BLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech wrestling team will head to Raleigh, N.C., for the ACC Wrestling Championships in search of the team’s first ACC team title when the event is held Saturday inside Reynolds Coliseum on the campus of NC State.
The Hokies probably won’t qualify the school-record eight wrestlers they did for last year’s NCAA Championships, but six grapplers have a good shot this year while three others would have to win their respective crown to qualify.
“I really like this team right now,” said head coach Kevin Dresser. “From top to bottom, I think we have some guys where experience is on our side for the first time in a lot of weight classes. On paper, we’re not favored - Maryland is - but we have to chip in at all places to have a shot at this. I think we can surprise some people this weekend.”
Doors open Saturday at 10 a.m., and action starts at 11 with the first round. The schedule can be found at the ACC’s Championship Page.
The updated brackets can be found here and free, live coverage will be provided on theACC.com starting at 5 o’clock and running through the championship matches.
Below is the probable lineup for the Hokies, as submitted by the coaching staff. In parenthesis is the number of qualifiers the ACC has at that weight class. The records listed are those used for qualifying purposes, counting only matches wrestled at that weight class against Division 1 opponents.
125 (3): #14 Jarrod Garnett (20-5)
133 (1): Brock LiVorio (10-4)
141 (3): #10 Chris Diaz (26-3)
149 (2): #15 Brian Stephens (21-10)
157 (4): #5 Jesse Dong (30-3)
165 (2): #19 Matt Epperly (18-9)
174 (1): Taylor Knapp (0-5)
184 (2): #17 Tommy Spellman (25-9)
197 (3): Chris Penny (3-14)
285 (3): Open
Seeds for the 10 classes, as well as the brackets for the tournament, will be released Friday night. Be sure to check back here for updates throughout the weekend.
For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Wrestling).