Hokies Place Second in ACC Wrestling Championships

By Ryan Duvall

Staff Writer

March 7, 2022

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Mekhi Lewis (17-1) waltzed into the ACC Championships on Sunday ranked as the third-best 174-pound wrestler in the conference.

The 2019 national champion (165 pounds) was out to prove that he was not only the best in the conference, but the nation. And he didn’t fail.

After drawing the third seed, Lewis had an opening round bout against Pittsburgh’s Hunter Kernan. He used a mix of power and speed to easily advance, defeating Kernan with a 16-4 major decision.

Next up was NC State’s No. 5 Hayden Hidlay, who was the only grappler to put a dent in Mekhi’s 17-1 regular season record. Lewis would claim sweet revenge over the Wolfpack wrestler with a 3-2 win via a takedown and escape. He was onto the final.

In the final, Lewis faced off against the top seed of the class, North Carolina’s No. 8 Clay Lautt, who Lewis had previously defeated 6-2 during VT’s and UNC’s dual last month.

The two closely battled as they were scoreless in the first period, followed by Lautt accumulating the only point of the first two rounds with an escape.

Lewis then finished off the match the only way he’s accustomed to: Strong. With an escape, a takedown and riding time, Mekhi Lewis, at a new weight class and coming off a season ending injury last year, was once again an ACC champion.

“It felt good, the top four seeds [of the 174 lbs class] are all really good, any one of us could have won, but I think I had the best day today,” Lewis said on his conference championship.

And Lewis did in fact have the best day, as ACC commissioner Jim Phillips presented the Hokie wrestler with the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament award, following three wins and an ACC championship victory.

Despite Lewis’s big day, No. 8 Virginia Tech (9-4, 4-1 ACC), was again second fiddle to No. 4 NC State (12-1, 5-0 ACC) in the overall scoring, as it were crowned both regular season and postseason ACC champions, cementing its place at the top of the league.

The Wolfpack paced all squads with 98.5 team points, followed by the Hokies and Pitt with 76.o and 51.0 points respectively. No. 23 UNC (48.0), UVA (39.5), and Duke (11.0) rounded out the standings.

While Virginia Tech didn’t win it all, like many Hokie fans hoped it could, VT still had a really strong showing.

Along with Lewis, No. 5 Korbin Myers (133 pounds) won his second career ACC championship, and No. 14 heavyweight Nathan Traxler, a transfer from Stanford, achieved a remarkable feat.

Traxler, who already had a PAC-12 title on his resume, became a multi-conference winner. He took down the No. 2 seed in his bracket, Tyrie Houghton (NC State), with a 9-6 victory to win the ACC heavyweight championship.

With one year of ACC wrestling under his belt, Traxler is a conference champion, and looking forward to the looming NCAA tournament.

“We’ve already been wrestling for five months now, so most of the preparation [for the NCAA’s] is already done. I’m just focusing on staying in the best shape I can be in, and honing in on what I’m best at heading into the tournament,” the graduate transfer said following his win.

The Hokies had two more finalists in No. 18 Sam Latona (125 pounds), and No. 8 Bryce Andonian (149 pounds).

Latona, the top seed in his weight class, faced an opponent he knew a lot about in NC State’s No. 19, Jakob Camacho. Latona went into the match a career 4-0 against Camacho, including the conference title win from 2021.

Yesterday, the Wolfpack wrestler finally toppled Latona, who had been a thorn in his side the past two seasons, with a 3-1 victor.

Andonian on the other hand, was outmatched by No. 3 Tariq Wilson (NC State), taking a 10-4 defeat.

No. 14 Hunter Bolen placed third in the 184-pound bracket, while N0. 23 Collin Gerardi (141 pounds) and No. 30 Connor Brady (157 pounds) each placed fourth.

Following the ACC Championship in Charlottesville, the Hokies will have a week of rest before heading to Detroit for the NCAA tournament from March 17-19.

All eight Virginia Tech wrestlers to place are headed to Detroit as automatic qualifiers (ACC had a record 39 AQ’s in 2022), while the remaining Hokie starters, Clayton Ulrey (165 lbs) and No. 31 Dakota Howard (197 lbs) will have to hope for at-large bids.

…

Virginia Tech’s results by weight class:

Sam Latona – 125-pounds

Semifinals – W, Patrick McCormick (UVA), 16-5 Maj Dec

Finals – L, Jakob Camacho (NCSU), 3-1 Dec

Korbin Myers – 133-pounds

Semifinals – W, Kai Orine (NCSU), 6-2 Dec

Finals – W, Micky Phillippi (Pitt), 4-2 Dec

Collin Gerardi – 141-pounds

Quarterfinals – W, Dylan Cedeno (UVA), 1-0 Dec

Semifinals – L, Cole Matthews (Pitt), 0-2 Dec

Consolation Semifinal, W, Patrick Rowland (Duke), 8-2 Dec

Third Place Match – L, Dylan Cedeno (UVA), 5-7 Dec

Bryce Andonian – 149-pounds

Semifinals – W, Josh Finesilver (Duke), 19-3 Tech Fall 6:51

Finals – L, Tariq Wilson (NCSU), 4-10 Dec

Connor Brady – 157-pounds

Quarterfinals – L, Ed Scott (NCSU),

Consolation Semifinal – W, Wade Unger (Duke), 4-3

Third Place Match – L, Jake Keating (UVA), 1-6

Clayton Ulrey – 165-pounds

Quarterfinals – W, Sonny Santiago (UNC), 6-4 Dec

Semifinals – L, Jake Wentzel (Pitt), 0-3 Dec

Consolation Semifinal – W, Gabe Dinette (Duke), 5-3 Dec

Third Place Match – L, Thomas Bullard (NCSU), 0-1

Mekhi Lewis – 174-pounds

Quarterfinal – W, Hunter Kernan (Pitt), 16-4 Maj Dec

Semifinal – W, Hayden Hidlay (NCSU), 3-2 Dec

Final – W, Clay Lautt (UNC), 4-2 Dec

Hunter Bolen – 184-pounds

Quarterfinal – W, Vincent Baker (Duke), 16-3 Maj Dec

Semifinal – L, Gavin Kane (UNC), 4-3 TB-1

Consolation Semifinal – W, Michael Battista (UVA), 4-2 Dec

Third Place Match – W, Gregg Harvey (Pitt), Fall 1:42

Dakota Howard – 197-pounds

Quarterfinal – L, Max Shaw (UNC), 10-9 Dec

Consolation Semifinal – L, Jay Aiello (UVA), 8-2 Dec

Nathan Traxler – 285-pounds

Semifinal – W, Quinn Miller (UVA), 5-3 SV Dec

Final – W, Tyrie Houghton (NCSU), 9-6 Dec