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The ACC Wrestling Championship Tournament will be held in Pittsburgh on Sunday. I’ve always wanted to do a complete wrestling breakdown, so here goes.
<i>Teams</i>
<b>Virginia Tech</b>
Virginia Tech was the clear regular-season favorite this season, and nothing during the season hindered that squad. Virginia Tech ended the season winning its last five duals (they would have made it six but the Hofstra match was cancelled due to weather), sweeping the ACC in the process to finish at 14-2 overall. Only two duals losses for Va Tech (@ #4 Penn State 20-15, and @ #13 Iowa State 21-12). Virginia Tech will be the overall team favorite will returning defending National Runner-up Devin Carter at 141 pounds. If you like tough, they don’t come much tougher than Devin Carter who made the NCAA finals last year despite a severe hamstring pull at mid-season. Carter is currently ranked #3 in the nation, and joins fellow teammates Joey Dance (3rd at 125 lbs.), Sal Mastrani (9th at 149 lbs.), Nick Brascetta (5th at 157 lbs.), Chad Strube (18th at 165 lbs.), Zach Epperly (8th at 174 lbs.), Jared Haught (20th at 197 lbs.) & Ty Walz (8th at 285 lbs.) in the WIN Division I Rankings. A very tough squad, and the safe bet for repeating as Conference Tournament Champions. <i>Prediction—<b>ACC (1st), NCAA Top-Ten</b></i>
<b>Pittsburgh</b>
Pitt has had a solid season for their first in ACC competition. Last year’s ACC Dual team Champions, the Panthers have three outstanding wrestlers who could cause problems in both the conference tournament and the NCAAs. Although the squad finish the dual season at 8-8, all but one of those losses was to a team ranked in the top-25 (a home loss to rival West Virginia who has been ranked during the season). The three-headed monster begins with Max Thomusseit (whose name I still can’t pronounce correctly) who has finished his senior campaign in style with a 22-1 record and a #2 ranking at 184 lbs. Max has earned the top-seed at that weight class, and is the clear favorite. Pitt’s other two ranked wrestlers have also had solid seasons: Tyler Wilps (13-3, ranked 9th at 174 lbs.) and Mikey Racciato (19-8, ranked 18th at 149 lbs.). Other than these three, the Pitt squad is solid but not great. <i>Prediction—<b>ACC (4th), NCAA—NP</b></i>
<b>North Carolina</b>
UNC had a tough season (despite somehow earning a top-25 ranking), finishing with a 11-6 dual team record and a 2-3 mark in conference. The Asterisk sports three ranked wrestlers, the best of which is Ethan Ramos who is currently ranked 11th at 165 lbs. Since the Asterisk decides NOT to put overall individual records on its write-ups, I have no idea what the indivuals’ records are. John Staudenmeyer (15th at 174 lbs.) and Joey Ward (14th at 141 lbs) conclude the ranked list for the Tarheels. <i>Prediction—<b>ACC (6th), NCAA—NP</b></i>
<b>Virginia</b>
The Cavaliers have a strong squad and were ranked in the top-20 for much of the year. Late conference losses to UNC and NC State hampered a strong campaign which features a handful of strong All-American candidates. The best of the bunch Nick Sulzer (24-2) who finished the year ranked 2nd at 165 lbs. Sulzer earned a 4th place finish at the NCAA championships last year, and looks to repeat as ACC Champion on Sunday. George DiCamillo (ranked 13th at 133 lbs.) finished the season at 24-7 and is the top seed in his bracket. Blaise Butler also looks to earn All-American status at the NCAAs; he finished the season with a 17-3 mark at 174 lbs and is currently ranked 7th. <i>Prediction—<b>ACC (2nd), NCAA—Top-20</b></i>
<b>NC State</b>
The Wolfpack had a very solid year under Coach Pat Popolizio, finishing the season in 2nd place with a 3-2 conference mark, losing only to Va Tech (29-9) and Duke (18-17) and earning a top-20 ranking in three separate polls. The Wolfpack sports the only defending NCAA Champion for the ACC, in Heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski. Gwiz finished the year undefeated and ranked #1, and is on a 48-match winning streak (the longest in NC State history). Gwiazdowski pinned every opponent in the conference during dual season, so his title is as sure a bet as any in the tournament. NC State has turned the corner this year on the backs of many solid performances from other wrestlers, including Joe D’Angelo (125 lbs.), Kevin Jack (ranked 16th at 141 lbs), Pete Renda (18th ranked at 174 lbs) and Michael Boykin (197 lbs). Max Roshkopf was also ranked at times through the year but faltered late, losing several matches against quality opponents. <i>Prediction—<b>ACC (3rd), NCAA—Top-15</b></i>
<b>Duke</b>
The Blue Devils had a solid season in 2014-2015, winning 10 of 17 matches during the dual season. Duke will definitely factor into the team scoring as Connor Hartmann currently ranks 7th at 197 lbs and is the top-seed in the tournament. Hartmann finished the year at 24-2 and is the strongest All-American candidate for the Blue Devils. Immanuel Kerr-Brown (21-9 at 157 lbs) and Jacob Kasper (seeded #2 with 23 wins at 184 lbs) should easily earn NCAA bids and could earn ACC titles on Sunday. <i>Prediction—<b>ACC (5th), NCAA—NR</b></i>
<b><i>Final Analysis</b></i>—Virginia Tech should have its 2nd consecutive conference title in the bag. The only question remaining to be answered Sunday is how the NCAA bids might fall. The NCAA tournament committee has awarded the ACC with 29 overall bids (including conference champions—10 bids), leaving 19 at-large bids. Here is a more clear breakdown of the bids per weight class: 125 (3), 133 (3), 141 (4), 149 (3), 157 (2), 165 (3), 174 (5), 184 (2), 197 (2), 285 (2). NC State has a solid chance to get five NCAA qualifiers with a good showing on Sunday. More than that would be awesome.The ACC Wrestling Championship Tournament will be held in Pittsburgh on Sunday. I’ve always wanted to do a complete wrestling breakdown, so here goes.
Teams
Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech was the clear regular-season favorite this season, and nothing during the season hindered that squad. Virginia Tech ended the season winning its last five duals (they would have made it six but the Hofstra match was cancelled due to weather), sweeping the ACC in the process to finish at 14-2 overall. Only two duals losses for Va Tech (@ #4 Penn State 20-15, and @ #13 Iowa State 21-12). Virginia Tech will be the overall team favorite will returning defending National Runner-up Devin Carter at 141 pounds. If you like tough, they don’t come much tougher than Devin Carter who made the NCAA finals last year despite a severe hamstring pull at mid-season. Carter is currently ranked #3 in the nation, and joins fellow teammates Joey Dance (3rd at 125 lbs.), Sal Mastrani (9th at 149 lbs.), Nick Brascetta (5th at 157 lbs.), Chad Strube (18th at 165 lbs.), Zach Epperly (8th at 174 lbs.), Jared Haught (20th at 197 lbs.) & Ty Walz (8th at 285 lbs.) in the WIN Division I Rankings. A very tough squad, and the safe bet for repeating as Conference Tournament Champions. Prediction—ACC (1st), NCAA Top-Ten
Pittsburgh
Pitt has had a solid season for their first in ACC competition. Last year’s ACC Dual team Champions, the Panthers have three outstanding wrestlers who could cause problems in both the conference tournament and the NCAAs. Although the squad finish the dual season at 8-8, all but one of those losses was to a team ranked in the top-25 (a home loss to rival West Virginia who has been ranked during the season). The three-headed monster begins with Max Thomusseit (whose name I still can’t pronounce correctly) who has finished his senior campaign in style with a 22-1 record and a #2 ranking at 184 lbs. Max has earned the top-seed at that weight class, and is the clear favorite. Pitt’s other two ranked wrestlers have also had solid seasons: Tyler Wilps (13-3, ranked 9th at 174 lbs.) and Mikey Racciato (19-8, ranked 18th at 149 lbs.). Other than these three, the Pitt squad is solid but not great. Prediction—ACC (4th), NCAA—NP
North Carolina
UNC had a tough season (despite somehow earning a top-25 ranking), finishing with a 11-6 dual team record and a 2-3 mark in conference. The Asterisk sports three ranked wrestlers, the best of which is Ethan Ramos who is currently ranked 11th at 165 lbs. Since the Asterisk decides NOT to put overall individual records on its write-ups, I have no idea what the individuals’ records are. John Staudenmeyer (15th at 174 lbs.) and Joey Ward (14th at 141 lbs) conclude the ranked list for the Tarheels. Prediction—ACC (6th), NCAA—NP
Virginia
The Cavaliers have a strong squad and were ranked in the top-20 for much of the year. Late conference losses to UNC and NC State hampered a strong campaign which features a handful of strong All-American candidates. The best of the bunch Nick Sulzer (24-2) who finished the year ranked 2nd at 165 lbs. Sulzer earned a 4th place finish at the NCAA championships last year, and looks to repeat as ACC Champion on Sunday. George DiCamillo (ranked 13th at 133 lbs.) finished the season at 24-7 and is the top seed in his bracket. Blaise Butler also looks to earn All-American status at the NCAAs; he finished the season with a 17-3 mark at 174 lbs and is currently ranked 7th. Prediction—ACC (2nd), NCAA—Top-20
NC State
The Wolfpack had a very solid year under Coach Pat Popolizio, finishing the season in 2nd place with a 3-2 conference mark, losing only to Va Tech (29-9) and Duke (18-17) and earning a top-20 ranking in three separate polls. The Wolfpack sports the only defending NCAA Champion for the ACC, in Heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski. Gwiz finished the year undefeated and ranked #1, and is on a 48-match winning streak (the longest in NC State history). Gwiazdowski pinned every opponent in the conference during dual season, so his title is as sure a bet as any in the tournament. NC State has turned the corner this year on the backs of many solid performances from other wrestlers, including Joe D’Angelo (125 lbs.), Kevin Jack (ranked 16th at 141 lbs), Pete Renda (18th ranked at 174 lbs) and Michael Boykin (197 lbs). Max Roshkopf was also ranked at times through the year but faltered late, losing several matches against quality opponents. Prediction—ACC (3rd), NCAA—Top-15
Duke
The Blue Devils had a solid season in 2014-2015, winning 10 of 17 matches during the dual season. Duke will definitely factor into the team scoring as Connor Hartmann currently ranks 7th at 197 lbs and is the top-seed in the tournament. Hartmann finished the year at 24-2 and is the strongest All-American candidate for the Blue Devils. Immanuel Kerr-Brown (21-9 at 157 lbs) and Jacob Kasper (seeded #2 with 23 wins at 184 lbs) should easily earn NCAA bids and could earn ACC titles on Sunday. Prediction—ACC (5th), NCAA—NR
Final Analysis—Virginia Tech should have its 2nd consecutive conference title in the bag. The only question remaining to be answered Sunday is how the NCAA bids might fall. The NCAA tournament committee has awarded the ACC with 29 overall bids (including conference champions—10 bids), leaving 19 at-large bids. Here is a more clear breakdown of the bids per weight class: 125 (3), 133 (3), 141 (4), 149 (3), 157 (2), 165 (3), 174 (5), 184 (2), 197 (2), 285 (2). NC State has a solid chance to get five NCAA qualifiers with a good showing on Sunday. More than that would be awesome.Thanks for the compliments. Sorry for the repost, but wrote it with old (or new) switches. Will do a bracket breakdown by tomorrow.
Don’t think it’s official yet, but the Wolfpack is getting Tommy Cox (NY). Rising Sr, won a National title (106 lbs) this past April.
very thorough analysis Sacco. I do have a couple of questions. Are there only 5 ACC wrestling teams or only 5 good enough to warrant providing a scouting report? Secondly, UVA you have picked to finish better than us in the ACC and worse in the NCAA’s. Is that due to matchups/scoring variances, they are deeper which provides more points in conference while we have a few really good wrestlers competitive enough to place in the NCAA’s?
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