Lineups around the ACC

[wrestlingfan22]

Going to go over a quick rundown of the lineups that other ACC teams will be likely putting out this year.
NCST:
125: Camacho
133: Cox/Robinson/Hohman
141: Orine
149: Buesgens
157: Scott
165: Fields/Kovacs
174: Singleton
184: Fishback
197: Knop/Horne
285: Trumble/Trephan
Interesting piece is that Jack and Arrington are both expected to RS this year and Orine moving up to 141. Also the fact that Trumble and Trephan are competing for the same spot means someone very good will be on the bench

VT:
125: Eddie V
133: McGonagle
141: Latona
149: Henson
157: Hipolito
165: Brady
174: Wolak
184: Stewart
197: Smith/Sasso
285: Catka/Mullen
Eddie V returns from injury, McGonagle and Wolak transfer in, Latona moves up, big wrestle offs at 197 and 285 with stud RS freshman against old timers that made blood round last year

UNC:
125: Moore
133: Oakley
141: Scott/Guanajauto/O'Neill/Simcox
149: McNeil
157: Santiago
165: Fea/Estradas
174: Ogunsanya
184: Kane
197: Lautt
285: Guttridge/Neves
Lachlan moves up to 149, Oakley and Ogunsanya transfer in,

Stanford:
125: Provo
133: Knox
141: Miranda
149: Abas
157: Hanson (Cardenas to redshirt?)
165: Garvin
174: Norman
184: Monteiro
197: Stemmet
285: Mankowski
Cardenas being rumored to redshirt would be huge news, Knox and Norman are good wrestlers coming off redshirt

UVA:
Yarbrough will be likely be at 133 again, Hamilton probably at 165 and little Catka at HWT

Duke:
Barket their heavyweight who had a winning record last year is back.

Tomorrow I will probably go weight by weight and look at how we stack up.

 

[Warriordan]

great job

 

[wrestlingfan22]

125:
Camacho and Provo both were NCAA qualifiers last year that were ranked as the number 1 guy in the country at times during the season
Ventresca started last year 2-7 dealing with some kind of injury/nerve issue but supposedly should be back healthy this year. He was an AA in 2023 and if he is back to 100% is the real deal.
Moore is a solid wrestler who had very close matches with Macho last year and just missed qualifying.
UVA and Duke return Motaperto and Agin, their postseason starters from last year, who are both a tier below everyone else.
Whoever wins the starting job for Pitt I would put with Moore, as a talented but less proven guy, however, this is a weight-class where tons of parity is going to exist and really any of the top 5 guys in the ACC have a chance of winning it.

 

[wrestlingfan22]

133:
Orine and Latona moving up to 141, this is big news for the weight class aa the Mickey Phillipi 133 era of the ACC seems to officially be done. Anytime 2 former AAs leave a weight class it means it will become more open but it should still be very strong.
McGonagle is a 2x NCAA qualifier up at 141 who since moving down to 133 has wins over Phillipi, Orine and Latona. He was very highly ranked going into 2023 NCAAs but an injury at EIWAS kept him from the big dance and in 2024 he lost his spot to Ryan Crookham. He transferred to VT this offseason and I am sure plans on securing AA status.
Oakley went 2-2 at NCAAs last season including a rd 1 upset of Latona. He has some solid wins in his career but since he was at App St. it is hard to project how he will do over a season where he consistently has tougher opponents.
Yarbrough went 1-2 at NCAAs last year with his one win being a major over PSU's Nagao in rd. 1. He also had some good wins earlier in the year over guys like Oakley and Latona. Vinnie was 0-2 against him last year with both matches being close, but Vinnie unable to secure takedowns against Yarbrough.
Knox was in redshirt last season with some mixed results, his best performance was a MD win over Nic Bouzakis at CKLV. I would look at Knox as someone that could potentially make some noise this year.
NCST has 3 options at 133 that are all solid younger guys with good results. I expect that whoever emerges from that trio will be right with Knox and Vinnie as the unproven youngsters of the ACC.
Adams from Duke lost a lot of matches last year but his results had some closer losses that suggests he isn't entirely out of the conversation for picking up an ACC win or two this year.

 

[wrestlingfan22]

141:
Orine and Latona moving up from 133, this means Jack and Crook will be redshirting, McNeil is moving up to 149, and with Matthews's graduation it looks to be a completely new 141 weight class this season.
Orine and Latona are former AA's at 133 that are moving up to 141, if they put on the weight well they will likely be the top two guys at this weight class but it will be interesting to see how it pans out for them.
Miranda from Stanford seems set to be the starter, he is a 5th year senior who has never qualified for NCAAs but consistently has a winning record.
Not sure who UNC will have at 141, returning starter at 149 Scott seems to be coming down to 141, he had some solid wins at 149 and if he fits the weight class could do well. Guanajuato was a redshirt mainly at 141 last year who came down to 133 and beat Vinnie in the dual. Simcox and O'Neill are high level recruits who probably will redshirt this year but in the future could make some real noise
Duke returns their starting 141 from last year Christian Coleman, who went 1-13 with his only win being by injury default.
UVA returns their starting 141 Jack Gioffre and the backup Butler who was solid option to fill in. Gioffre had some decent wins and a few close losses to top guys.
Overall, this weight is very new and very open. Anthony unfortunately missed all of last season but if he is as good as advertised I think he will establish himself as the third best guy in this weight class pretty quickly and it is not out of the question that he could push Orine or Latona.

 

[wrestlingfan22]

149:
Returning National Champ Caleb Henson is the guy to beat for anyone at 149, and that doesn't change in the ACC.
Lachlan McNeil has ever made the ACC finals but has outplaced everyone else in the ACC at nationals b2b years. He made them semis last year before losing and MFF out to 6th. He was 4th the year before. All of this was down at 141, how he performs up at 149 will be very interesting to see.
Last years ACC champ at 149 Jackson Arrington is expected to redshirt, his spot would likely be filled by RSFR Koy Buesgens. Buesgens competed at 141 last season in all but one of his matches. He lost 7-3 at 149 to Papscy from Duke. He had some good wins down at 141 and was a top recruit who had a good offseason in freestyle so he should not be written off, but compared to Arrington it is likely a step down for NCST.
Abas from Stanford was an AA back in 2021, made nationals in 22 and 23 then lost in the blood round in 24. He is a 6th year senior looking to make one last AA run. His best win last year was an upset of Tyler Kasak in rd 1 of the NCAA tournament. He will be a tough matchup for anyone in the ACC
Michael Gioffre is returning as UVAs starter, he went .500 last year with some close losses in ACC competition. There is a chance Dylan Cedeno comes down from 157 and he has had a good record in the past down at 141 and up at 157. Erik Roggie was a backup 149 last year who turned in some good performances and could maybe take the spot.
Duke's options at 149 went a combined 2-13 against D1 competition as Redshirts last year. I don't think Duke will win a match at 149 in the ACC this year.
Overall Finn clearly slides in right behind Abas as not a former AA but as someone who has accomplished more in college than Buesgens, and whoever takes the spot for UVA and Duke. Finn will have to have made a jump to beat Henson and depending on how McNeil adjusts to the new weight class that could be a tough matchup as well. Overall, Solomon is one of the guys I am most excited to see perform this year.

 

[wrestlingfan22]

157:
Ed Scott returns as a former AA and 2x Blood Round Finisher, returning ACC champ
The biggest question is Daniel Cardenas from Stanford, who took 4th at NCAAs last year and had an amazing season where he handed Meyer Shapiro 2/3 of his losses. He seems to at least be strongly considering a redshirt which would be huge news for this weight both in the ACC and nationwide as he is a true national championship contender at 157. If Cardenas does redshirt, his fill in would be Zach Hanson. Hanson went 7-2 as a redshirt last year and had some solid wins and performances. He was a solid level recruit and someone that could be expected to perform well at this weight.
VT has lost their 157lb dynamo Bryce Andonian to graduation, but they look to fill this weight class with another uniquely interesting wrestler. Rafael Hipolito originally from Brazil, was a BJJ specialist and multiple time world champ who started wrestling in 10th grade and won 3 state titles in 3 years wrestling. Last year he went 11-4 as a redshirt wrestling both 157 and 165. His only loss at 157 was 12-7 in a match against Ed Scott. Hipolito wrestled Laffey in the dual last year and beat him 10-2 and watching it in person Laffey had no answers for him. Hipolito is someone I think could make a real impact this year both in the ACC and nationally.
Sonny Santiago is a really tough out who was an ACC runner up last year, even beating Ed Scott in the dual meet. He went 0-2 at nationals but tends to keep matches close and beat the guys hes supposed to beat. He was 2-0 against Keslar last year.
Duke returns their starting 157 from last year Logan Ferrero who took a lot of losses but did beat Keslar at ACC's last season (admittedly in a pretty meaningless match, Keslar had beat him last time out)
Nick Sanko was UVA's starter last year for ACC's and had a winning record on the year. He went 0-2 against Keslar last season with both losses by fall, he was winning in one of them when he got stuck however. They also have Stanford transfer Charlie Darracott who only wrestled 4 matches last year all at 165. But in the past had been Stanford's postseason 157 and had some real solid results against D1 competition. Could potentially be an impact at 157 or 165 for UVA
It looks like Evans is the de facto starter at 157 this year and I am interesting where he will stack up. As of now I would slide in him above Duke and UVAs starters but behind the other four, but only time will tell how it works out

 

[wrestlingfan22]

165:
Last year 165 was the most wide open weight in the ACC, where Hamilton came out of nowhere for UVA and won the ACC after going 2-3 in ACC dual meets. This year there is a clear favorite but I still look at it as a weight with lots of potential variability.

Hunter Garvin is joining the ACC as Stanford moves in, he took 6th at NCAAs last year in what was a volatile season. In his first match at NCAAs he majored Joey Bianchi from Little Rock who he had lost to at PAC's the week before 2-1 and lost by major to him in the Dual. HE strung together a bunch of impressive wins at NCCAs to secure 6th place status. However, during the season he took multiple very questionable losses, including a loss by TF to Tyler Lillard, A 13-7 loss to Dominic Baker, a 10-3 loss to VT's Brady and a loss by fall to Garrett Thompson from Ohio. Now these strange losses lessened as the season went on, and he was 5-6 against d1 competition as a redshirt so it is possible he has just been making jumps and fulfilling his role as a highly ranked prospect. I would lean towards that but his strange losses show he is susceptible to slipping below AA status.
Nick Hamilton was 9-7 going into ACCs last year with no real wins of note. He went 3-0 at ACCs and won the title. Then at nationals he pushed Julian Ramirez to the brink before picking up two wins on the backside. He would fall 13-6 to Garvin and be eliminated but the jump he took from the regular season to the postseason as a redshirt freshman shows that there may be a real talent there that could get some big things done this season.
Connor Brady is a 4x national qualifier who is yet to win more than 1 match in any of his NCAA trips. However he is a very solid wrestler with many good wins under his belt. He beat Garvin last year, split with Hamilton and Heller, lost to Fields.
Dereck Fields from NCST went 16-6 last year but he was 15-2 before he went on a 1 and 4 stretch to end his season. His great record was a little reflective of his schedule, which could be seen in his 1-1 ACC performance and his 0-2 NCAA performance. However he is a good wrestler and he had Heller's number last year going 2-0 against him. Him, Brady and Hamilton can all beat each other and depending on if it is regular season or NCAA's Garvin he could be placed into this conversation as well.
Nick Fea is the likely starter for UNC, He had some solid matches as a RS in 2023. He would miss all of 2024 with an injury, and it has been awhile since good data could be taken on him in match. However he was a pretty solid recruit that could potentially have some good results this year depending on how he has developed in that room.
I don't know who Duke will have at 165 this year, but it may not even matter. Gaetano Console was their starting 165 all year last season before moving up to 174 for ACCs and they did not even enter a 165. I don't expect much of not at this weight for Duke
I don't know who will start for Pitt at 165 but they will definitely be unproven at the weight. I would place them around Fea, where they are behind the proven four but not nearly as much of a question mark as whoever Duke ends up sending out.

 

[wrestlingfan22]

174:
The reign of Mekhi Lewis has finally concluded. VTs all-time great has graduated and the iron fist with which he controlled the ACC is no more. However, his replacement is not too much of a letdown.
VT brought in Columbia transfer and NCAA AA Lennox Wolak. Wolak made the semis at NCAAs where he lost in SV then slide down to 6th. He had a bit of an up-and-down regular season before dominating his way to an EIWA title and making the NCAA semis. He is definitely the most proven ACC wrestler at this weight and someone to watch out for nationally.
UNC also has a Columbia transfer at 174, Joshua Ogunsanya is a 2 time national qualifier at 165 who missed last year with injury. His track record at 165 suggests he will be a solid wrestler but not a real AA threat, however with the time off and a weight change he is somewhat of an unknown, especially in a new environment at UNC.
NC State has Matty Singleton coming out of redshirt last season. He was a massive 165 back in 2023 who failed to make the NCAA tournament as a true freshman. The summer after that he made the U20 world team and took bronze. Last year he redshirted to recover from injury and fully move into the 174lb weight class. His only competition last season was at 184 where he beat former UNC AA Gavin Kane 8-1. He doesn't have much data on him at 174 but is a real ACC title and AA threat based on his freestyle results and prominence as a recruit.
Stanford has two redshirt freshman competing for the 174lb spot. Lorenzo Norman notably beat Shane Griffith last year in his 9-7 season, Tye Montiero went 8-7 without any wins as good as Norman but is apparently in close contention for the spot. He could also end up going 184 this will be a team to watch in early weeks how they line up
Rocco Contino seems set to be UVAs starter at 174, he didn't wrestle any matches last season and went 9-4 in opens back in 2023. Hard to say where he will stack up.
Gaetano Console was Duke's starter last year for the 174 postseason spot but had been at 165 all season. Limited data on him at 174 and he lost a lot at 165 last year.
Luca I would say is in the range with Ogunasanya, Singleton, and Norman where they are not as proven as Wolak but are real National Qualifier level guys that could make an AA run with the right season/draw.

 

[wrestlingfan22]

184:
VT has returning AA TJ Stewart, He came down from 197 for the second semester and went on a really solid run winning the ACC title and placing 7th at Nationals. He is the most proven ACC wrestler but will likely have close matches with the guys in the ACC.
Dylan Fishback was the ACC runner up last year, he lost in the blood round at nationals. He lost to Heller in the dual but got revenge at ACCs. He had wins over AAs and losses to non placers he was a little inconsistent. Lost to Stewart 2x during the season.
Gavin Kane took 8th in 2023 at Nationals and went 1-2 at nationals last season. He already took a loss this season and last year he had a win over Stewart but lost to him at ACCs and went 0-2 against Heller and 0-1 against Fishback.
Hadyn Daniels looks like Virginias starter so far. Missed last year with injury, 24-11 in his career. Mostly in opens.
Duke doesn't have a 184 listed at all currently. Who knows with them.
Montiero from Stanford looks like their 184, his preview can be read in the 174lb one.
Think the top tier of this weight is Stewart and Fishback, then Heller and Kane. Heller can beat those guys in the tier above but he has to be a little more consistent in my opinion.

 

[wrestlingfan22]

157:
Ed Scott returns as a former AA and 2x Blood Round Finisher, returning ACC champ
The biggest question is Daniel Cardenas from Stanford, who took 4th at NCAAs last year and had an amazing season where he handed Meyer Shapiro 2/3 of his losses. He seems to at least be strongly considering a redshirt which would be huge news for this weight both in the ACC and nationwide as he is a true national championship contender at 157. If Cardenas does redshirt, his fill in would be Zach Hanson. Hanson went 7-2 as a redshirt last year and had some solid wins and performances. He was a solid level recruit and someone that could be expected to perform well at this weight.
VT has lost their 157lb dynamo Bryce Andonian to graduation, but they look to fill this weight class with another uniquely interesting wrestler. Rafael Hipolito originally from Brazil, was a BJJ specialist and multiple time world champ who started wrestling in 10th grade and won 3 state titles in 3 years wrestling. Last year he went 11-4 as a redshirt wrestling both 157 and 165. His only loss at 157 was 12-7 in a match against Ed Scott. Hipolito wrestled Laffey in the dual last year and beat him 10-2 and watching it in person Laffey had no answers for him. Hipolito is someone I think could make a real impact this year both in the ACC and nationally.
Sonny Santiago is a really tough out who was an ACC runner up last year, even beating Ed Scott in the dual meet. He went 0-2 at nationals but tends to keep matches close and beat the guys hes supposed to beat. He was 2-0 against Keslar last year.
Duke returns their starting 157 from last year Logan Ferrero who took a lot of losses but did beat Keslar at ACC's last season (admittedly in a pretty meaningless match, Keslar had beat him last time out)
Nick Sanko was UVA's starter last year for ACC's and had a winning record on the year. He went 0-2 against Keslar last season with both losses by fall, he was winning in one of them when he got stuck however. They also have Stanford transfer Charlie Darracott who only wrestled 4 matches last year all at 165. But in the past had been Stanford's postseason 157 and had some real solid results against D1 competition. Could potentially be an impact at 157 or 165 for UVA
It looks like Evans is the de facto starter at 157 this year and I am interesting where he will stack up. As of now I would slide in him above Duke and UVAs starters but behind the other four, but only time will tell how it works out

Let me update this: Grigor Cholakyan is the guy at 157 for Stanford and he is an absolute stud. He is going to take over the Andonian role of wrestling wide open and scoring lots of points.

 

[wrestlingfan22]

Mac Church is competing at 165!!! This season. He is 7-2 so far with loses 1-0 to AA Peyton Hall and 9-3 to 3x NQ Peyton Hall. He beat Gage Wright in a battle of VT guys this weekend. He will likely push Brady for the 165lb starting spot.