DURHAM — North Carolina State lost its grip on Atlantic Coast Conference wrestling after a six-year stretch of tournament championships.
Virginia Tech had four individual champions and cruised to its first team title in the ACC Tournament since 2018 on Sunday at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium.
N.C. State slid to third place with a series of misfortunes and missed opportunities. Matty Singleton’s victory at 174 pounds marked the only title for the Wolfpack – or for any of the three North Carolina-based schools competing.
Virginia Tech’s title was no surprise, even though the Hokies tied with N.C. State and North Carolina during the dual team portion of the season. The Hokies had 91½ points, with Pittsburgh at 63½, N.C. State at 62½ and followed by North Carolina 45½, Stanford 45, Virginia 38½ and Duke 1½.
Singleton said the Wolfpack will be poised for better results ahead based on the foundation in place.
“They set the standard in different ways,” he said of past N.C. State wrestlers. “It’s a standard. It really is a real culture.”
Singleton, the fourth seed, defeated Luca Augustine of Pitt by 5-2 in the final. A four-point nearfall made the difference.
Singleton, a redshirt sophomore, didn’t compete in last year’s collegiate season as he redshirted to focus on international competition. He remembered frustrations from the 2023 ACC Tournament.
“It was heartbreaking two years ago leaving with two broken hands and no bid to NCAAs,” he said. “I’m glad I got that experience two years ago to be able to put me in that spot now.”
Singleton said he was inspired by N.C. State supporters who showed up in big numbers.
“The Wolfpack really packs it out,” he said. “You can hear it all the time how much support we have.”
Singleton said the N.C. State team can still do more later this month.
“We’re still here, man,” he said. “I did my part. Hopefully, by NCAAs we can all do our part.”
N.C. State’s disappointments surfaced in the semifinals when top-seeded Isaac Trumble, who has been a standout on the international circuit, fell in a 4-1 decision to Pitt’s Dayton Pitzer in the 285-pound division.
Trumble didn’t wrestle again, opting out with injury defaults.
Pitzer, the fourth seed who weighed in at 229 pounds. was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler after defeating Virginia Tech’s Jimmy Mullen 4-1 in overtime in the title bout.
Aside from Singleton, three of N.C. State’s four finalists lost in overtime.
Pitt’s Reece Heller scored a 4-1 overtime decision against N.C. State’s Dylan Fishback at 184, while 125-pounder Vince Robinson lost by the same overtime score to Virginia Tech’s Eddie Ventresca in a matchup of wrestlers rated in the top five nationally in the weight class.
Kai Orine, a two-time defending champ for the Wolfpack, fell 5-2 in overtime to Virginia Tech’s Connor McGonagle at 133. That bout included several late scrambles, including a couple in which Orine appeared in position to collect the winning points.
Orine was seeded fourth, toppling top-seeded Ethan Oakley of North Carolina by 6-2 in the semifinals.
N.C. State’s Ed Scott, a two-time ACC champion, dropped a 7-3 decision to Virginia Tech’s Rafael Hipolito in the 157 final.
North Carolina’s lone finalist was Lachlan McNeil, who endured a 4-1 overtime setback to 2024 national champion Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech at 149 pounds.
There was a piece of history with ACC newcomer Stanford producing a champion with Hunter Gavin winning at 165 pounds.
ACC wrestlers filled 38 automatic spots for the NCAA championships, which will be held March 20-22 in Philadelphia. Duke heavyweight Connor Barket will be the lone Blue Devil going to the NCAAs. He placed fifth Sunday.
