Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Five of Virginia Tech's nine wrestlers competing at the 2018 NCAA Championships in Cleveland next week earned national seeds, the selection committee announced Wednesday night.
The Hokies' highest seed belonged to redshirt sophomore David McFadden, who earned the No. 2 seed in the 165-pound weight class and will face Duke's Zach Finesilver in the first round. The first round opponent for redshirt senior Jared Haught, the number three seed at 197 pounds, will be Northern Colorado's Jacob Seely.
Redshirt junior Zack Zavatsky was slotted as the sixth seed at 184, redshirt senior Dennis Gustafson earned No. 9 seed at 133 and redshirt junior Ryan Blees picked up the No. 12 seed at 149.
The Hokies have registered five consecutive top 10 finishes at nationals and are coming off of winning their second straight ACC Championship last week. Tech's nine NCAA qualifiers this season are its most since also sending nine in 2013-14 when the placed eighth in Oklahoma City.
FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS
125: #15 Zeke Moisey (West Virginia) vs. Kyle Norstrem
133: #9 Dennis Gustafson vs. Charles Tucker (Cornell)
141: #12 Tyler Smith (Bucknell) vs. Brent Moore
149: #12 Ryan Blees vs. Michael Sprague (American)
165: #2 David McFadden vs. Zach Finesilver (Duke)
174: #10 Ethan Ramos (North Carolina) vs. Hunter Bolen
184: #6 Zack Zavatsky vs. Michael Coleman (Navy)
197: #3 Jared Haught vs. Jacob Seely (Northern Colorado)
285: #6 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) vs. Andrew Dunn