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No. 3 Hokies Finish Second in ACC Championship

The Virginia Tech Hokies traveled to Charlottesville this past weekend to face off against the best squads in the ACC.

By jayjohnson09
Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The No. 3 Virginia Tech Hokies traveled to Charlottesville this past Sunday for the ACC Wrestling Championships.  Also in attendance were No. 8 N.C. State Wolfpack, No. 11 North Carolina Tar Heels, No. 21 Duke Blue Devils, Virginia Cavaliers, and the Pittsburgh Panthers.

The Hokies had a solid effort and sent seven to the finals round, which was the most by any participant.  No. 1 seed at 125, Joey Dance, defeated NCSU’s No. 2 seed, Sean Fausz, 5-1.  At 184 pounds, No. 1 seed Zack Zavatsky defeated another Wolfpack athlete, No. 2 seed Pete Renda, 5-2.  With those victories Zavatsky and Dance earned ACC titles for their respective weight classes.

The ACC Championship quickly became the VT and NCSU show.  Five of the ten finals matches featured wrestlers from Virginia Tech and N.C. State head to head.  Eight of the ten finals matches had either a Hokie or a Wolfpack athlete in the fight.  Only the 133 and 149 weight classes did not feature someone from either VT or NCSU.  Although the Hokies defeated N.C. State earlier this season the Wolfpack was able to avenge the loss and won the ACC Championship. The Hokies finished the tournament in second place.

Final Team Scores:

1. N.C. State Wolfpack: 90

2. Virginia Tech Hokies: 81.5

3. North Carolina Tar Heels: 56.5

4. Virginia Cavaliers: 44

5. Duke Blue Devils: 33

6. Pittsburgh Panthers: 31

Seven Hokies were named to the 2016 All-ACC Wrestling Team. Joey Dance (125), Solomon Chishko (141), Nick Brascetta (157), Zach Epperly (174), Zack Zavatsky (184), Jared Haught (197), and Ty Walz (285). With seven student athletes named the Hokies had the most wrestlers named to the 2016 All-ACC Wrestling Team.  N.C. State had the second most with six named, and perennial VT rivals UVA had one named.

With the completion of the ACC Championship Meet Virginia Tech now looks to New York City where the NCAA Championships will be held from March 17 – March 19.  The Hokies qualified eight total wrestlers to participate in the National Championship.  In addition to the seven named to the All-ACC Wrestling Team, David McFadden (165) also qualified for the NCAA Championships.

The performance of the Hokies this year has been fantastic, and we are certainly proud of the team!  Good luck at New York gentlemen!  Go Hokies!

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