UNC Wrestling 2025-2026

[81Heel/M1]

Adding additional comments before the match tonight. There is almost no way we match last year’s ncaat qualifiers this year. I believe we had 8 last year, but rankings suggest that we will have only 6 this year. Terukina, Simcox, Hepner, and Dailey are positioned to get in, even if they don’t have a good conference tournament. Oakley and Root need to finish strong, or hope there aren’t too many upsets at their weights. Platt likely needs an upset win somewhere. A win tonight for any of these 3 against a top 10 opponent might help their position in the rankings. Platt may still need to get an upset in the acct to earn a ncaat slot. For Askew, Carrigan, and Levy an upset or 2 in the acct will be necessary to make the ncaat depending on how many automatic qualifiers the acc gets at their weights.

Last year Oakley beat Knox in the dual meet, but to do so he chose neutral in order to not take bottom under Knox. Oakley will again be reluctant to go on bottom, I believe. To win Oakley will have to get a takedown (at least 1), so a balance between solid defense and being aggressive on his feet will be critical.

 

[Outer banker]

We look horrible
Good grief, I did not expect this performance…

 

[81Heel/M1]

Let’s start by thanking the seniors that will be moving on. Not sure people realize how important these guys are that practice every day, with some rarely getting to wrestle in front of the fans.

I knew we would not have a high chance of winning, but this was embarrassing. Terukina and Oakley both lost tough matches against highly ranked opponents. Was hoping for an upset, but they held serve. Simcox was looking strong, until he allowed the guy to get a cradle. That may have been okay, until he pulled his knee close to his own head. At that point the cradle was so tight Simcox had no chance. Askew did about as good as I could have hoped in this match, but it was another domino falling against us. Root looked good, but when you stop the single leg you have to block the hand from switching to a double. That wouldn’t necessarily have won the match, but it is a basic requirement. Don’t get me wrong, I never had the strong hips to stop the single leg, but it is a technical point that can be fixed to keep him in these matches.

I don’t even know where to start with Hepner. Not sure if he chose top or neutral, but either decision was bad. Maybe there is still something going on with him that we don’t know, and if so I hope he is better in 2 weeks. He looked so good several weeks back, but the last several matches he has not looked good at all. Maybe people have just figured out how to take away what he likes to do.

Love what Carrigan has done the last 2 weeks, and he may be the only wrestler building confidence going into acct preparation. Happy Fea got to wrestle on senior night, and maybe we should have let Darracott go as well. Thought Platt wrestled reasonably well against a top opponent, but I don’t understand choosing bottom if you can’t get away. I was worried about Levy against a 197 wrestler that is higher ranked, but he took care of business tonight.

We have 2 weeks to get ready for the 3 week stretch that matters. If we do well across those 3 weeks, none of this matters nearly as much.

 

[NYHeel92]

Lots of close matches, which we were winning a good share earlier in the season. Now we’re winning basically none.

Geez, did the State match crush our spirit? Crazy that we’ve won 4 matches in the last two meets…Carrigan x 2, O’Neill, and Levy. Pretty bad.

don’t get me wrong, I really like the way the program is heading but the last 3 weeks have been rough.

 

[Jriv23]

This team is relatively young. It is going to take time for the Freshmen time to learn and adjust to college.

 

[TAHeel]

Yeah, think it's fair to say the Heels of the last few weeks were a little of what we were expecting after the initial rash of injuries at the start of the year.

 

[81Heel/M1]

Logic suggests that we turn our thoughts to the acct in 2 weeks, but there is an important ncaat piece that is actually the next big step. Soon a committee will determine automatic bids for the ncaat, and that will provide some context for the acct. The committee will rank the top wrestlers and assign automatic bids to each conference for each weight. Because they expect upsets in conference tournaments, being ranked doesn’t guarantee getting a bid. Typically the top 20 or so wrestlers in each weight do earn an automatic bid for their conference. In the low to mid 20s it could go either way. Realistically the 25-33 ranked wrestlers don’t earn automatic bids, and have to earn their way to the ncaat. The more upsets in conference tournaments that give unranked wrestlers an automatic bid, the fewer number of lower ranked wrestlers that will get a bid to fill out the brackets of 33 wrestlers per weight class. There is also some possibility of conference bias in this process, allowing the traditional powers more guaranteed spots.

I did a quick count by weights using Intermat rankings from last Tuesday, before Friday’s match, and here is my summary and guesses for the acc automatic bids. At 125 the conference has 5 wrestlers in the top 22, and I think we get 4 bids. For 133, there are 5 wrestlers ranked in the top 27, but 3 are ranked between 24-27. I think we get 3 bids. Simcox currently leads 4 wrestlers in the top 22, plus the #30 wrestler at 141. I would like to think we would get 4 bids, but I am guessing 3. At 149 there are 4 wrestlers ranked in the top 23. Again, I think we get 3 bids. At 157 there are 3 wrestlers in the top 19, plus 2 ranked 27 and 30. Likely we only get the 3 automatic bids. For 165 there are 2 wrestlers currently in the top 16, and 2 others ranked 32-33. Obviously only 2 bids expected here. For 174 there are 3 wrestlers in the top 23, and 2 in the low 30s. Again I am expecting 3 automatic bids. At 184 there are 4 ranked wrestlers, but only Dailey is ranked higher than 27. Likely only 1 bid at this weight. There are only 3 ranked acc wrestlers at 197, but all 3 are top 11 and should earn 3 automatic bids for the conference. Finally, at heavyweight there are 4 wrestlers ranked in the top 23, and I am guessing we get 3 automatic bids.

Viewed from a Carolina perspective, Terukina, Simcox, Hepner, and Dailey definitely earned automatic bids for the conference, and are almost certain to get a bid if they don‘t qualify via the acct. Oakley and Root have a shot at getting in if they don’t earn an automatic bid at the acct, but neither can afford too many upsets at their weight. The other 4 have to be 1 of the upsets that takes an automatic bid to make the ncaat.

 

[heelwrestler07]

Logic suggests that we turn our thoughts to the acct in 2 weeks, but there is an important ncaat piece that is actually the next big step. Soon a committee will determine automatic bids for the ncaat, and that will provide some context for the acct. The committee will rank the top wrestlers and assign automatic bids to each conference for each weight. Because they expect upsets in conference tournaments, being ranked doesn’t guarantee getting a bid. Typically the top 20 or so wrestlers in each weight do earn an automatic bid for their conference. In the low to mid 20s it could go either way. Realistically the 25-33 ranked wrestlers don’t earn automatic bids, and have to earn their way to the ncaat. The more upsets in conference tournaments that give unranked wrestlers an automatic bid, the fewer number of lower ranked wrestlers that will get a bid to fill out the brackets of 33 wrestlers per weight class. There is also some possibility of conference bias in this process, allowing the traditional powers more guaranteed spots.

I did a quick count by weights using Intermat rankings from last Tuesday, before Friday’s match, and here is my summary and guesses for the acc automatic bids. At 125 the conference has 5 wrestlers in the top 22, and I think we get 4 bids. For 133, there are 5 wrestlers ranked in the top 27, but 3 are ranked between 24-27. I think we get 3 bids. Simcox currently leads 4 wrestlers in the top 22, plus the #30 wrestler at 141. I would like to think we would get 4 bids, but I am guessing 3. At 149 there are 4 wrestlers ranked in the top 23. Again, I think we get 3 bids. At 157 there are 3 wrestlers in the top 19, plus 2 ranked 27 and 30. Likely we only get the 3 automatic bids. For 165 there are 2 wrestlers currently in the top 16, and 2 others ranked 32-33. Obviously only 2 bids expected here. For 174 there are 3 wrestlers in the top 23, and 2 in the low 30s. Again I am expecting 3 automatic bids. At 184 there are 4 ranked wrestlers, but only Dailey is ranked higher than 27. Likely only 1 bid at this weight. There are only 3 ranked acc wrestlers at 197, but all 3 are top 11 and should earn 3 automatic bids for the conference. Finally, at heavyweight there are 4 wrestlers ranked in the top 23, and I am guessing we get 3 automatic bids.

Viewed from a Carolina perspective, Terukina, Simcox, Hepner, and Dailey definitely earned automatic bids for the conference, and are almost certain to get a bid if they don‘t qualify via the acct. Oakley and Root have a shot at getting in if they don’t earn an automatic bid at the acct, but neither can afford too many upsets at their weight. The other 4 have to be 1 of the upsets that takes an automatic bid to make the ncaat.

Good, though sobering summary. Last year felt better, but despite that I am still positive about the direction we are headed. This was always going to be a rebuilding year with a youth movement and then injuries added to that have really changed expectations. All that said I am really pulling for a few of our borderline guys to pull off some upsets themselves and end the year on a better note to give us momentum into next season.

 

[81Heel/M1]

Several wrestlers went to Davidson for the Wildcat Open, and 5 won championships. Oakley, O’Neill, Showalter, Calcagno, and Levy were the champions, with O’Neill won 3 matches in under 4 minutes. Botello took 3rd after forfeiting in the semis. Not sure what happened there, unless they were trying to avoid him wrestling against Oakley. Nugent wrestled at 165 and finished 4th, losing to the eventual champion in the semis and to Church from UVa in the consolation finals.

 

[81Heel/M1]

As a first look at the difficulties of seeding for the conference tournament, the 125 pound weight class has some unique challenges. Only 2 wrestlers wrestled all 6 conference matches, Savoye from dook and Chappell from Pitt. Both went 2-4 in conference. Looking at the school records, Tech and Stanford both went 5-1 in conference matches. Virginia went 3-3, and the other 4 schools went 2-4.

Individual national rankings show Ventresca (Tech) at #3, Robinson (state) at #5, Provo (Stanford) at #9, Terukina (NC) at #13, and Roller (Uva) at #22. While this doesn’t directly impact the seeding, it may factor in at some level. Ventresca went 5-0 in conference, and almost certainly will be the #1 seed after beating Robinson, Provo, and Terukina. Provo likewise should get the #2 seed, with a 4-1 personal record losing only to Ventresca while getting wins over Robinson and Terukina.

Here is where things start getting interesting. Virginia had the next best team record, 3-3, but 2 of there wins came against Stinson and Yokum (backups to Terukina and Robinson). There best wrestler, Roller, was 1-2 in conference, beating Stinson but losing to Provo and Chappel. There other wrestler, Hayes, went 2-1 with wins coming against dook and Yokum. It is hard to justify Robinson not being ranked 3rd with his record of 2-2 including wins over Terukina and Chappell, with loses coming from Ventresca and Provo. If Robinson does get the 3 seed, then we want to end up 4th or 5th seed to avoid a first round match against either Robinson or Provo. I like Terukina’s chances against Roller, Chappell, or Savoye. If somehow Uva gets the 3 seed, then we would hope to fall to the 6 seed in order to be matched up with Roller vs. Robinson or Provo.

Terukina’s record was only 1-3, but the loses were to Ventresca, Provo, and Robinson. He beat Chappell in the head to head, and Stinson beat Savoye, so we are almost certainly looking at a 4/5 seed. If I were guessing the seeding, I would go

1 – Ventresca (Tech)

2 – Provo (Stanford)

3 – Robinson (state)

4 – Terukina (NC)

5 – Chappell (Pitt)

6 – Roller (UVa)

7 – Savoye (dook)

 

[DiverDownBrian]

Conference allocations for Nationals are out: https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling...ee-releases-qualifying-tournament-allocations

 

[81Heel/M1]

Conference allocations for Nationals are out: https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling...ee-releases-qualifying-tournament-allocations

Thanks for the heads up. For those keeping score, I only guessed 3 correctly.

From a high level view, the acc got 39 automatic bids. The big10 got 87 and the big 12 got 63 automatic bids. I guess it pays to be big. The next closest conference to us is the mid American with 27.

I have started looking at seeding for conference tournament, and that may help put the bids by weight into perspective as far as prospects for the ncaat. One of the issues with seeding is that some wrestlers miss matches for various reasons. Two related facts stood out as I was looking at records in the acc. First is the fact that NC's 141 weight class was represented by 4 different wrestlers in conference. That is more than any other school at any weight. The second fact is that the 197 wight class was the only one where 1 wrestler represented each school in all of the acc matches. That's impressive.

Looking at seeding and bids by weight class:
125 - As I have previously stated I believe Terukina will be seeded 4th. With 5 bids at this weight, he should be able to claim his auto bid.
133 - I believe Oakley will be seeded 5th in the acct, and the conference only received 3 auto bids. Tallmadge (Pitt) is who I have seeded 4th, and he is 1 of 2 wrestlers that Oakley will need to beat to claim an auto bid. Winning the first match gives him the easiest path to getting the bid, but he will likely have to beat either Tallmadge again, or beat Redding (state) in the consolation finals to get the bid.
141 - There are 5 auto bids at this weight, so we should be okay for qualifying for the ncaat. Although O'Neill pulled off the pin against Tech, Botello lost to Pitt and Tocci lost to dook. Add those losses to Simcox loss against Stanford, and I have him seeded 4th. To be fair the 2-4 seeds will have the same school record at the weight (3-3), and Simcox beat Porter (UVa), so the 3 seed is possible. Simcox can win this weight, and he is certainly 1 of our best opportunities to get a conference champion. We need him to do well.
149 - There are 4 ncaat auto bids at this weight, but we did not have a good year here. I don't think Askew is that far below the level of competition at this weight, but he is a true freshman, and only kept 3 matches within 5 points in the season going 0-6. So this means he has nothing to lose. You never know, but not holding my breath here.
157 - There are 4 auto bids, and I have Root as a 4 seed. He really just needs to wrestle aggressively, and see where things fall. Not sure he is ready to claim 2 upsets to win the tournament, but I could see him getting to the finals.
165 - The good news is that there are 4 auto bids, and I have Hepner as a 4 seed. I am really not sure what is going on with Hepner, but he hasn't looked the same since losing the state match. If he is healthy and wrestling smart, I believe he should finish no lower than 2nd. That said I can't ignore the last several matches, and I will be happy with a 3rd place finish. Note that I have Parco from Stanford seeded 3rd, and I am still not sure why Hepner lost to him.
174 - There are 3 auto bids at this weight, and I have Carrigan seeded 5th. The thing here is that Carrigan seem to get some traction late in the season, and I am not sure how well he can do in the acct. 4th seem possible, as he beat the wrestlers I have seeded 4th and 6th. His worst loss was 1-7 against the 2 seed (Wallace - dook). If I had to predict a surprise finish in the acct, Carrigan would be my best guess for this prediction.
184 - I have Dailey at the 4 seed, and we have 4 auto bids for the conference. I put Dailey in the category with Simcox, and this is a weight we could win a championship at this year. Dailey only lost 1 match, and it was to the 3 seed (Bullock - Tech). The other loss at this weight was Fea's loss against Stanford.
197 - There are only 3 auto bids here, and I have Platt the 4 seed (though with the same record as the 5 & 6 seeds). Like Oakley, Platt is going to need a couple of upsets to qualify for ncaat. He has nothing to lose in this tournament, and a potential trip to the ncaat if he can wrestle aggressively and pick up those upsets.
285 - I have Levy as a 5 seed, and there are 4 ncaat bids available. Levy did not fare well against 2 of the top 4 wrestlers in the weight class, but he came in late to a starting role as a true freshman. I don't know that I think he can win his way into an auto bid, as the conference has 4 strong heavyweights, but he is a true freshman with nothing to lose. Like others he needs to be aggressive.

We are not built to be a good tournament team this year (again), but this could be the first step. Some of our veterans need to find a way to lead, and some of our young wrestlers need to end the year with momentum. I assume we are expected to finish 5th this year, and anything above that should be considered a win. I am looking forward to see how they respond next week, but I would love to know what others think.

 

[NYHeel92]

To me, the overall takeaway is allocations seems fair. Nothing egregious on the low or high side.

Likely we had 5 that “earned” an allocation for the ACC: Terukina, Simcox, Root, Hepner, Dailey. That should probably be our expectation for qualifiers. If any of these guys do not qualify automatically, I think all but Root would have a good chance for an at-large.

Hopefully they all qualify automatically and maybe we can get one upset bid (Oakley or Carrigan probably most likely)

 

[81Heel/M1]

I did a little bit deeper dive into the components that the ncaat selection process uses for bids, first auto bids and then at- large bids after the conference tournaments. The selection process uses 2 polls, coaches poll and a ncaa D1 wrestling ranking, as well as the wrestler RPI rating. For UNC wrestlers the coaches poll, the ncaa D1 ranking, and the RPI are as follows:
125 - Terukina 18, 16, 14
133 - Oakley 27, 23, 36
141 - Simcox 15, 11, 12
149 - Askew --, --, 47
157 - Root 31, 32, 28
165 - Hepner 18, 18, 18
174 - Carrigan --, --, 66
184 - Dailey 20, 21, 17
197 - Platt --, --, 30
285 - Levy --, --, 42

The coaches poll and the ncaa D1 ranking both stop at 33 wrestlers per weight class, based on the number of wrestler that qualify for the ncaat at each weight. The RPI goes up to around 60+/- wrestlers per weight. What this shows us is that we have 6 wrestlers that are ranked to qualify for the ncaat, and 4 that are expected to be done after the acct. Additionally, 4 of the expected qualifiers are top 20, and likely to get at-large bids if they fail to qualify at the acct. Oakley seems likely to be safe unless at least 4-5 expected qualifiers do not get auto bids. Root seems to be the most at risk of missing the tournament based on these rankings. Based on this and the fact that the acc has 4 auto bids at 157, Roots first match at the acct will be very important. As a 4 seed winning the first match likely gives him a match against Felix from state (1-5 in conference matches) or Boulanger from dook (0-5 in conference matches) to qualify for the ncaat. A loss in the first match likely means he would have to beat Evans from Pitt (4-2 in conference and a 4-1 win over Root in the dual meet) to get an auto bid to the ncaat.

Obviously Platt, Levy, Askew, and Carrigan have no chance to get an at-large bid. In order to qualify for the ncaat they have to win enough matches in the acct to earn 1 of the auto bids at their weight. Carrigan, Platt, and Levy are seeded in the 4 vs 5 match according to my seeding predictions. If I am right, they like Root have an easier path to qualifying if they win their first match. Levy has a decent chance of qualifying if he can win his first match, as he would likely have a match against the 7 vs 6 match winner to qualify (285 has 4 auto bids). With only 3 auto bids at 174 and 197, the path is more difficult for Carrigan and Platt. Askew clearly has the most difficult path to qualify, but he has nothing to lose and should wrestle with that attitude. There are 4 auto bids at 149, so assuming Askew will lose his match against the 2 seed, he would have to beat the 6 seed (likely Denkins from UVa who was 2-4 in conference and beat Askew 4-1) and the loser from the 4 vs 5 seed match.

 

[NYHeel92]

Based on last year’s timing, ACC brackets should be out sometime today.

 

[Jriv23]

Thanks for the information and for sharing. Go Heels!

 

[81Heel/M1]

 

[NYHeel92]

81Heels seeding predictions were very accurate!

 

[81Heel/M1]

It makes it easier when most of the wrestlers are either 4 or 5 seeds.

Here is the full listing of seeds for the acct.

125 Pounds
1. Eddie Ventresca, Virginia Tech *
2. Nico Provo, Stanford
3. Vincent Robinson, NC State
4. Kysen Terukina, North Carolina
5. Tyler Chappell, Pitt
6. Keyveon Roller, Virginia
7. Spencer von Savoye, Duke

133 Pounds
1. Aaron Seidel, Virginia Tech
2. Tyler Knox, Stanford
3. Zach Redding, NC State
4. Evan Tallmadge, Pitt
5. Ethan Oakley, North Carolina
6. Marion Yarbrough II, Virginia
7. Riley Rowan, Duke

141 Pounds
1. Jack Consiglio, Stanford
2. Luke Simcox, North Carolina
3. Ryan Jack, NC State *
4. Tom Crook, Virginia Tech
5. Briar Priest, Pitt
6. Gable Porter, Virginia
7. Raymond Adams, Duke

149 Pounds
1. Koy Buesgens, NC State
2. Aden Valencia, Stanford
3. Collin Gaj, Virginia Tech
4. Kade Brown, Pitt
5. Wynton Denkins, Virginia
6. Dylan Ross, Duke
7. Nate Askew, North Carolina

157 Pounds
1. Daniel Cardenas, Stanford
2. Ethen Miller, Virginia Tech
3. Dylan Evans, Pitt
4. Laird Root, North Carolina
5. Colton Washleski, Virginia
6. Luca Felix, NC State
7. Mikey Boulanger, Duke

165 Pounds
1. Will Denny, NC State
2. EJ Parco, Stanford
3. Mac Church, Virginia Tech
4. Bryce Hepner, North Carolina
5. Jared Keslar, Pitt
6. Michael Murphy, Virginia
7. Aurelius Dunbar, Duke

174 Pounds
1. Luca Augustine, Pitt
2. Matty Singleton, NC State *
3. Aidan Wallace, Duke
4. Sergio Desiante, Virginia Tech
5. Nick Hamilton, Virginia ^
6. Collin Carrigan, North Carolina
7. Collin Guffey, Stanford

184 Pounds
1. Chase Kranitz, Pitt
2. Abraham Wojcikiewicz, Stanford
3. Jaden Bullock, Virginia Tech
4. Jake Dailey, North Carolina
5. Don Cates, NC State
6. Griffin Gammell, Virginia
7. David Hussey, Duke

197 Pounds
1. Angelo Posada, Stanford
2. Mac Stout, Pitt *
3. Sonny Sasso, Virginia Tech
4. Patrick Brophy, NC State
5. Robert Platt, North Carolina
6. Steven Burrell Jr., Virginia
7. Owen McGrory, Duke

285 Pounds
1. Isaac Trumble, NC State
2. Dayton Pitzer, Pitt *
3. Jimmy Mullen, Virginia Tech
4. Connor Barket, Duke
5. Brenan Morgan, Virginia
6. Jacob Levy, North Carolina
7. Luke Duthie, Stanford

* - a prior ACC champion at that weight class
^ - a prior ACC champion at another weight class

 

[heelwrestler07]

It makes it easier when most of the wrestlers are either 4 or 5 seeds.

Here is the full listing of seeds for the acct.

125 Pounds
1. Eddie Ventresca, Virginia Tech *
2. Nico Provo, Stanford
3. Vincent Robinson, NC State
4. Kysen Terukina, North Carolina
5. Tyler Chappell, Pitt
6. Keyveon Roller, Virginia
7. Spencer von Savoye, Duke

133 Pounds
1. Aaron Seidel, Virginia Tech
2. Tyler Knox, Stanford
3. Zach Redding, NC State
4. Evan Tallmadge, Pitt
5. Ethan Oakley, North Carolina
6. Marion Yarbrough II, Virginia
7. Riley Rowan, Duke

141 Pounds
1. Jack Consiglio, Stanford
2. Luke Simcox, North Carolina
3. Ryan Jack, NC State *
4. Tom Crook, Virginia Tech
5. Briar Priest, Pitt
6. Gable Porter, Virginia
7. Raymond Adams, Duke

149 Pounds
1. Koy Buesgens, NC State
2. Aden Valencia, Stanford
3. Collin Gaj, Virginia Tech
4. Kade Brown, Pitt
5. Wynton Denkins, Virginia
6. Dylan Ross, Duke
7. Nate Askew, North Carolina

157 Pounds
1. Daniel Cardenas, Stanford
2. Ethen Miller, Virginia Tech
3. Dylan Evans, Pitt
4. Laird Root, North Carolina
5. Colton Washleski, Virginia
6. Luca Felix, NC State
7. Mikey Boulanger, Duke

165 Pounds
1. Will Denny, NC State
2. EJ Parco, Stanford
3. Mac Church, Virginia Tech
4. Bryce Hepner, North Carolina
5. Jared Keslar, Pitt
6. Michael Murphy, Virginia
7. Aurelius Dunbar, Duke

174 Pounds
1. Luca Augustine, Pitt
2. Matty Singleton, NC State *
3. Aidan Wallace, Duke
4. Sergio Desiante, Virginia Tech
5. Nick Hamilton, Virginia ^
6. Collin Carrigan, North Carolina
7. Collin Guffey, Stanford

184 Pounds
1. Chase Kranitz, Pitt
2. Abraham Wojcikiewicz, Stanford
3. Jaden Bullock, Virginia Tech
4. Jake Dailey, North Carolina
5. Don Cates, NC State
6. Griffin Gammell, Virginia
7. David Hussey, Duke

197 Pounds
1. Angelo Posada, Stanford
2. Mac Stout, Pitt *
3. Sonny Sasso, Virginia Tech
4. Patrick Brophy, NC State
5. Robert Platt, North Carolina
6. Steven Burrell Jr., Virginia
7. Owen McGrory, Duke

285 Pounds
1. Isaac Trumble, NC State
2. Dayton Pitzer, Pitt *
3. Jimmy Mullen, Virginia Tech
4. Connor Barket, Duke
5. Brenan Morgan, Virginia
6. Jacob Levy, North Carolina
7. Luke Duthie, Stanford

* - a prior ACC champion at that weight class
^ - a prior ACC champion at another weight class

It would be easier if we would have a great year and have everyone locked in as a 1 seed

 

[81Heel/M1]

If you are on instagram you might pull this up and like it. This young man is ranked 17th as a junior by Flowrestling, and seems to be on the rise. Clearly he visited UNC over the weekend.

 

[81Heel/M1]

Looking at the seeding, and scoring the acct based strictly on the seeding (the higher seed wins every match with a decision and no bonus points), the results would be as follows:
1. Stanford - 81
2. Tech - 67.5
3. state - 66
4. Pitt - 56
5. UNC - 25
6. dook - 9.5
7. Virginia - 5

Tournaments never go according to seed, but this is a starting point to set expectations. With 3 key starters out, we will need some upsets in our favor to finish where we have typically finished in recent years.

 

[Bates]

Thanks for posting that. I did not realize that Stanford was that far ahead as a tournament team.

 

[81Heel/M1]

The information below is redundant for the most part, but I went to the 247 site after a few weeks away and realized someone had asked for my thoughts. Below is what I posted for them, and since this is my primary board that I follow I thought I would add it here as well.

Sorry for my delay in responding, but I do have thoughts. Let start with the fact that we lost 3 returning ncaat qualifiers for the season this year, and 2 of their replacements are true freshmen. We are actually a better dual team this year than last even without those 3 starters, so it is really hard to understand the big losses to Tech and Stanford without a little more context. I should start that context with the fact that Coach Koll recruited some of the Stanford wrestlers that helped beat before he came to UNC. They are a strong team, and based on seeding should win the acct. I still wouldn't count Tech out, but Stanford and Tech will potentially beat state in this year's acct.

We started 7 redshirt/true freshmen for much of the season. This is the first year that Coach Koll's recruits have had any significant impact on UNC Wrestling, and they are the freshmen that were starting. Last year and this year were the floor created by the all-in year that Coach Scott put together prior to leaving UNC. When he left it was late in the cycle, and the school year was already started. This impacted the program in ways that we are realizing with this team's results. While it has been an exciting year with some fun upsets, the consistency has not been there (as would be expected with 7 freshmen starting). I am actually more disappointed in some of the transfers than the freshmen at this point.

Terukina has been pretty strong at 125, but he had a slump mid season and the acc is stacked at this weight with 3 top 10 wrestlers. Oakley hasn't looked as good since the acct last year, though he did have a few good matches for a stretch this year. Hepner looked great, until about half way through the acc dual season. Don't know if he got hurt, or what happened. Everyone else are freshmen after Scott, Ogunsanya, and Neves got hurt.

Of the freshmen, Simcox and Dailey have had the best overall year. Simcox was controlling the match against Stanford before getting caught in a cradle. Not an excuse, but I look for him to get revenge in the acct. He could very well win the tournament, and do well at ncaat. Can he make AA, I don't know and that would be a big accomplishment. Dailey did not wrestle against Stanford, as Koll let Fea have his last match. That costs Dailey in the acct seeding, but again he could have a good run here to end the year. Root also looked good at times, and I am hopeful he can qualify for the ncaat. Carrigan had a tough year, but won his last 2 matches where everyone else was pretty much losing. Has that given him the confidence to do better in post season? We will see. Platt is a bit of a wild card, but we will see if he can pull it together to end the season. I don't see Askew or Levy (the 2 true freshmen) making a big run late, but in tournaments you never know.

I posted on TOS that if the wrestlers match their seeding with no bonus point matches, Stanford wins the tournament with 81 points followed by Tech with 67.5. State would come in third (66 points), Pitt 4th (56 points), and we would be 5th with 25 points. Virginia falls to 7th this year, with dook bouncing up to 6th place well behind us.

Next year should start our climb to a more respectable team. There are a few wrestlers that Coach Scott recruited that could contribute, but that haven't yet, and all of the Coach Koll recruits will have another year of experience. All 3 wrestlers that were lost this year should be back, though they may be competing with younger wrestlers for their spots in some cases.

Please remember that the oldest of Coach Koll's recruits are redshirt freshmen this year, and at least 2 of those have been top 15 - 20 wrestlers for most of the year. Better days are ahead, but you have to remember that the acc is getting stronger, and could have 3 top 10-12 programs after the ncaat this year. Just my thoughts going into the most important part of the season.

 

[TAHeel]

125: Terukina gets us started with an easy win

 

[TAHeel]

133: Oakley gets very lucky to force OT and still loses. He'll need to win the consolation bracket for a bid

 

[TAHeel]

141: Simcox with a pin!

 

[TAHeel]

149: Askew gets tech'd

 

[TAHeel]

157: Root with a reversal in the TBs

 

[TAHeel]

165: Hepner got no points out of a cradle somehow, probably prevented bonus points, but does win 4-0

 

[TAHeel]

174: Carrigan with a huge reversal right as he was about to be down a minute on RT and then the ride out to get an upset win!

 

[TAHeel]

Woah...Dailey wins at 184, and gets punched for his mat return to finish the match

 

[TAHeel]

Dailey win upgraded to a DQ for some extra team points

 

[TAHeel]

197: Platt with an upset MD over State!

 

[TAHeel]

Our wins over NCSU at 184 and 197 right there are pretty devastating for their championship hopes

 

[heelwrestler07]

Other than Oakley this has been a good first round, needed to win as many of the 4/5 matchups as we could and added in an upset in a 3/6 matchup

 

[TAHeel]

Levy gets pinned at HWT.

Heels have 7 in championship semis, 2 that will wrestle in the consolation quarters at the start of the hour, and Oakley in the consolation Semis

 

[heelwrestler07]

Our wins over NCSU at 184 and 197 right there are pretty devastating for their championship hopes

Especially with the 184 win being followed up by their guy getting kicked out

 

[TAHeel]

 

[81Heel/M1]

Thanks for the updates TAHeel. In summary we won 5 of 6 matches between 4&5 seeds, and picked up a 6 over 3 seed upset. Currently in 3rd place behind Tech and Pitt. Of note is that state is well back in 5th place with 4 points. Lot of wrestling still to go, but a better start out of the gate than last year.