The Hokies will be finishing off their dual season this Friday against Pitt. With last week's thrilling win the Hokies have clinched a share of the ACC Dual Championship and will look to beat Pitt and claim sole ownership of the title.
Top matches to watch are going to be #7 Korbin Myers vs #4 Mickey Phillippi and #1 Mekhi Lewis vs #10 Jake Wentzel. (Note: Phillippi is not listed as a probable starter as of Friday morning.)
๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ง๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐We wrap up the regular season vs. #16 Pitt Friday night on the @accnetwork ๐Full Preview ยป https://t.co/4uPGnAyZfs#ALLINALLTHETIME ๐ฆ pic.twitter.com/5SmI0VMZfHโ Virginia Tech Wrestling (@HokiesWrestling) February 10, 2021
๐จ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐๐ช๐๐จ๐๐๐ฎ๐จ6๏ธโฃ #Hokies in this week's @InterMat Rankings๐ in the Top-1๏ธโฃ0๏ธโฃ Let's Go #Hokies #ALLINALLTHETIME๐ฆ pic.twitter.com/Tq9JkgSqnbโ Virginia Tech Wrestling (@HokiesWrestling) February 9, 2021
Comments
LETS GOOOO!!!!
HOKIES!!!!!
So after looking at the automatic bids allotment were going to have to hope for some surprises in the ACC tournament to get everyone a ticket unless the at large bids are kind as I'm sure they will be at 165 given the strength of that weight in the conference.
Sidenote is Borst done after the injury or is he going to try and tough it out? I would honestly probably prefer Catka getting a shot if the injury is going to be an ongoing issue as I think he has a better shot of pulling some upsets.
Also guessing JYD and Smeltzer are going to stick in the lineup the rest of the way.
I haven't seen anything definitive about Borst yet. Sounds like he dislocated his elbow during the previous match but no comment on his status. I guess they will see how he feels tomorrow but I wouldn't be surprised if Catka goes against Pitt. Tech is probably looking at 6-7 qualifiers and I would be thrilled if they could get to 8 or more.
8 would put us in position for a national title shot, though I'm not sure we get more than 6. Big10 gets the benefit of the doubt way to often.
Normally they have criteria and conferences get bids based on how many wrestlers meet that criteria. This season there weren't enough matches so it was based on the 5 year average for each conference.
Tech has no shot at a title this year but if they can get 8 in they would have a chance at a team trophy.
We have a really good shot for 3 Ncaa finalists which would be hella cool๐
Indications are that Mickey Phillippi will not be available tonight.
Yeah I just heard that. It's a huge bummer. That match was going to give Myers a shot to really boost his seeding for the NCAAs. Not sure how the ACC will seed them for the tournament now either. I guess it'll go by ranking and Myers will be the 2-seed.
Boooo
Probable starters for VT at heavyweight is listed as Borst or Catka so no clarity yet.
I've never watched wrestling, but with all the basketball cancelations, I'm thinking I'll watch to get my Hokie fix. (And the highlight from the NCST match was awesome even though I didn't know what was going on). Can someone point me to a good primer on wrestling duals?
If anybody has any questions feel free to throw them in the thread and one of us will answer them for you. Always looking to get more people involved and make wrestling more accessible.
How do they decide who starts in what position for each round?
They flip a coin to see which team gets choice first. That team will get choice in the second every time. They can choose a position or defer.
30 MINS
ITS TIMEEEEE
Catka going at Heavyweight
Easy 4-0 win for the big cat
Workmanlike 4-0 win for Catka. Rode out Cooley in the 3rd. Would have liked to see a few more shots but solid performance.
Hella good major by latona
Latona wins 12-3. His shots were clean, did a good job of finishing, and he rode tough on top. Good showing after a huge win last week.
Prata bumping up to 133. I bet he loved not having to cut for the match.
Catka, Latona looked good. I really wanted to see the Myers Phillippi matchup
Prara with the last second takedown to win 3-1. Turned defense in to offense in the end.
Prata with a really good counter off newell's attack to win in the final 10 seconds
Why no Hillegas๐
Joey doin' the Sam! Way to go!
If this was Hillegas he would be kicking Matthew's ass
I don't know. Hillegas is raw technically so I am not sure it would have gone any better.
Gerardi drops the match 8-4. He generated all of the action but wasn't able to finish a shot clean and gave up a few takedowns instead.
Woo that was scary
I say that almost every time I watch Andonian wrestle.
Burnett used the boner technique, but it wasn't very effective
Andonian wins 10-1. Was hunting for backs for a while and finally got a quick 4 from a cradle to get the Major Decision.
Pitt has showed no offense thus far. Even in the Gerardi match the Hokie was initiating all of the action.
Brady wins 12-1 for a Major Decision. He did a good job of working some near fall points in the second to really open up the match. Looked dominant.
I have no idea whats going on in wrestling, but when the Hokie wrestler gets a point, I say "yes" and when the Pitt wrestler gets a point, I say "no".
...I've been saying "yes" a lot.
Hopefully this wakes Mekhi the fuck up
Getting hurt?
He didn't get hurt until 30 seconds left he was gonna lose anyway
That's a bold statement. He needed a single takedown to even it up.
Ok it was 3-0 RT was in Pitts favor he had choice in the 3rd which he would have gone bottom and he would have probably escaped cause Mekhi would have let him. Which would be 4-0 plus RT so it was basically 5-0 he would have needed 4 to 5 takedowns to win
He looked to be in serious pain
Looked like the Pitt wrestler was really going after that arm/shoulder
Yeah so did Brady in the last match
Those were different holds. For brady he just has to keep the arm angle legal. Wentzel was wrenching on the shoulder itself and injured the rotator cuff.
Different holds same thing. It wasn't illegal
Its not the same thing. One was pulling the shoulder out of the socket and the other was not as long as it was legal.
well the ref didn't call it a illegal hold so it doesn't matter in the end
There are a couple moves that are legal but highly likely to cause injury and that was certainly one of them.
Lewis takes an injury default. Wentzel wrenched on the shoulder a couple times while on top and it ended up injuring Lewis. ACC Championships are on February 28 so hopefully the injury isnt too bad and he can heal up by then.
Just thinking worst case scenario, do you have to compete in the conference championships to make it to the NCAAs? Hopefully it's not anything major but that would give him about a month to heal with the NCAAs starting on 3/18.
That's your best chance. You can get a at large bid but I don't know if they are doing that this year cause of covid
They are.
No he could default out of the ACC Tournament and then get an at large bid to the NCAAs. Tech cannot wrestle someone in his place in order for him to get an at large bid, same as they did with Mitch Moore last season before the NCAAs was canceled.
HOWARD
I know nothing about wrestling but howard just whipped that boy big time.
I like this Howard kid. I have no idea how wrestling works but when you keep knocking dudes down every time you get the chance it looks good.
Howard straight breaks dudes. And he's got a killer double leg
Dakota Howard with a dominant 21-6 win. Finished his shots quickly and converted some back points.
Bolen wins 12-4 by Major Decision. Controlled the match the entire way and had some clean shots.
I agree with the commentators bolen is a better folkstyle wrestler than freestyle
Evidenced by his performance at the US Senior Nationals in 2020 where he went 2-2.
Smith loses 8-1. Hokies win big 27- 12 and capture sole possession of the ACC Dual Championship!
I'm telling ya Smith is gonna be a force. Needs to improve on his own offence and get his upper body strength up
Hillegas in the first exhibition match.
Hillegas wins 14-3. He dominated early and then really struggled on bottom. Great learning experience for the true freshman. He is going to be good.
That's usually what happens as a freshman wrestler. You struggle on bottom
For sure. Guys not used to being on bottom when they dominated in highschool.
Clayton Ulrey up at 157.
Ulrey wins 18-6 for a Major Decision. He finished his shots quickly. Had a bit of trouble converting defense in to offense on a sloppy shot.
Ulrey is bonus point machine
Having this year not count against him is huge
Kolton Clark in at 174. He dominated, getting the pin in 93 seconds.
Catka wrestling at HWT. Robie trying to get him some extra experience against a real 285.
Yep in case Borst ain't ready to roll for the ACC tournament
Catka wrestling wins 12-4 for the Major Decision. Great showing in his second match of the night and should really help him prepare for tournament wrestling just in case. Looked very good on offense.
Macho I got a question. Can 2 people from the same university in the same weight go to the NCAA tournament?
No. You have to participate in the conference tournament to qualify, even if you forfeit the matches.
So an at large bid wouldn't come into play still?
Ahh cause I think Borst and catka probably could qualify for the ncaa๐
They for sure would. I think both are ranked in the 20s.
Stan Smeltzer in at 197.
Stan is wrestling the Pitt starter from heavyweight. HOW THE HELL DID HE LOSE WIGHT IN TIME๐
Smeltzer loses 10-4. He was in on a number of shots but really struggled to finish.
So in slightly off topic ncaa wrestling news. Myles amine (#1 184) made his season debut tonight at a 197 pounds so he'll move to the 97 rankings and bolen will take his spot at number #1 at 84
I saw that on twitter. You think he is going to wrestle at 197 for the Big Ten tournament or do you think he will drop back down?
I heard thats where he's gonna stay at this year
Wild! That weight cut must have been rough. That's a big shakeup. Hopefully Bolen is able to capitalize.
Yep the only person who scares me is Brooks
I haven't seen any news on Lewis, the way he was holding his arm, it looked bad
Typical Pitt
Eat shit Pitt!
Good sold win. Worried about Lewis!
Yep if he aint ready to go for the NCAA Ulrey most likely has to step at 65 for the ACC tournament