No. 14 Hokies ready for clash with No. 10 NC StateNo. 14 Hokies ready for clash with No. 10 NC State
Wrestling

No. 14 Hokies ready for clash with No. 10 NC State

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No. 14 Virginia Tech vs. No. 10 NC State
Date: Feb. 22
Match Time: 7 p.m.
Stream: ACC Network Extra
Live Updates: @HokiesWrestling
Promotion: "Exit Light" – fans are encouraged to wear black! 400 free black Virginia Tech wrestling t-shirts will be passed out; Senior Night
Postmatch Social: Bowman Room immediately following the match              
 
HOKIES SET FOR NO. 14 NC STATE

  • One of the best rivalries in the ACC and the country over the last four years will be renewed on Friday night in Cassell Coliseum as No. 10 NC State comes to Blacksburg to take on No. 14 Virginia Tech at 7 p.m.
  • As always, admission is free and the match can be streamed live on ACC Network Extra with Evan Hughes and Daryl Weber, a 1996 National Champion at Iowa, on the call.
  • Fans have been asked to be in their seats at 6:40 p.m. as the program honors a senior student athletic trainer, a senior student manager and six wrestling student-athletes for Senior Night: Fans have been asked to be in their seats at 6:40 p.m. as the program honors a senior student athletic trainer, a senior student manager and six wrestling student-athletes for Senior Night: Monica Becerra (manager), Alex Arnold (athletic trainer), Ryan Haskett, Brooks Wilding, Ryan Blees, Billy Miller, Tom Sleigh and Zack Zavatsky.
  • This season, the Hokies are 9-4 overall and 3-1 in the ACC while the Wolfpack is 15-3 overall and 3-1 in the ACC.
  • Tech, NC State and North Carolina are in a three-way tie for first place in the ACC with 3-1 records in conference duals.
  • The winner of Friday's dual will have earned at least a share of the ACC Dual Meet Championship, pending the result of North Carolina vs. Duke also at 7 p.m. on Friday.
  • If the Tar Heels were to lose to the Blue Devils, then the winner of Virginia Tech-NC State will be named outright dual meet champions. 

INSIDE THE RIVALRY

  • The Hokies and the Wolfpack have gone back-and-forth over the last four years as the top wrestling program in the ACC.
  • The two programs have finished first and second in the ACC standings the last four seasons.
  • The last three ACC Dual Meet titles have come down to Virginia Tech and NC State on the final dual of the season for both squads with the Hokies winning two of the three meetings.
  • Over the last four seasons, NC State ranks fifth in the nation (66-8, .891) and Virginia Tech ranks sixth (57-10, .851) in dual meet winning percentage.
  • Those clips also rank first and second in the ACC, respectively.
  • The rivalry was front and center on the national stage last season as NC State's Michael Macchiavello defeated Virginia Tech's Jared Haught in the 197-pound national final by a 3-1 decision.
  • The matchup marked the first time two ACC programs were matched up in a national title bout.

SHORT TIME – NC STATE

  • NC State is led by seventh-year head coach Pat Popolizio, who owns a record of 101-27 in Raleigh.
  • A shared connection between Popolizio and Tech head coach Tony Robie and is they both led the wrestling program at Binghamton.
  • Robie was the head coach at Binghamton in 2005-06, its first after restarting the program, and Popolizio followed to lead the Bearcats from 2007-12.
  • Last season, the Wolfpack placed fourth at the NCAA Championships, tying Virginia Tech for the highest finish by an ACC program at nationals (fourth, 2016).
  • The Wolfpack are led by 2018 NCAA finalist Hayden Hidlay at 157 pounds and 2018 third-place finisher Tariq Wilson at 133.
  • Along with Hidlay and Wilson, NC State has an All-American at 149 pounds in Justin Oliver, a graduate transfer from Central Michigan who placed seventh in the nation in 2016.
  • The Wolfpack has five wrestlers ranked in this week's Intermat rankings – No. 11 Sean Fausz (125), No. 7 Tariq Wilson (133), No. 8 Justin Oliver (149), No. 4 Hayden Hidlay (157) and No. 4 Nick Reenan (184).