changes things majorly.
• I’d expect a draw for the starting weight … especially if VT knows Sleigh is out. Should be a great match. Unfortunately, I'm on the call for Duke-UNC at the same time, so won't be providing live updates, but I think my match may end first and I can hopefully watch the last one or two bouts.
If Virginia Tech wins and UNC also beats Duke Friday night, the Tar Heels win the title. If Virginia Tech wins but UNC loses, the Hokies take home the trophy. So three teams are still alive for the regular-season title, but keep in mind the trophy everybody wants and truly cares about — and also where the all-important national bids are earned — is not until the ACC Tournament, March 9 in Blacksburg.
I’ve been saying for a while the tournament race is going to be a tight one, but a lot of important things for it will be decided Friday night (seeds, etc.).
The biggest and most important question for this match is not, does NC State repeat as regular-season champs? Though that'd be nice, it’s does All-American 133-pounder Tariq Wilson return and wrestle for the first time since Jan. 6 vs. Ohio State?
Wilson, when healthy and on his game, can beat anybody in the country. 133 pounds has been complete chaos on the national scale this year. FloWrestling had a fun article about the craziness yesterday. But here’s my quick cliff notes version of it: of Flo’s preseason top 10 at the weight, four are not in the current top 10 — and they were each replaced by a wrestler who wasn’t even in the preseason top 20.
But back to NC State-Virginia Tech … IF Wilson wrestles, he’s No. 13 in the most recent Flo national rankings (has fallen due to injury and inactivity, not losses). Virginia Tech’s 133, Korbin Myers, is ranked 12th currently and was the No. 14 seed at NCAAs last year while at Edinboro (but he’s been 12-15ish nationally most of this year). Myers rocketed up the national rankings after beating current No. 5 Micky Phillippi of Pitt, who a week before that beat current No. 2 Daton Fix. But two weeks after Myers beat Phillippi, he lost to UNC’s Gary Wayne Harding (No. 18 currently) and Cornell’s Chaz Tucker (No. 11, thanks in large part to the win over Myers) in back-to-back matches. Is your head spinning yet? Both Wayne Harding and Tucker are solid but like 15-20ish guys nationally. 133 is anybody’s weight this postseason — in the ACC and nationally (Michigan’s Stevan Micic is the current No. 1, but his schedule hasn’t been that tough and he’s only 13-0 this year).
I don’t have ACC records for all on the year in front of me, but according to Flo’s ACC rankings, these “seeds” could be on the line in the bout:
• I’m honestly not sure what the seeding guidelines are, but if there’s no minimum match requirement, it could make sense that an undefeated Wilson (if he wrestles and beats Myers) gets the 1 seed at 133 over Phillippi, who’d have one loss in conference. But that’d be Wilson’s only ACC match, so I’m not sure what the affect of that would be on seedings. But that scenario would mean Wilson beat Myers who beat Phillippi.
Obviously, earning the 1 seed vs. the 2 at this weight would be a huge boost for ACCs — instead of facing Phillippi/Myers in semis, it would be Wayne Harding or Virginia’s Louie Hayes. Not an easy road still, but better than Phillippi or Myers … who he would only see one of in the finals.
• I think the top 141-pounders in the league are either Mitch Moore or Jamel Morris, although I’m not sure if this is “for” the 1 seed. Stilll, I think this is a huge match for many reasons.
• Justin Oliver and Ryan Blees are probably wrestling for the 3 seed at 149, behind UNC’s Austin O’Connor and Duke’s Mitch Finesilver. The difference between the 3 and 4 seed? The 3 seed gets the sixth seed round one and second seed in the semifinals; the fourth seed gets the fifth seed round one and the top seed in the semifinals.
• I think the 1 seed for 184 is on the line between Reenan and Zavatsky, but again not sure if Reenan’s limited ACC matches impacts his ability to earn the top seed or not. Regardless, it’s an incredible match I haven’t even really talked about yet. Reenan beat Zavatsky 8-6 in overtime at the Hokie Open last year while redshirting. Zavatsky is a two-time ACC Champion and was an All-American last year. In my opinion, both of these guys are national title contenders. Flo currently has Reenan second and Zavatsky fifth (down from 2, after a 9-0 (!!!) loss to Cornell’s Max Dean, who was 12th at the time but is now sixth). Like 133, 184 is stacked in the conference and could go anybody’s way … and will be huge for the team score with both VT and NCSU having a legit title contender.
The matchup with the latest coaches’ panel rankings (Feb. 14) with some final thoughts below:
125: No. 11 Sean Fausz (9-1) vs. Joey Prata (12-11)
133: No. 11 Tariq Wilson (12-2) vs. No. 14 Korbin Myers (15-6)
141: No. 23 Jamel Morris (19-3) vs. No. 25 Mitch Moore (16-5)
149: No. 7 Justin Oliver (14-4) vs. No. 29 Ryan Blees (14-11)
157: No. 4 Hayden Hidlay (17-2) vs. No. 18 BC LaPrade (14-7)
165: No. 17 Thomas Bullard (18-6) vs. No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (20-2)
174: No. 23 Daniel Bullard (17-7) vs. No. 7 David McFadden (15-2)
184: No. 4 Nick Reenan (12-2) vs. No. 2 Zach Zavatsky (21-3)
197: No. 21 Malik McDonald (15-8) vs. No. 8 Tom Sleigh (18-5) OR Brooks Wilding (0-2)
HWT: Colin Lawler (15-10) or Deonte Wilson (15-9) vs. No. 20 Billy Miller (12-6) OR John Borst (13-9)
• Don’t sleep on Ryan Blees at 149. He’s solid and shouldn’t be overlooked based on his 14-11 record. He gave UNC's Austin O’Connor (No. 5 nationally) problems in their dual, falling 2-1, and also had a close 3-1 loss to Duke’s Mitch Finesilver (No. 6), who thumped Oliver 10-0. I’d call this match a must-win, but I think it’s also closer to a tossup than it appears on paper.
• As evidenced by the national rankings, VT’s lineup is full of hammers from 165 on up. It's really just a tough matchup for the Pack. On paper, State isn’t favored in any of those matches. You can make the argument that the only winnable one is 184. And the past would indicate it would be a win for State to not give up bonus points at several of those weights (Lewis beat Bullard by 7 - one point shy of bonus - in January and McFadden majored and pinned Bullard in their two matchups last year).
The positive, if you want to call it that, is that VT's 197, Sleigh, has not wrestled in the last two duals for Tech. His last match was an upset loss to UNC’s Brandon Whitman (7-4), which was one of the surprise results that swung that match in UNC’s favor.
• UNC kind of laid the blueprint for a VT upset. However, you could look at that as a positive or negative (as in it refocused VT). Also, VT routinely has been “up” for the Pack, it's become a pretty intense rivalry, and I’d expect this year to be no different, especially with it being the final dual, Senior Day, at home, etc.
• The keys for this match are NC State cannot give up bonus points … anywhere (tall task), and you’d always like for them to get some at 125 or 149 so it doesn't come down to criteria (would be third such match of the season). But Oliver just needs to beat Blees. Obviously an upset somewhere else would help, because on paper I think it’s a 5-5 split, with NC State winning the first five matches and VT the final five. To me, the swing matches are 133, 141 and 184 (and like I've said, I'd throw 149 in there too right now). If Sleigh is out, I’d call McDonald a heavy favorite and that changes things a lot. If Wilson's out at 133, that also changes things majorly.
• I’d expect a draw for the starting weight … especially if VT knows Sleigh is out. Should be a great match. Unfortunately, I'm on the call for Duke-UNC at the same time, so won't be providing live updates, but I think my match may end first and I can hopefully watch the last one or two bouts.
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