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On Friday, January 27th, the NC State Wolfpack will travel to Blacksburg for an epic doubleheader of the Virginia Tech Hokies! Wrestling begins at 7:00pm ET – you can watch it on the ACC Network or listen to the audio live on Flo. Either way, be sure to check out the preview below for analysis and predictions for each match!
NC State vs Virginia Tech Expected Lineup:
125: HM Jarrett Trombley, NC State vs. #20 Eddie Ventresca, Virginia Tech
133: #20 Kai Orine, NC State vs. #5 Sam Latona, Virginia Tech
141: #5 Ryan Jack, NC State vs. #12 Tom Crook, Virginia Tech
149: #14 Jackson Arrington, NC State vs #8 Caleb Henson, Virginia Tech
157: #8 Ed Scott, NC State vs. #7Bryce Andonian/Clayton Ulrey, Virginia Tech
165: HM Donald Cates/Matt Singleton, NC State vs #22 Connor Brady, Virginia Tech
174: Alex Faison, NC State vs. #3 Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech
184: #3 Trent Hidlay, NC State vs. #6 Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech
197: #7 Isaac Trumble, NC State vs. #22 Andy Smith, Virginia Tech
285: #12 Owen Treffan, NC State vs #17 Aden Katka, Virginia Tech
The above lineups have the potential to produce 9 head-to-head matches featuring a total of 19 ranked fighters. This means there will be some amazing matches from start to finish!
125 is the first of a few very important swing matches for this duo. Venteresca and Trombley are producing similar seasons together, highlighted by some notable highs and lows. Trombley beat HM Jor Volk in the standings but lost the race to Micah Rose, Jacob Van D, #17 Anthony Noto, #19 Caleb Smith, HM Jake Ferry and #13 Brett Ungar. Ventresca has only one loss against a losing streak and a win over HM Nick Babin. Because of Ventresca’s consistency, he’s my pick to win a close decision.
Prediction: Ventresca by decision
Team Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 3, NC State 0
133: #20 Kai Orine, NC State vs. #5 Sam Latona, Virginia Tech
Sam Latona can beat anyone in the country at 133 pounds when he fights his best – as seen in his recent win over #3 Vito Aruja. However, Latona also had a setback this year; The wrestlers earned the All-American title with a loss – namely a loss to #19 Jason Shaner and Pat Phillips in the rankings. Orin is the underdog in this matchup, but Latona is a fighter who will need to bring his “A-game” to pick up the win for the Hokies.
Prediction: Latona by decision
Team Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 6, NC State 0
141: #5 Ryan Jack, NC State vs. #12 Tom Crook, Virginia Tech
The match between Ryan Jack and Tom Crook at 141 is another matchup that could swing. Crook put together a really good first year highlighted by wins from #15 Jesse Vasquez, #19 Parker Filius, Nic Bouzakis, #23 Lachlan McNeil and HM Matt Kazimir. However, Jack was even more impressive when he beat Crook head-to-head at the CKLV meeting in December. Because of this result, Jack is my pick to come out on top on Friday night.
Prediction: Jack by decision
Team Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 6, NC State 3
Jack defeated Crook at 2022 CKLV.
Both Caleb Henson and Jackson Arrington are putting together outstanding years as true freshmen. Of the two, Henson was slightly better. Henson lost to #1 Yianni Diakomihalis, #7 Brock Mauller and #11 Doug Zapf but won against #9 Jonathan Milner, #3 Sammy Sasso and #15 Jaden Abbas. On the other hand, Arrington has losses to #13 Colin Rilbuto, #9 Jonathan Milner, #4 Yahya Thomas and #5 Kyle Parko but wins over HMM Alec Hagan, #16 Chance Lameer and #17 Dom Demas. Based on those scores, give me Henson in a competitive match.
Prediction: Henson by decision
Team Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 9, NC State 3
Caleb Henson talks about his first season win over Sammy Sasso:
Bryce Andonian returned to the finals last weekend at the Purple Ride Open, where he went 3-0, but lost in the medical finals. In his semifinal match against Walker Heard, Andonian was down by two with less than 30 seconds left in the match, but was able to get a point to escape a handlock call and overtime, which he would win by takedown. Just under a minute. Despite the victory, Andonian is seen in pain at the end of the game. Because of that performance, I don’t think we’ll see Andonia in the dual meet against NC State.
With that in mind, Ed Scott should be considered the favorite against Ulrey on Friday. Ulery was “strong” on the year with a 15-9 record, but did not record a point win that season.
Prediction: Scott by decision
Team Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 9, NC State 6
Andonia’s semi-final match last weekend at the Purple Raider Open:
165: HM Donald Cates/Matt Singleton, NC State vs #22 Connor Brady, Virginia Tech
Connor Brady has struggled through a tough schedule this season with close losses against some of the best 165-pound wrestlers in the country – #9 Julian Ramirez, #4 Shane Griffiths, #1 Keegan O’Toole and #7 Carson Karchla. The only loss outside the top 10 is to #20 Josh Ogunsanya. Aside from those losses, Brady has wins against HM Ivan Barzak and HM Will Formato. Brady should be considered the favorite as neither Cates nor Singleton have yet scored a stage win this year.
Prediction: Brady by decision
Team Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 12, NC State 6
174: Alex Faison, NC State vs. #3 Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech
2019 NCAA Champion Mikey Lewis is 11-1 on the year with his only loss coming against Michael Labriola and wins over #9 Peyton Mocco, HM Will Miller, #15 Cade DeVos, #4 Chris Foca and #6 Ethan Smith. However, in his recent match against Will Miller, McKee went into a cliffhanger, giving up a third-period takedown late and almost clawing back points. Faison has been strong this year with wins over Sam Deprez, HM Hayden Hastings, Jake Logan and Jagger Condomity. If MC isn’t 100%, expect Fiason to make this a competitive fight.
Prediction: Lewis by decision
Team Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 15, NC State 6
The matchup between Trent Hidlay and Hunter Bolen has the potential to be the best matchup of the night and could decide the outcome. Bolen and Hidlay have a rivalry 3 years ago with Bolen holding the series lead 3-2. Despite this series lead, Hidalgo has won each of the last two meetings – 2-1 last season and 3-1 (overtime) in 2021. All 5 of their matches have been decided by 2 points or less and we should expect this tournament. Being as close as the previous 5.
Prediction: Hidlay by decision
Team Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 15, NC State 9
Highlights from last year’s ACC finals for Hidlay and Bolen:
In his second year as a starter, Isaac Trumble has proven to be one of the best 197-pound wrestlers in the country. This year alone, Trumble’s only losses are to #6 Bernie Truex, #13 Silas Allred (2), #19 Tanner Harvey and #9 Zach Branagel over #5 Michael Beard. On top of that, Trumble defeated current #1 Rocky Trumble last season. While Andy Smith has had his time, losses to Silas Allred and Nick Stemt this year make him a big contender with Trumble.
Prognosis: Kneel by decision
Team Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 15, NC State 12
Trumble’s win over Tanner Harvey in the 2022 CKLV Finals:
If the dual starts at 125 pounds and my prediction is correct (which is unlikely), then this dual will come down to a heavyweight matchup between Owen Treffan and Hunter Katka! The two met twice last year and lost 5-3 decisions.
Trefan had a slightly better season this year with wins over HM Cory Day, #13 Tyrell Gordon, HM Trevor Tinker, #15 Lewis Fernandes and HM Cale Davidson over #2 Mason Parris and #10 Yaraslau Slavikouski. Katka has losses to #8 Zach Elam, #16 Tate Orndorff and HM Jonas Nissenbaum and a one-rank win over #20 Michael Wolfgram. Because Trefan has been a bit better this year, he’s my pick to win a close decision.
Prognosis: Trephan by decision
Team Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 15, NC State 15
I promise I’m not trying to predict a double Tina but here it is! The result I predict shows how close and exciting this matchup should be. The main weights that can sway the results are 125, 141, 149, 184 and 285. No matter what happens on Friday night, we can expect a very entertaining matchup between two amazing teams!
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