9:00 p.m. — As we've reported, NC State has won the ACC team title. All 10 wrestlers placed at the same position or better as their seed; three exceeded their seed coming in. The Pack finished with three champions — 141-pound fifth-year senior Jamel Morris, 157-pound redshirt sophomore Hayden Hidlay and 197-pound fifth-year senior Malik McDonald.
More to come from Blacksburg.
8:45 p.m. — Fifth-year senior Malik McDonald takes the mat for the 197-pound championship in NC State's final bout of the evening, facing UVA's Jay Aiello, the top seed.
Aiello strikes first with a takedown, but McDonald gets a reversal to tie it up. Aiello escapes for the 3-2 lead.
McDonald jumps back in the lead with a second-period takedown. Aiello escapes with 10 seconds left, but McDonald hits an immediate takedown right before the buzzer to go ahead 6-4.
Aiello escapes midway through the third period. McDonald hits a takedown and adds a pair of back points for the 10-5 lead with 30 seconds left. UVA challenges the call, but review upholds the ruling. Aiello escapes, but McDonald secures another takedown and the 13-6 win. It's a gigantic cherry on top of an ACC team championship, with McDonald winning the ACC title by way of a pair of top-11 national wins. He's looking better than ever at the most important time.
8:07 p.m. — Thomas Bullard is now taking on top-seeded Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech in the 165-pound finals.
Lewis strikes first with the takedown, but Bullard escapes. Lewis gets another takedown before the end of the first.
Bullard takes bottom in the second and gets a reversal. Lewis escapes, and it is 5-3 Lewis going into the third.
Lewis chooses neutral. He gets a takedown with 15 seconds left to make it 7-3. Bullard escapes.
Bullard falls in a hard-fought 7-4 decision, but losing by decision means that as long as NC State doesn't lose any team points they have clinched the ACC title.
7:53 p.m. — No. 1 seed Hayden Hidlay vs. No. 2 seed Taleb Rahmani of Pitt is underway for the 157-pound ACC championship.
Hidlay strikes first with a takedown, Rahmani escapes. 2-1 is the score at the end of the first.
Rahmani escapes to tie it up, but Hidlay adds a late takedown to go ahead 4-2 going into the third. He also has 1:40 of riding time.
Hidlay is out right away and then adds a takedown. He wins 8-2.
Hidlay's title at 157 means that if the remaining three Virginia Tech wrestlers don't each win by bonus points in the finals, NC State has clinched the team title.
7:27 p.m. — A big one for the team score is about to start since it's NC State vs. Virginia Tech, one of two finals bouts between the two team point leaders. The Wolfpack will be represented by fifth-year senior Jamel Morris, while the Hokies will send out Mitch Moore. Morris beat Moore 4-0 in the dual.
Morris takes Moore down to his back, but does not get any near-fall swipes. He does get the takedown and 2-0 lead. Morris adds two near-fall points with a tilt and goes up 4-0, which will be the count going into the second period.
Illegal move gives Morris another point, but that's all the scoring done in the second.
Moore gets a takedown early in the third, but Morris escapes immediately to make it 6-2. Morris is hit for stalling twice, making it 6-3. That's the final, Jamel Morris is NC State's first ACC champ of the year.
Provided there are no bonus points recorded by Virginia Tech, NC State has essentially clinched the team title. They lead by 10.5 and Virginia Tech would only be able to score 9 more without bonus points.
7:15 p.m. — Tariq Wilson, the No. 2 seed, is getting ready to take on No. 1 Micky Phillippi of Pitt at 133 pounds. The two have never met in college, and both are ranked in the top 11 nationally.
Wilson in deep on a great shot early, scramble on the edge of the mat results in Phillippi on top, but no points awarded. Review upheld the call. First period ends 0-0.
Phillippi starts the second on bottom and escapes after Wilson racks up 33 seconds of riding time. Wilson was in on a shot late in the second, but Phillippi holds him off.
Wilson starts the third on bottom. Phillippi gets a quick two count for near-fall points to make it 3-0. Wilson escapes, but Phillippi gets the 4-1 victory.
7:04 p.m. — The finals are underway. Virginia's Jack Mueller strikes first with a takedown, but Fausz escapes. Mueller immediately tallies another takedown and then Fausz is hit for stalling, and Mueller adds two near-fall points. It was all Mueller in the first period, and he leads 6-1 with 2:20 of riding time.
Fausz escapes to open the second, but Mueller adds another takedown. Fausz is hit for a second stall, which makes it 9-2 Mueller going into the third.
Mueller tacks on a riding time point for the 10-2 victory.
6:58 p.m. — The finals are getting ready to get started, going from 125 on up to heavyweight. The Pack will have a competitor in each of the first three finals bouts, the live stream is available here.
5:56 p.m. — At the end of the consolation finals, the team scores are:
NC State - 84.5
Virginia Tech - 77
North Carolina - 47.5
Duke - 37
Pitt - 35
Virginia - 23.5
Without bonus points, the most team points Virginia Tech can score in the finals are 12 (if all four of their finalists won). That would give the Hokies 89 team points. Two champions would put NC State at 90.5 points, but I stress again — that is with no bonus points (or team points taken away). It's shaping up to be a tight one.
Four champions from NC State (and no points lost) would basically clinch the title outright, unless Virginia Tech won all four finals bouts by pin, which is highly, highly unlikely. If the Hokies won all four weights by pin and NC State won four of their six finals bouts, Virginia Tech would take the title by 0.5 team points.
In terms of automatic qualifiers for NC State, nine of their 10 starters are officially going to NCAAs thanks to their finish within the conference.
Finals start at 7 p.m. NC State will have wrestlers going for gold at 125, 133, 141, 157, 165 and 197. Virginia Tech has four in the finals — at 141, 165, 174 and 184.
5:47 p.m. — Freshman heavyweight Deonte Wilson is up now on mat 2, wrestling for third place and an automatic NCAA bid against Virginia Tech's Billy Miller at the same time as Bullard is going on mat 1.
Scoreless first period.
Miller starts the second on bottom and escapes, and then hits Wilson for a takedown. Wilson escapes to make it 3-1, which is the score going into the third period.
Wilson escapes after being ridden for about 1:15. Miller secures the takedown to win 6-2. Wilson finishes fourth.
5:41 p.m. — 174-pound redshirt sophomore Daniel Bullard is up now on mat 1, taking on UNC's Devin Kane. Bullard strikes first with a takedown about 30 seconds into action. Kane escapes, then gets a takedown before Bullard escapes to make it 3-3. Bullard adds another takedown to make it 5-3 at the end of the first.
Bullard starts the second on bottom and hits a reversal. He also forces a second stall call for another point. It's 8-3 with a minute left in the second, then he adds two near-fall points.
Bullard is awarded a penalty point, and then adds a takedown with four near-fall points to make it 17-3. A final stall call and penalty point gives Bullard the 19-3 technical fall victory, a third-place finish and an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Those could be huge bonus points.
5:30 p.m. — 184-pound redshirt sophomore Nick Reenan is taking on UNC's Chip Ness for third place on mat 2 now. Daniel Bullard still has not wrestled for third at 174, but his match will probably begin in about 5-7 minutes on mat 1.
Reenan hits a throw for the match's first takedown and adds two back points as well. Carolina is challenging the call, but Ness did reverse Reenan before action stopped so it will be 4-2 Reenan if the call stands.
The call stands.
Action gets back underway and Reenan hits a reversal before allowing Ness to escape. Reenan is in deep on a shot and close to finishing, but the ref doesn't award the takedown. NC State challenges the call.
The call stands, and it's still 6-3 going into the third.
Reenan is awarded a point for Ness hitting him in the face, and then he adds another takedown. Ness escapes. Timeout for blood.
Action resumes and Reenan gets a reversal before allowing an escape to make it 11-6. Ness gets a takedown, Reenan escapes and 12-8 is the final. Reenan is officially the third-place finisher at 184 pounds.
5:10 p.m. — 149-pound fifth-year senior Justin Oliver is up now on mat 2. He faces Ryan Blees of Virginia Tech in a 3 seed vs. 4 seed matchup. Again, any head-to-head matchups between NC State and Virginia Tech are very important due to those being, pretty far and away, the top two teams in the league.
Scoreless first period.
Oliver escapes 14 seconds into the second and then quickly adds a takedown. Blees escapes and Oliver leads 3-1 going into the third.
Oliver gets two back points early in the third for a 5-1 lead. He ends the third period where he started it — on top. Riding time point makes it a 6-1 win for Oliver, the ACC's third-place finisher at 149 pounds.
5:00 p.m. — NC State went 4-0 in the consolation semifinals, picking up a trio of bonus point wins en route to outscoring its foes 49-11. In the only match they did not pick up bonus points, Daniel Bullard avenged a regular-season loss.
Oliver at 149 and Reenan at 184 both clinched NCAA automatic bids with their victories, giving NC State eight NCAA qualifiers (out of 10) so far. The final two, Bullard at 174 and Wilson at heavyweight, must both win in the consolation finals to punch their ticket to Pittsburgh.
After the consolation semifinals, here are the updated team scores:
NC State - 77
Virginia Tech - 66
North Carolina - 48.5
Pitt - 35
Duke - 32
Virginia - 23.5
The consolation finals have already started, and they will move quickly on two mats.
4:44 p.m. — Freshman heavyweight Deonte Wilson is up on mat 2 against sixth-seeded Araad Fisher of Duke.
Wilson strikes first with an early takedown. Fisher works up to his feet, but Wilson returns him to the mat on his back and gets two back points.
Wilson starts the second period with an escape, then tacks on another takedown for a 7-0 lead. He finishes on top and is up to 3:13 in ride time.
Wilson is on bottom to start the third and once again quickly escapes. After adding the riding time point, it is a 9-0 final for Wilson.
This is easily the best Wilson has looked all year, and the points — including bonus points for his latest win — he's provided are huge for the team.
After a 9-0 start to the season, Wilson was in and out of the lineup while going 11-10 over his next 21 bouts prior to the ACC Championships. He's 2-1 at the ACC Championships and will wrestle next for third place, with a chance to nab the final automatic qualifying bid for NCAAs.
4:36 p.m. — Redshirt sophomore Nick Reenan scrambles into an early takedown of Duke's Kaden Russell. Reenan entered as the three seed, Russell was fifth. After an escape, another takedown for Reenan, this one to Russell's back. He's up 8-1 about a minute into action, before Russell escapes. Another Reenan takedown and Russell escape makes it 10-3. That's the situation going into the second.
Reenan starts on bottom and escapes before adding another takedown. A Russell escape makes it 13-4.
Russell starts the third with an escape, but he is then taken down. Reenan lets him up on a restart and gets another takedown. He adds four near-fall points this time and completes the technical fall victory.
4:22 p.m. — Third-seeded Daniel Bullard is taking on fifth-seeded Gregg Harvey of Pitt on mat 1. Harvey beat Bullard 6-4 in the regular season.
Bullard immediately strikes a takedown and quickly adds two back points for a 4-0 lead less than a minute into the bout. That's the count going into the second, Bullard has 2:51 of riding time.
Bullard opens the second with a quick escape, but is then taken down. That makes it 5-2 going into the final frame, Bullard still has 1:58 of riding time.
Bullard extends his lead to 7-2 with a third-period takedown, and winds up with an 8-2 win with the riding time point.
4:02 p.m. — Fifth-year senior Justin Oliver, who entered as the 3 seed, is up on mat 1, facing UVA's Michael Murphy, the No. 5 seed.
Oliver gets the match's first points due to a penalty, and then he adds a takedown to make it 3-0. Murphy escapes before the period runs out and it's 3-1 going into the second.
Oliver starts the second with an escape and those are the only points scored in the period.
Oliver adds a trio of third-period takedowns, Murphy is only able to muster two escapes. With the riding time point, Oliver gets an 11-3 major decision. Huge for him to pick up bonus points on his way to the third-place match. Oliver also earned a NCAA automatic bid with the win.
3:30 p.m. — NC State has four wrestling in the consolation semifinals, which just started — 149 Justin Oliver, 174 Daniel Bullard, 184 Nick Reenan and heavyweight Deonte Wilson.
All six finalists have clinched an NCAA Championships bid. A win this round would push Oliver and Reenan through to NCAAs. Bullard and Wilson both need to place third to nab an automatic bid.
2:55 p.m. — The semifinal round is over. NC State went 6-4 and outscored its foes 66-47 during the round (they are 12-4 overall at the tournament and have outscored foes 121-60. More importantly, it got revenge for two regular-season losses by flipping the result, and also won its two head-to-head matchups with Virginia Tech.
The updated team standings:
NC State - 63.5 (6 in finals)
Virginia Tech - 45 (4 in finals)
Pitt - 36 (4 in finals)
UNC - 28 (2 in finals)
Duke - 21 (2 in finals)
Virginia - 21 (2 in finals)
2:44 p.m. — The final bout of the semifinal round just started. Fifth-seeded Deonte Wilson will take on UNC heavyweight Cory Daniel, who entered as the No. 1 seed.
Wilson is taken down in the first but escapes and trails 2-1 entering the second.
Daniels rides Wilson for the entire second period, and then quickly escapes to open the third. He now leads 3-1 and has 2:33 of riding time.
Wilson is hit with his second stalling call, and then Daniel gets a takedown to make it 6-1. Wilson escapes, and Daniel adds another takedown. He concedes the escape to Wilson, and Wilson is hit for stalling again. Daniel wins 10-3, and Wilson drops to the consolation bracket.
2:33 p.m — It's fifth-year senior Malik McDonald's turn for revenge in the semifinals on mat 2 at 197 pounds. He'll take on second-seeded Tom Sleigh of Virginia Tech, who beat him 3-2 in the regular season.
Again, with as close as the team scores are likely to be, every NC State-Virginia Tech matchup is huge for the trophy race.
McDonald strikes first with a takedown about 2 minutes into the bout. Sleigh escapes, but trails 2-1 at the end of the first.
Sleigh escapes to tie it up at 2-2, and that remains the count going into the third.
McDonald chooses neutral, and forces a second stall call against Sleigh, which gives him a 3-2 lead with 9 seconds left. McDonald hangs on for a huge upset victory.
2:22 p.m. — Third-seed Nick Reenan takes the mat to take on second-seeded Nino Bonaccorsi, who beat him 8-0 in the regular season. Both guys are ranked in the top 10 nationally.
Bonaccorsi strikes first with a takedown. Reenan escapes, but Bonaccorsi adds another takedown before time runs out in the second for a 4-1 lead.
Bonaccorsi opens the second with an escape and then adds another takedown. Reenan is hit for a second stall to give Bonaccorsi an 8-1 lead. Bonaccorsi currently has 2:29 of riding time.
Reenan starts the third on bottom and is hit for another stall before he escapes. That makes it 9-2. Bonaccorsi is hit for stalling again, but with the riding time point, Reenan falls 10-3 and drops to the consolation bracket.
2:12 p.m. — Another Bullard looking for revenge, another 3 seed vs. 2 seed match. Redshirt sophomore Daniel Bullard takes on second-seeded Matt Finesilver of Duke, who beat Bullard 8-7 in the regular season.
Scoreless first period.
Finesilver escapes, but those are the only points scored in the second.
Bullard escapes to tie it up at 1-1. Finesilver secures a takedown, though, and makes it 3-1 with under a minute left. Riding time point makes it a 4-1 final for Finesilver and Bullard will drop to the consolation bracket.
2:02 p.m. — After a short break, action is picking back up at 165 pounds. On mat 2, redshirt sophomore Thomas Bullard is taking on Virginia's Cam Coy. They are the three and two seeds, respectively, and right next to each other in the national rankings at No. 18 (Bullard) and No. 19 (Coy), respectively. Coy won 3-1 in the regular season.
Scoreless first period.
Bullard started the second on bottom and gets a reversal about 15 seconds in. Bullard sunk a deep power half in on top and nearly had a turn, but it was stopped for being potentially dangerous. Coy escapes right before the end of the second to make it 2-1. Bullard has 1:28 of riding time going into the final frame.
Bullard gets the power half this time and adds four near-fall points to his score to make it 6-1. Bullard finishes with nearly four minutes of riding time and records a huge 7-1 victory. He avenges the regular-season loss, clinches a spot in the conference finals and punches his ticket to NCAAs.
1:44 p.m. — The top seed at 157 pounds, redshirt sophomore Hayden Hidlay, just started his semifinals match against No. 5 seed Jake Keating of UVA.
Hidlay starts with a big throw for the match's first points. He then gets a turn for two near-fall points, and later does the same thing for another two, 6-0 Hidlay. He adds another turn, this time for all four near-fall points. He releases that and gets another four-point turn for a 14-0 lead heading into the second period.
A quick takedown in the second completes the 16-0 technical fall victory. Hidlay is officially in the ACC finals and qualifies for the NCAA Championship, both for the second straight year.
1:35 p.m. — 149-pound fifth-year senior Justin Oliver, the third seed, is up on mat 2 to take on UNC's Austin O'Connor, the two seed. Both are rankd among the top 10 nationally.
Scoreless first period.
O'Connor scores first with a reversal early in the second. Oliver quickly escapes, but O'Connor adds a takedown just before the buzzer for a 4-1 lead going into the final period.
Oliver starts the period on bottom and escapes to make it 4-2. That's the final score and Oliver will fall to the consolation bracket.
1:21 p.m. — 141-pound fifth-year senior and top-seeded Jamel Morris is taking on fourth-seeded Josh Finesilver of Duke.
Morris wastes no time for an early takedown. Finesilver escapes, Morris quickly adds another takedown. Finesilver escapes again and Morris grabs another quick takedown to make it 6-2. Finesilver escapes to close the gap to 6-3 at the end of the first.
Finesilver escapes after he started on bottom, and Morris adds another takedown. Finesilver escapes, Morris with another takedown. Wash, rinse, repeat. Morris is hit for stalling, that's a point for Finesilver to make it 10-6 going into the third.
Morris starts on bottom, is given the escape. Finesilver gets his first takedown and closes the gap to 11-8. Finesilver lets Morris up, then gets another takedown. Another Morris escape makes it 13-11. Duke challenges a non-takedown call with 8 seconds left. Morris has 1:51 of riding time, so it's effectively 14-11 Morris. That's the final score of a wild match, and Morris has officially made the finals and punched his ticket to the national tournament.
1:10 p.m. — 133-pound redshirt sophomore Tariq Wilson is up now on mat 2, taking on third-seeded Gary Wayne Harding of UNC.
Wilson strikes first with a takedown seven seconds into the bout and rides out his opponent.
Wayne Harding returns the favor and rides Wilson the entire second period.
Wayne Harding gets a takedown in the third to tie it up at 2-2. A Wilson reversal gives him a 4-2 lead with under a minute left in regulation. Wayne Harding escapes, then Wilson ices the match with another takedown for a 6-3 lead. Wayne Harding gets a penalty point, but that's all he can muster. Riding time gives Wilson the 7-4 victory.
1 p.m. — 125-pound fifth-year senior Sean Fausz gets his day started in the semifinals on mat 2 against third-seeded Joey Prata of Virginia Tech. With Tech and State expected to be the top two teams in the tournament, every head-to-head win is of utmost importance.
He scores a takedown seconds into the bout and then Prata is hit for stalling. Prata eventually escapes to make it 2-1 midway through the first period, but Fausz adds another takedown before the end for a 4-1 lead going into the second.
Fausz quickly escapes to start the second and then adds another takedown. Prata is hit for stalling, so that's another point for Fausz.
Prata is hit for stalling early in the third, giving Fausz a 9-1 lead. His riding time point makes it a 10-1 major decision. Fausz has officially punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships and will wrestle in the finals tonight.
12:31 p.m. — NC State has a wrestler on mat one for the first time, and it's fifth-seeded heavyweight Deonte Wilson, a true freshman, taking on fourth-seeded Tyler Love of UVA.
Wilson starts off with a takedown on the edge of the mat. Love escapes and takes down Wilson, but Wilson escapes to make it 3-3 going into the second period.
Wilson rides out Love for the entire second period and picks up a point after Love was hit for two stall calls. Wilson goes into the third with a 4-3 lead.
Wilson escapes early in the third for a 5-3 lead, and then ices the match with a takedown with 35 seconds left. Huge 8-3 victory for Wilson, and the Pack's only one in the first round that was an upset according to the seeds.
NC State outscored its foes 55-13 in six matches during the opening round of action.
The team scores at the end of round one:
UNC - 10
NC State, Virginia Tech - 9
Duke - 4
Virginia - 3
Pitt - 0
12:21 p.m. — 197-pound fifth-year senior Malik McDonald, the third seed, is up now on mat 2 to face sixth-seeded Brandon Whitman of UNC.
After a scoreless first period, McDonald escapes and then earns a takedown for a 3-0 lead.
McDonald rides Whitman for the entire third period to garner a 4-0 victory.
12:10 p.m. — Redshirt sophomore 184-pounder Nick Reenan follows his teammates on mat 2. He's facing UVA's sixth-seeded Will Schany. It only takes about 30 seconds until Reenan garners a takedown. Schany escapes, Reenan adds another takedown and Schany escapes again to make it 4-2 at the end of the first.
Schany opens the second period with an escape, and then gets his first takedown to make it 5-4. Reenan ties it up with five seconds left in the period with an escape.
Reenan goes up 6-5 with an escape in the third, but Schany gets a takedown and goes over a minute of riding time. Reenan escapes to make it 7-7, and then gets a takedown plus two back points with 2 seconds left to pull out an 11-8 decision (Schany earned a point for riding time, which would have won him the match if not for Reenan's late takedown).
12:00 p.m. — Bullard's twin, Daniel, takes mat 2 next. The third-seeded Bullard faces sixth-seeded Robert Patrick of UVA.
Bullard gets a takedown less than 30 seconds into the first period. He allows his opponent to escape, but quickly adds another takedown to make it 4-1. Bullard ends the first period with 2:21 of riding time.
Patrick is hit for stalling a second time, giving Bullard a point. He then adds another takedown to make it 7-1. Patrick is hit for stalling again to make it 8-1.
A reversal makes it 10-1 in favor of Bullard. The riding time point makes it an 11-1 major decision.
11:50 a.m. — 165-pound redshirt sophomore Thomas Bullard is up on mat 2, he is seeded third and taking on Pitt's sixth-seeded Tommy O'Brien.
Bullard strikes first with a takedown about 45 seconds into the match.
Bullard starts the second period on bottom and picks up a quick reversal to make it 4-0. His opponent is hit for two second-period stalls, so he picks up another point and leads 5-0 going into the third and final period.
O'Brien chooses neutral and Bullard quickly adds another takedown to make it 7-0. He also already has over four minutes of riding time so has clinched an extra point for riding time. Another stall call makes it 8-0 Bullard. O'Brien escapes before the buzzer, but the riding time point gives Bullard a 9-1 victory and a bonus point for the major decision.
11:30 a.m. — NC State is on the mat for the first time, with 149-pound graduate transfer Justin Oliver, the No. 3 seed, taking on sixth-seeded Dallas Bulsak of Pittsburgh.
Oliver strikes first with an early takedown and then adds four near fall points for a 6-0 lead.
He adds a takedown in the second period for an 8-0 lead. The team score is projected to be very close, so any bonus points accumulated could be huge down the road (beating an opponent by 8-14 points results in a major decision and an extra team point).
Oliver adds a reversal in the third, plus his opponent was hit for his second stall call, which results in an additional point for Oliver to make it 11-0. He finished with over two minutes of riding time for a 12-0 major decision.
11:00 a.m. — Wrestling has started in Blacksburg. The Pack only has first-round matches at 149 (3 seed Justin Oliver), 165 (3 seed Thomas Bullard), 174 (3 seed Daniel Bullard), 184 (3 seed Nick Reenan), 197 (3 seed Malik McDonald) and heavyweight (5 seed Deonte Wilson).
The tournament can be streamed on ACC Network Extra. The schedule for the day is as follows:
11 a.m. - First round
1 p.m. - Semifinals
3:30 p.m. - Consolation semifinals
5 p.m. - Consolation finals
7 p.m. - Finals
Brackets are available by clicking here
Read about how NC State's season changed after an upset loss to Pitt here
Notes and nuggets from NC State's ACC dual championship regular season
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