Should be a pretty good year for the Hokies. I think what hurts them most in the ACC team title race against North Carolina State is an obviously hole at 165 lbs. Perhaps Clayton Ulrey is better than I think he's going to be, but for now I see it as a troublesome spot for the Hokies. I'm also leery about 197 lbs. Not positive that the Hokies qualify at that weight either. With that said, I'm looking at 8 for sure qualifiers, maybe 9, with a possibility of as many as 6 All Americans.
Let's take a look.
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| 125 Sam Latona Freshman Record: 38-6 NCAA: 21'6th ACC: 21'1st Southern Scuffle: 20'3rd |
Sitting at 4-0 Vs Jacob Camacho of North Carolina State, I feel pretty comfortable in thinking that Latona brings home another ACC title for the Hokies this season. As far as the NCAA level is concerned? 3rd Place Pat McKee of Minnesota's lone loss at the NCAA's last season was 3-1 to Latona. As far as I'm concerned Latona has as good of a shot as does anyone of being Spencer Lee's NCAA finals opponent.
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| 133 Korbin Myers Senior Record: 107-46 NCAA: 17'NQ, 18'NQ, 19'NQ, 21'4th EWL: 17'1st, 18'1st ACC: 19'3rd, 21'1st CKLV: 18'6th, 19'R12 SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 17'7th MIDLANDS: 18'8th |
Look for another good, solid year out of Myers for the Hokies. The competition for another ACC title will be fierce with Pittsburgh's Mickey Philippi & Virginia's Louie Hayes also gunning for the title. Overall I see a similar performance to what we saw last year. An NCAA finish of 5th or 6th. Finishing any higher is a tall order.
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| 141 Collin Gerardi Sophomore Record: 35-18 NCAA: 20'NQ ACC: 20'5th SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 19'7th |
A top 20 wrestler for sure, we will see NCAA qualification out of Gerardi. A 1-2 or a 2-2 at best performance is where I see him finishing. Where I think he shines this year is at the Southern Scuffle. He placed 7th in years past & I think he should be a place-winner once again for the Hokies.
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| 149 Bryce Andonian Sophomore Record: 28-10 NCAA: 20'NQ, 21'R12 ACC: 20'2nd, 21'2nd |
With North Carolina's Austin O'Connor moving up to 157 lbs, he'll now have to contend with North Carolina State's Tariq Wilson for the ACC title. Like with many good feuds, they'll meet at least three times this season and I highly doubt either goes 3-0 against the other. Andonian did lose last year to Missouri's Brock Mauller 8-3 and to Kyle Parco of Fresno State 7-4, who will now compete for Arizona State, but I still think Andonian is as good as 3rd or 4th place this year. I can't see him contending with Yanni Diakomihalis of Cornell or with Sammy Sasso of Ohio State & from where I sit right now, Wilson is a toss up. Also have to throw in that he could get competition out of Josh Finesilver. He's pinned Finesilver the last two times they've met, and fairly quickly may I add. However, Finesilver does own an 11-2 major decision over him. 12-9 over Josh Heil of Campbell & 10-7 over Kanen Storr of Michigan mark two other notable victories for Andonian.
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| 157 Connor Brady Freshman Record: 16-9 NCAA: 21'NQ ACC: 21'3rd |
He proved himself to be a top 33 wrestler last season and he should again this year. I think what helped him most last season was two victories, 4-3 & 6-1 over North Carolina's Josh McClure. He'll need similar victories this year to secure qualification.
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| 174 Mekhi Lewis Record: 66-6 NCAA: 19'1st, 21'R12 ACC: 19'1st, 21'WC SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 18'4th CKLV: 19'2nd |
I'm pretty much going to say the exact same thing for Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech that I said for Hayden Hidlay of North Carolina State. They have one another to contend with for ACC championship honors. Their feud will come down to both the important dual meet as well as the ACC team title. And, let me reiterate, I wanna see Lewis Vs Mike Kemerer, Carter Starocci, Mikey Labriolo and Logan Massa before I make up my mind how I think he'll do. Can't see him any worse than 5th or 6th and can see him as good as NCAA champ.
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| 184 Hunter Bolen Junior Record: 70-18 NCAA: 18'NQ, 20'NQ, 21'7th ACC: 18'2nd, 20'1st, 21'1st CKLV: 20'3rd SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 19'2nd |
It's always so fun to me when team races are tight. In the ACC team title race between North Carolina State and Virginia Tech, there are a lot of head to head matches that will determine the team championship. One of those is between Trent Hidlay of North Carolina State and Hunter Bolen of Virginia Tech. Thus far they're 2-2 against each other. Hidlay has won two 3-1 matches and Bolen has won two 2-1 matches. Could be the match that wins the ACC team title.
Bolen make a run for the NCAA title? He is capable. He definitely knows how to defeat Hidlay, he's proven that. Hasn't faced Myles Amine of Michigan or Aaron Brooks of Penn State yet though and he has losses to both Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa and Dakota Geer of Oklahoma State. Without a doubt, definitely an AA again for the Hokies.
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| 197 Dakota Howard or Stan Smeltzer Sophomore OR Junior Record: 28-7 OR Record: 45-27 NCAA: 21'NQ OR ACC: 21'WC OR SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: OR 18'8th |
To be quite honest, I was rather surprised when Dakota Howard was selected as an at large bid for the NCAA tournament. At the time he had a 5-5 record and his only win of note was against North Carolina's Devin Kane. In a full season of 25 matches or so, I'm anxious to see how he does overall. With that said, I wouldn't be surprised if we see Stan Smeltzer as the starter instead. He owns an 8th place Southern Scuffle finish and I think he's capable of other noteworthy accomplishments. I'm not 100% sold on NCAA qualification, but I'm pretty sure of it. I'd give it the odds anyway.
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| HWT Nathan Traxler OR Hunter Catka Senior OR Freshman Record: 78-28 OR 10-4 NCAA: 18'NQ, 19'R12, 20'NQ, 21'R12 PAC 12: 18'2nd, 19'1st, 20'2nd, 21'2nd CKLV: 18'7th, 19'4th SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 19'2nd, 20'2nd |
Twice one match away from All American status, I'd love to see Traxler finally get over the hump and claim the NCAA medal that has thus far alluded him. With EVERYone returning in the 2021-2022 season, it's not going to be easy. Traxler has lost to Jordan Wood of Lehigh, Josh Heindelsman of Oklahoma and twice to Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State. He's going to need to figure out how to turn those losses into wins. It could very well be the difference between another R12 finish and getting onto the award stand.
Catka in his own right has wins over Jordan Earnest of Edinboro, Brandon Whitman of North Carolina and Quinn Miller of Virginia.
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The best I see it for the Hokies?
125 - NCAA runner-up
133 - 5th or 6th
141 - NQ
149 - 3rd or 4th
157 - NQ
165 - DNQ
174 - As good as champion as low as 6th
184 - As good as champion, but honestly anywhere in the top 8
197 - Not 100% sold but should be an NQ
HWT - R12 to 7th or 8th.
That's where I stand at the beginning of the season.
8 qualifiers for sure, up to as many as 9
Looking at between 5 to 6 All Americans, believe two will contend for NCAA individual titles and one for a spot in the finals.
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