Previewing how NC State wrestling stacks up at ACC Championship

The NCAA Wrestling postseason has finally arrived, and NC State gears up for all the great March action starting this Sunday at the 2025 ACC Championship at Duke.

NC State will go into the event as the reigning six-time champions, raising the team trophy at the ACC Championships every year dating back to 2019.

Even though NC State posted a record of 5-1 in ACC duals to finish tied atop the conference standings for the sixth time in the last eight years, the Pack will not have the luxury of having eight of its 10 wrestlers seeded second or better as it did last season. 

In fact this year, only two wrestlers has a first round bye (top seeded Isaac Trumble at heavyweight and Vince Robinson via a forfeit at 125 pounds) and only two others are seeded second (Ed Scott at 157 and Dylan Fishback at 184). But with the addition of Stanford, only the top seed gets a bye unlike previous years were the top two did into the semifinals.

Since the 2015-16 season, NC State has won seven ACC Championships and finished second a pair of times. The Pack has not finished lower than second place since the 2015 ACCs, a span of 10 straight top-two showings.

Among NC State’s 10 starters:

• Six have competed at the ACCs before: Kai Orine (133), Scott (157), Derek Fields (165), Matty Singleton (174), Dylan Fishback (184), and Trumble (285).
• Four of those six competed last year: Orine, Scott, Fields and Fishback.
• Orine and Scott combine for four previous ACC titles, two apiece during their careers including both winning one last year. Of the Pack’s seven individual ACC champions from last year, only Orine and Scott return to defend their titles in 2025.
• Two of those six are in a different weight class than previous trips: Singleton (previously at 165, now at 174) and Trumble (previously at 197, now at 285). They also both redshirted last season and this will be their first ACCs since 2023.
• Trumble was one of six ACC wrestlers this year to go a perfect 6-0 in ACC duals. The other weight classes were: 133, 141, 149, 165 and 197.NC
• Four will compete at their first ACC Championship: Robinson (125), Troy Hohman (141), Koy Buesgens (149), and Christian Knop (197).

Here is a look weight-by-weight at how NC State stacks up at the 2025 ACC Championship.

125 Pounds

NCAA Allocations: 4 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 5 
NC State: #5 Vincent Robinson (18-2) – No. 2 seed
Others Ranked: #4 Eddie Ventresca (VT), #10 Spencer Moore (UNC), #25 Nick Babin (Pitt), #31 Keyveon Roller (UVA)

Pack Path: Robinson is vying to become the third different Pack wrestler to win the title at 125 pounds over the last three years (Jarrett Trombley in 2023 and Jakob Camacho last year). He is also trying to become the fourth different 125-pounder under head coach Pat Popolizio to win an ACC title (Sean Fausz, Camacho, and Trombley). Neither Duke nor Stanford has an entry, so Robinson and Moore will have a first-round bye and meet in the semifinals. Robinson won the dual 10-4. The top seed is Ventresca, who gave Robinson his lone loss of the year on the mat, 4-1.

125 Notes: A first-time ACC champion will be crowned at 125 pounds. An NC State wrestler has reached the ACC finals at 125 pounds each of the last nine years, five champions and four runner-up finishes. NC State has won the last three titles and four of the last five. The top three seeds, Ventresca, Robinson, and Moore, all went 1-1 against each other in duals. Only Moore was in the field last year. In 2023 as a redshirt-freshman, Ventresca reached the ACC finals but fell to Trombley. This is the only ACC weight with three top-10 wrestlers.

133 Pounds

NCAA Allocations: 3 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 3 
NC State: #14 Kai Orine (11-6) – No. 4 seed
Others Ranked: #8 Ethan Oakley (UNC), #9 Tyler Knox (Stanford), #12 Connor McGonagle (VT), #32 Gable Porter (UVA)

Pack Path: Orine did not earn an NCAA allocation, because he did not have enough matches (seven) at 133 pounds after moving down from 141 in December. Thus, he must finish one spot above his seed, in the top-three, or he would have to earn one of four at-large NCAA bids. Orine fell to all three of the top seeds in ACC duals without recording a takedown in any of those bouts, by major decision to Knox (9-1) and in OT to both Oakley (2-1) and McGonagle (5-2). Orine and his first-round opponent, UVA’s Porter did not face off in the dual. The Pack’s Hohman got the start and scored a 5-1 ranked win in the UVA dual this year. With a win, Orine gets top seed Oakley in the semifinals, and McGonagle and Knox face off in the other half of the bracket.

133 Notes: Orine is the two-time defending champion, taking home top honors in both 2023 and 2024. The ACC has not had an individual win three straight titles at 133 pounds since Maryland’s Steven Bell in 2008-10. Orine is vying to become only the fifth ACC wrestler to win three titles at 133 pounds since the weight was introduced in 1999. All of the top three seeds are first-year starters at their schools and will be competing at their first ACC Championship, Oakley (App State) and McGonagle (Lehigh) are transfers while Knox is a redshirt-freshman. Oakley was a 2024 SoCon champion last year. Both Oakley (6-0) and McGonagle (5-0) went undefeated in ACC action, but they did not face off in the dual as Oakley faced a VT back-up.

141 Pounds

NCAA Allocations: 4 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 4 
NC State: Troy Hohman (9-7) – No. 4 seed
Others Ranked: #10 Sam Latona (VT), #19 Dylan Cedeno (UVA), #20 Jason Miranda (Stanford), #27 Jayden Scott (UNC)

Pack Path: After spending last season as a back-up at 125 pounds and starting this season competing for the starting spot at 133 pounds, Hohman was only up at 141 pounds for the Pack’s final two duals of the year. In the opening round, Hohman will face Scott – who defeated the Pack’s Tracy in the dual, 8-4. The winner will face top seed Latona in the semifinals. Cedeno and Miranda are likely to meet in the other semifinal.

141 Notes: Latona is a previous ACC champion, but his title came at 125 pounds back in 2021. He went a perfect 6-0 in ACC duals. Cedeno will be making his first trip to ACCs since 2022 when he placed third to qualify for the NCAAs. Scott was at ACCs last year, up at 149 pounds. There will be a true fifth place match wrestled at this weight.

149 Pounds

NCAA Allocations: 4 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 6 
NC State: #22 Koy Buesgens (16-10) – No. 4 seed
Others Ranked: #1 Caleb Henson (VT), #6 Lachlan McNeil (UNC), #15 Jaden Abas (Stanford), #23 Jack Gioffre (UVA), #24 Finn Solomon (Pitt)

Pack Path: Buesgens will draw fifth-seeded Jack Gioffre of UVA in the first round. Buesgens took the dual matchup, 4-2. The winner will get the top seeded Henson in the semifinals. McNeil and Abas are likely to face off in the other semifinal.

149 Notes: Henson is a former ACC champion, winning a title back in 2023. McNeil has placed third on each of his first two trips to the ACCs, both down at 141 pounds. They both went undefeated in ACC duals this year, McNeil a perfect 6-0 while Henson missed some action with injury and went 4-0. They did not face each other. The former Wolfpack wrestler, Solomon, placed third last year at ACCs. There will be a true fifth place match wrestled at this weight.

157 Pounds

NCAA Allocations: 3 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 5 
NC State: #15 Ed Scott (11-5) – No. 2 seed
Others Ranked: #10 Rafael Hipolito (VT), #21 Dylan Evans (Pitt), #27 Sonny Santiago (UNC), #28 Grigor Cholakyan (Stanford)

Pack Path: Scott opens his final ACC Championship with Duke’s Tattini, they did not face off in the dual. With a win, Scott would face the winner of Evans and UVA’s Gioffre in the semifinal. Scott downed both in duals, Evans 5-3 and Gioffre 11-4. Scott’s lone loss in ACC action was to the top seeded Hipolito (3-2).

157 Notes: Scott is the defending champion, and a two-time champion overall winning his first title in 2022. An NC State wrestler has won the title at 157 pounds six of the last seven years and seven of the last nine dating back to current NC State assistant coach Tommy Gantt winning in 2016. UNC’s Santiago was the top seed last year and fell to Scott in the finals. The other three ranked wrestlers in this weight class will be making their debuts at ACCs. The top three seeds at this weight – Hipolito, Scott and Evans all went 1-1 against each other this year in duals. Overall, Scott and Evans both went 5-1, while Hipolito missed time with injury and was 2-1.

165 Pounds

NCAA Allocations: 5 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 5 
NC State: #28 Derek Fields (12-10) – No. 3 seed
Others Ranked: #13 Hunter Garvin (Stanford), #20 Nick Hamilton (UVA), #29 Aidan Wallace (Duke), #32 Jared Keslar (Pitt), #33 Mac Church (VT)

Pack Path: Fields opens with Wallce from Duke. Fields took the dual match 7-2. In the semifinal, the second seed Hamilton most likely awaits. He and Fields did not face off this season in the dual, and the two split a pair of matches last season – Fields won the dual 11-7 while Hamilton won in the semifinals at the ACCs, 2-1 in extra time. Top seed Garvin sits in the top half of the bracket, he gave Fields his lone ACC loss (6-5).

165 Notes: Hamilton is defending ACC champion, he was the fourth seed and earned MVP honors for his run last year. This is the weight class in which the Pack has not won a title over the longest period of time, Max Rohskopf won the Pack’s last title at this weight back in 2016. In fact, that is the Pack’s only title at 165 pounds dating back to 2004. Garvin was runner-up at the Pac-12s last year, then went on to earn All-American honors. This year he was a perfect 6-0 in ACC duals. UNC’s Darracott was a second semester transfer from Stanford. There will be a true fifth place match wrestled at this weight.

174 Pounds

NCAA Allocations: 4 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 5 
NC State: #20 Matty Singleton (14-7) – No. 4 seed
Others Ranked: #5 Lorenzo Norman (Stanford), #18 Josh Ogunsanya (UNC), #21 Lennox Wolak (VT), #22 Luca Augustine (Pitt)

Pack Path: NC State-VT in the opening round, as Singleton will rematch with Wolak to open his tournament. Singleton scored a major decision two weeks ago, 12-2. Top seed Ogunsanya awaits in the semifinals, he scored a 6-5 win over Singleton in the dual. Norman and Augustine are likely to meet in the other semifinal.

174 Notes: A first-time ACC champion will be crowned. Only Pitt’s Luca Augustine returns from last year’s field, as he has wrestled at ACCs each of the last two years advancing to NCAAs each time. Ogunsanya and Wolak were teammates at Columbia for four years before they transferred this past offseason, Ogunsanya at 165 pounds (he missed most of last season) and Wolak at 174 as he took third at the EIWAs before going on to earn All-American honors. This will be Norman’s first of any conference championship as he is a redshirt-freshman. He missed time with injury this year and was limited to just three ACC duals. There will be a true fifth place match wrestled at this weight.

184 Pounds

NCAA Allocations: 3 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 4 
NC State: #14 Dylan Fishback (11-5) – No. 2 seed
Others Ranked: #13 Reece Heller (Pitt), #19 Gavin Kane (UNC), #21 TJ Stewart (VT)

Pack Path: Fishback opens with Duke’s Hussey in the first round, Fishback won their dual by technical fall (20-3). Should he advance, he would see the winner of third seeded Kane and sixth seeded Phillips from UVA. Fishback scored a 14-5 major decision over Kane in the dual, and did not face Phillips this year. In the top half, top seed Heller should face fourth seed Stewart in the other semifinal. Fishback has a combined nine matches against those top-four seeds over the last two years, going 4-5.

184 Notes: Stewart is the returning ACC champion, winning last year as a redshirt-freshman before going on to earn All-American honors. The top four seeds this year were the top four finishers last year at ACCs – Stewart first, Fishback second, Heller third and Kane was fourth. Heller was 5-0 in ACC duals this year, he did not face Stewart in the dual. Kane had one of the biggest upsets of the season when he pinned Stewart in the dual.

197 Pounds

NCAA Allocations: 3 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 4 
NC State: #31 Christian Knop (8-8) – No. 5 seed
Others Ranked: #10 Mac Stout (Pitt), #15 Nick Stemmet (Stanford), #16 Andy Smith (VT)

Pack Path: Knop did not earn an NCAA allocation, thus he must finish two spots above his seed, in the top-three, or he would have to earn one of four at-large NCAA bids. Knop will open with UNC’s Lautt in the opener, looking to reverse a 5-1 decision in the dual. The top seed Stout awaits in the semifinals, he scored a 13-4 major decision over Knop in the dual.

197 Notes: A first time ACC champion will be crowned, in addition, none of this year’s field has every advanced to an ACC final. Stout went a perfect 6-0 in ACC duals. Stemmet placed second at the Pack-12s back in 2023.

285 Pounds

NCAA Allocations: 5 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 6 
NC State: #4 Isaac Trumble (16-3) – No. 1 seed
Others Ranked: #13 Jimmy Mullen (VT), #14 Dayton Pitzer (Pitt), #26 Peter Ming (Stanford), #27 Connor Barket (Duke), #30 Nolan Neves (UNC)

Pack Path: Trumble is vying to become the fourth different heavyweight under Popolizio to win an ACC title (Nick Gwiazdowski, Deonte Wilson, Owen Trephan). He was the only Wolfpack wrestler to go a perfect 6-0 in ACC duals, five wins coming via bonus points. After a bye, Trumble will face the winner of fourth seed Pitzer and fifth seed Ming. Trumble went for bonus against both this year, Pitzer 10-1 and Ming 19-3. In the bottom half, second seed Mullin will face either third seed Neves or sixth seed Barket in the other semifinal. 

285 Notes: A first time ACC champion will be crowned. An NC State wrestler has won the heavyweight title two straight years and three of the last four overall. An NC State wrestler has advanced to the final each of the last five years. Mullen redshirted last year for VT, while Pitzer placed third at his first ACCs. Ming placed fifth at the Pac-12s each of the previous three seasons. There will be a true fifth place match wrestled at this weight.