Seeds, brackets released for ACC Championships

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Atlantic Coast Conference has announced the seedings for the 2019 ACC Wrestling Championship, which will be held this Saturday at Virginia Tech's Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Action begins at 11 a.m. Saturday, with the Championship Finals set for 7 p.m. Tickets are priced at $10 for adults. Admission is free for youth 18 and under. ACC students are admitted free with a valid student ID.

To purchase tickets, click here.

Two-time defending ACC champion Virginia Tech leads all schools with three No. 1 seeds, while 2018-19 ACC dual meet co-champion NC State and Virginia landed two top seeds apiece. Co-champion North Carolina, Duke and Pitt each have one wrestler seeded atop his weight class. Seeds were determined by a vote of the league's six head coaches.

Each weight class champion and runner-up at the 2019 ACC Championship will earn All-ACC recognition. In addition to ACC honors, student-athletes will be vying for berths and seeding in the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships, which will be held March 21-23 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. The ACC has been awarded a league-record 37 automatic berths and is hopeful of earning several more at-large selections. The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will select 44 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 12.

Twenty-three Atlantic Coast Conference student-athletes are listed among the top 20 of their individual weight classes in the most recent InterMat rankings, including 15 among the top 10. Virginia Tech senior Zack Zavatsky holds the highest ranking at No. 3 in the 184-pound class (which includes three ACC wrestlers among the top 10). Duke senior Mitch Finesilver (149), and NC State sophomores Hayden Hidlay (157) and Nick Reenan (184) each hold No. 4 rankings.

The doors to Cassell Coliseum will open at 10 a.m. on Saturday, with first-round action kicking off the event at 11 a.m. Semifinals are set for 1 p.m., followed by the consolation semifinals at 3:30 p.m. and the consolation finals at 5 p.m. Championship matches begin at 7 p.m., followed by the awards presentation.

ACC Network Extra again plans nearly 10 hours of live coverage from 11 a.m. through 9 p.m. Matches will be delivered on two concurrent live streams. Shawn Kenney and Tim Foley will handle the call on Mat 1, with Dean Linke and Rock Harrison manning Mat 2. The wealth of wrestling knowledge among the talent promises fans great insight into the competition.

Seeds for the 65th Annual ACC Wrestling Championship are listed below. Brackets for each weight class may be viewed here.

Entries are subject to change until noon on Friday.

125:
1. Jack Mueller, Virginia
2. Sean Fausz, NC State
3. Joey Prata, Virginia Tech
4. Joel Heilmann, North Carolina
5. Brendon Fenton, Pitt
6. Harrison Campbell, Duke

133:
1. Micky Phillippi, Pitt
2. Tariq Wilson, NC State
3. Gary Wayne Harding, North Carolina
4. Korbin Myers, Virginia Tech
5. Louie Hayes, Virginia
6. Arien Leigh, Duke

141:
1. Jamel Morris, NC State
2. Mitch Moore, Virginia Tech
3. A.C. Headlee, North Carolina
4. Josh Finesilver, Duke
5. LJ Bentley, Pitt
6. Sam Krivus, Virginia

149:
1. Mitch Finesilver, Duke
2. Austin O'Connor, North Carolina
3. Justin Oliver, NC State
4. Ryan Blees, Virginia Tech
5. Michael Murphy, Virginia
6. Dallas Bulsak, Pitt

157:
1. Hayden Hidlay, NC State
2. Taleb Rahmani, Pitt
3. B.C. LaPrade, Virginia Tech
4. Josh McClure, North Carolina
5. Jake Keating, Virginia
6. Ben Anderson, Duke

165:
1. Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech
2. Cam Coy, Virginia
3. Thomas Bullard, NC State
4. Zach Finesilver, Duke
5. Sawyer Davidson, North Carolina
6. Tommy O'Brien, Pitt

174:
1. David McFadden, Virginia Tech
2. Matt Finesilver, Duke
3. Daniel Bullard, NC State
4. Devin Kane, North Carolina
5. Gregg Harvey, Pitt
6. Robert Patrick, Virginia

184:
1. Zack Zavatsky, Virginia Tech
2. Nino Bonaccorsi, Pitt
3. Nick Reenan, NC State
4. Chip Ness, North Carolina
5. Kaden Russell, Duke
6. Will Schany, Virginia

197:
1. Jay Aiello, Virginia
2. Tom Sleigh, Virginia Tech
3. Malik McDonald, NC State
4. Kellan Stout, Pitt
5. Alec Schenk, Duke
6. Brandon Whitman, North Carolina

285:
1. Cory Daniel, North Carolina
2. Demetrius Thomas, Pitt
3. Billy Miller, Virginia Tech
4. Tyler Love, Virginia
5. Deonte Wilson, NC State
6. Araad Fisher, Duke