2021 NCAA Championship wrestling preview

Josh Coover

March 17, 2021

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — After finishing the regular season 9-0, winning the ACC regular season title and finishing second in the ACC Championship, Tech travels to St. Louis for the NCAA Championship matches.

The matches begin Thursday at 11 a.m. and end with the championship matches Saturday at 7 p.m. Due to COVID-19, the first three rounds of the tournament (First Round, Second Round, Quarterfinals) will all be split up based on weight class.

VT will bring eight qualifiers with them to the championship matches. The last time it brought eight, it finished fourth, its best finish in program history.

Tech Qualifiers:

125: Sam Latona

133: Korbin Myers

149: Bryce Andonian

157: Conor Brady

165: Mekhi Lewis

174: Dakota Howard

184: Hunter Bolen

285: Hunter Catka

Sam Latona, a No. 2 seed who posted a 10-0 record in the regular season, is the highest seed of any freshman in program history.

Korbin Myers qualified for the NCAA Championship matches for the fourth time in his career. Sitting at the No. 3 seed, Myers also earned the highest seed in his career.

Bryce Andonian is the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Championship this year. He will face a familiar opponent in Duke’s Josh Finesilver. Andonian pinned Finesilver in the dual meet at the time of 1:02 during the regular season.

Connor Brady makes his first ever appearance in the NCAA Championship matches Thursday and he has earned his first ever qualification. Brady is the No. 28 seed for the tournament.

Mekhi Lewis, the reigning and defending national champion, returns to the NCAA Championship matches as the No. 4 seed. During his 2019 championship run, he defeated the No. 1, 2 and 4 seeds to win the program's first ever national championship.

Dakota Howard is the No. 27 seed for the 174-pound weight division. Howard will also be facing another wrestler he has already faced this season, Andrew McNally from Kent State.

Hunter Bolen is the No. 5 seed in his weight class. He has five wins this season against fellow qualifiers.

In his first year at Virginia Tech, Hunter Catka qualified for the NCAA Championships as the No. 18 seed.

All of Virginia Tech’s matches will be able to be viewed Thursday through Saturday on the ESPN family of networks. The schedule will be below:

Championship Match Schedule:

Thurs. | 11 a.m. First Round (125 pounds – 157 pounds) | ESPNU

Thurs. | 2 p.m. First Round (165 pounds – Heavyweight) | ESPNU

Thurs. | 6 p.m. Second Round (125 pounds – 157 pounds) | ESPN2

Thurs. | 9 p.m. Second Round (165 pounds – Heavyweight) | ESPN2

Fri. | 11 a.m. Quarterfinals (125 pounds – 157 pounds) | ESPNU

Fri. | 3 p.m. Quarterfinals (165 pounds – Heavyweight) | ESPNU

Fri. | 8 p.m. Semifinals | ESPN

Sat. | 11 a.m. Medal Rounds | ESPN2

Sat. | 7 p.m. National Championships | ESPN