The ACC Wrestling Championships get underway at 11 a.m. from Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh.

The NC State wrestling team enters as the favorite after winning the regular-season title and is going for its second straight conference championship, after winning the event last season. Here's our preview and predictions of the event from an NC State perspective.

Note that the most recent updates will appear at the top of the page. The whole event is streamed on ACC Network Extra, except for the finals, which will be broadcast by the ACC Network, starting at 7 p.m.

More detailed match breakdowns and analysis can be found on The Wolves' Den message board.

9:25 p.m. — The final matchup of the evening features a Wolfpacker, but as we've already reported NC State has clinched the team title.

Sophomore heavyweight Deonte Wilson still takes on Pitt's Demetrius Thomas in this one.

Thomas strikes first with a takedown 35 seconds in. Wilson quickly escapes, but that's all the first-period scoring and he trails 2-1.

Wilson eventually escapes in the second, but Thomas promptly adds another takedown to make it 4-2 entering the third.

Thomas escapes to make it 5-2, and Wilson adds a takedown at the end but falls 5-4.

8:52 p.m. — In perhaps the most anticipated finals matchup of the night, 184-pound redshirt freshman Trent Hidlay takes the mat against Virginia Tech's Hunter Bolen. The winner of this could very well be the No. 1 at NCAAs in two weeks.

It's 0-0 after the first period, both wrestlers were hit once for stalling.

Hidlay wins the toss and chooses bottom, he escapes after 42 seconds on bottom. They're back neutral and Hidlay is hit for stalling after going out of bounds, which makes it 1-1. No more points in the second.

Bolen starts underneath and escapes quickly for a 2-1 lead. That's the final, Hidlay finishes second.

8:39 p.m. — NC State 174-pounder Daniel Bullard takes the mat against UNC's Clay Lautt.

Lautt tallies a pair of takedowns in the first to Bullard's two escapes for a 4-2 lead. No points were scored in the second.

Bullard escapes quickly but can't score any more points. It's a 4-3 loss for the Wolfpacker.

8:33 p.m. — Pitt's Jake Wentzel wins at 165 pounds, but since he did not win via pin, NC State has clinched its second straight ACC championship. The Wolfpack still has three wrestlers in the finals to go.

8:08 p.m. — This is a huge one for the team race, with wrestlers from the two remaining contenders facing off with NC State's Hayden Hidlay and Pitt's Taleb Rahmani squaring off in the 157-pound finals.

Hidlay tallied a takedown less than a minute into the bout, and then adds a quartet of back points to make it 6-0 midway through the opening frame. Rahmani escapes before the end of the period, giving Hidlay a 6-1 lead at the end of the first.

Hidlay starts the second on bottom and quickly escapes. He adds a takedown to make it 9-1 going into the third.

Rahmani opens the period with an escape. Hidlay winds up with a 13-4 major decision victory.

IMPORTANT TEAM RACE UPDATE AFTER HIDLAY'S WIN: Pitt's only chance to tie the team score is to win by pin in each of their remaining two finals and NC State to not score any more team points (the Pack has three remaining finalists).

7:31 p.m. — NC State's Tariq Wilson takes the mat, going for gold at 141 pounds, after a scare in the semifinals. He'll face UNC's Zach Sherman, who Wilson beat 6-0 in the regular season and is 4-0 against in his career.

Wilson scores a takedown six seconds into the bout. Sherman escapes, but Wilson leads 2-1 going into the second period.

Wilson starts the second with an escape, but is then taken down on the edge. Wilson nearly reverses his opponent, but settles for an escape for a 4-3 lead. That's the count going into the third.

After a review, Sherman is awarded a takedown on the edge of the mat, so he now trails 5-4 with 52 seconds left in regulation. Wilson is close to a reversal with 10 seconds left, but no points awarded. NC State challenges the call, but it stands. Wilson falls by 5-4 decision and places second, but with Sherman not able to score bonus points UNC is eliminated from the team title race.

7:26 p.m. — Pitt's Micky Phillippi wins at 133 to keep the host Panthers within striking distance.

7:03 p.m. — The finals are underway, starting at 125 pounds with NC State's Jakob Camacho taking on UVA's Jack Mueller, the nation's No. 2-ranked wrestler.

Camacho strikes first with a takedown, then gives up an escape. Camacho adds a second takedown to his opponent's back, racks up four more near-fall points. A final Mueller escape makes it 8-2 Camacho heading into the second period.

Camacho gives up an escape in the second, but adds another takedown in the third. Riding time makes it an incredibly impressive 11-4 win over last year's national runner-up.

With 10 matches left in the finals, here are the current team scores (number of finalists):

1. NC State 74 (6)

2. Pitt 68 (4)

3. UNC 58.5 (5)

4. UVA 57.5 (2)

5. VT 49 (3)

6. Duke 2 (0)

A few notes…

• Each champion will be worth an additional 3 points to the team scores above. Bonus points work as follows: 2 points for a pin, 1.5 points for a tech fall and 1 point for a major.

• It is strongly likely the only teams with chances to catch NC State are Pitt and UNC, and the Tar Heels would probably need bonus points to do so (one champ from NCSU might be enough to knock UNC out of contention).

The easiest path to a title obviously involves winning those head-to-head matchups with those two schools — 141 vs. UNC, 157 vs. Pitt, 174 vs. UNC and 285 vs. Pitt.

• Crazy things can happen, but (unofficially) it seems like a possibility that two champions can clinch NC State the team race, especially if they come against Pitt. It's pretty safe to say NC State controls its own destiny in the team race.

• If there were a rooting guide for NC State fans, it would probably say to hope for no Pitt bonus points, a Virginia Tech champion at 165 (vs. Pitt) and a UNC champion at 133 (vs. Pitt), just to be safe.

133: Jarrett Trombley falls to Louie Hayes (UVA), 5-3 (TB-1)

149: AJ Leitten falls to Denton Spencer (UVA), 7-0

165: Thomas Bullard pins Cam Coy (UVA), 3:31

197: Tyrie Houghton falls to Kellan Stout (Pitt), 10-8 (SV-1)

5:45 p.m. — 197 Tyrie Houghton is the last non-finalist for NC State to compete today. He's taking on Pitt's Kellan Stout, who entered as the 2 seed.

Houghton actually tallies the first takedown, then gives up a reversal. He escapes right before the buzzer to take a 3-2 lead into the second.

Houghton opens the second with an escape, then is taken down. However, he escapes inch back ahead at 5-4.

Stout with an early third-period reversal to go ahead 6-5. Houghton escapes to tie it up again, but is taken down with about a minute left. Houghton reverses Stout to tie it up again. He rides Stout out and just misses the riding time point, meaning we are headed to OT again.

Stout secures the takedown to win 10-8, Houghton finishes fourth, but put up a great fight in that one.

5:30 p.m. — 165 Thomas Bullard is wrestling UVA's Cam Coy now on mat 2. He scores off a scramble with about 22 seconds left in the first, then picks up the pin and some big-time bonus points with a pin 31 seconds into the second period.

5:20 p.m. — 149 AJ Leitten and UVA's Denton Spencer wrestle to a scoreless first period. They were the No. 3and 4 seeds, respectively, coming in.

After a scoreless first period, Leitten starts on bottom but can't get away. He was turned for four near-fall points and hit for stalling twice, so trails 5-0 entering the third.

Leitten can't score and then gives up a reversal at the end to fall 7-0. He'll finish fourth and be very unlikely to get an at-large bid to NCAAs now.

5:01 p.m. — 133 Jarrett Trombley is wrestling UVA's Louie Hayes for third place on mat 2.

Trombley opens the scoring with a takedown and takes a 2-1 lead into the second after Hayes escapes. Trombley escapes in the second to make it 3-1. A Hayes reversal makes it 3-3, and that's how regulation ends.

After a scoreless sudden victory, the match is going to tiebreakers. Trombley couldn't get away in the first half, then was hit for locked hands and allowed an escape in the second for a 5-3 loss.

1. NC State 70

2. Pitt 59

3. UNC 56.5

4. UVA 53.5

5. VT 45

6. Duke 2

NC State has four wrestling in this round, which begins at 3:30. The winners move on to wrestle for third place, while the loser won't be able to place in the top four (though some will wrestle for fifth to determine who receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships).

Here are this round's results, with more details below:

133: Jarrett Trombley decision over Collin Gerardi (VT), 2-1

149: AJ Leitten decision over Dallas Bulsak (Pitt), 5-2

165: Thomas Bullard decision over Ben Anderson (Duke), 3-2 (TB-1)

197: Tyrie Houghton decision over Vincent Baker (Duke), 10-1 major decision

That means all 10 Wolfpackers will place among the top four at their weight and earned team points at ACCs. As noted earlier, eight have claimed automatic-qualifying bids to the NCAA Championships.

4:28 p.m. — 197 Tyrie Houghton is wrestling Duke's Vincent Baker, who beat Houghton 7-6 in the dual. After a scoreless first period, Houghton rode Baker the entire second, but no points were scored.

In the third, Houghton quickly escapes then breaks things open with a takedown and cradle, which nets him two back points. He adds another takedown with two near-fall points to score a 10-1 decision and some major bonus points.

4:00 p.m. — 165 Thomas Bullard is up now against Duke's Ben Anderson on mat 1. After a scoreless first period, Bullard sandwiches two escapes around an Anderson takedown to make it 2-2 going into the third.

No points in the third and we go to sudden victory OT. No points, so we head to tiebreakers. Bullard rides Anderson out in the first half, and escapes immediately in the second half. Bullard wins 3-2.

That also means that NC State has successfully punched automatic-qualifying bids to NCAAs at eight of the 10 weight classes. The two that did not — 149 and 197 — will have to go the at-large route to reach Minneapolis. Leitten should have a decent case if he places third today.

3:48 p.m. — 149 AJ Leitten is wrestling Pitt's Dallas Bulsak on mat 1. He strikes first in the second period with a reversal. Bulsak with an escape after that, and then another escape in the third makes it 2-2.

One minute left in regulation. Bulsak tries a throw, Leitten gets the takedown and then secures the riding time point for a 5-2 win. He'll wrestle for third next.

3:30 p.m. — 133 Jarrett Trombley is taking on Virginia Tech's Collin Gerardi, who entered as the 5 seed. Trombley pinned him in 44 seconds during the dual.

Scoreless first period.

Trombley rides Gerardi for 1:37 before he can escape, no other points in the second.

In the third, Trombley escapes right in the nick of time, stopping riding time at 1:02 and tying it up at 1-1. No other points, means that riding time point is the decider in a 2-1 win for Trombley.

3:00 p.m. — Here are the team scores after the semifinal round with the number of wrestlers in the finals for each team in parenthesis:

NC State - 58.5 (6)

UNC - 50 (5)

Pitt - 47.5 (4)

VT - 38 (3)

VA - 34.5 (2)

Duke - 2 (0)

125: Jakob Camacho (NCSU) decision over Joey Melendez (UNC), 5-1

133: Jarrett Trombley (NCSU) falls to Jamie Hernandez (UNC), 7-2

141: Tariq Wilson (NCSU) decision over Cole Matthews (Pitt), 10-9

149: AJ Leitten (NCSU) falls to Bryce Andonian (VT), 10-3

157: Hayden Hidlay (NCSU) major decision over Justin McCoy (UVA), 11-2

165: Thomas Bullard (NCSU) falls to David McFadden (VT), 4-1

174: Daniel Bullard (NCSU) decision over Mason Eaglin (Duke), 10-4

184: Trent Hidlay (NCSU) decision over Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt), 3-2 (TB-1)

285: Deonte Wilson (NCSU) decision over Quinn Miller (UVA), 7-1

NEXT ROUND (CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS) WILL START AT 3:30 p.m.

2:48 p.m. — No. 2 seed Deonte Wilson is up against UVA's Quinn Miller. Wilson beat him 5-1 in the dual.

Wilson forces two stall calls against Miller, giving him a 1-0 lead going into the second.

Miller is hit for stalling once again, and then Wilson gets a reversal with just one second left. That gives the Wolfpacker a 4-0 lead entering the final period of regulation.

Miller gets away, but then is promptly taken down by Wilson to give him a 6-1 lead. Wilson also wipes away the riding time, Miller is hit for stalling again, meaning it's a two-point penalty this time. 7-1 win for Wilson ends the session.

2:23 p.m. — This is probably the ACC semifinal match that the entire wrestling world is looking forward to the most, second-seeded Trent Hidlay against Pitt's Nino Bonaccorsi in a showdown of two of the nation's top 5.

Hidlay scores first after Bonaccorsi was hit for stalling twice, 1-0 Hidlay, but he was hit for stalling in the first as well.

Hidlay starts the second on bottom and quickly escapes. He is then hit for stalling to make it 2-1. That's the count going into the third.

Bonaccorsi escapes to make it 2-2, but that's all the scoring. We are going to OT.

Scoreless sudden victory, so we go to tiebreakers. Hidlay escapes in 6 seconds during his 30 seconds on bottom, while he held down Bonaccorsi the whole time for a 3-2 victory.

2:08 p.m. — Daniel Bullard now takes the mat at 174, with the second-seeded Wolfpacker facing Duke's Mason Eaglin, the No. 3 seed.

Another scoreless first period.

Eaglin chooses bottom, and Bullard turns him twice, first for two and then a second time for all four. 6-0 lead entering the third, and Bullard chooses top. Both guys add a final-frame takedown, while Eaglin had two escapes and was hit for an illegal move, making it a 10-4 win for Bullard.

1:55 p.m. — After a short break, the action has started again with 165-pounder Thomas Bullard, the 2 seed, taking on Virginia Tech's David McFadden. Bullard won this one, 2-1, in the regular season, but McFadden is a three-time All-American and two-time ACC Champion, including last year up a weight at 174. This should be one of the best matches of the round.

After a scoreless first period, Bullard opens the scoring with an escape. A wild scramble results in a takedown for McFadden. Bullard can't get a takedown at the end and actually gives one up with a second left and falls 4-1.

1:40 p.m. — Top-seeded and the nation's No. 2-ranked 157-pounder, Hayden Hidlay, steps onto the mat for his first bout of the day to face fifth-seeded Justin McCoy (UVA), who upset the No. 4 seed earlier today. Hidlay beat him 14-1 in the regular season.

Two takedowns for Hidlay in the first. He allowed one escape but racked up over 2 minutes of riding time.

Hidlay escapes to start the second and adds another takedown to make it 7-1 going into the third. In the final frame, Hidlay adds a takedown and adds a point for stalling against McCoy. With 4:20 of riding time, it's an 11-2 major decision for Hidlay.

1:30 p.m. — No. 3 seed AJ Leitten is up against No. 2 seed Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) at 149 now. Scoreless first period, which may be best-case scenario for Leitten, especially given how the regular-season matchup went (Leitten was pinned in the first period).

Andonian breaks things open in the second period, with a six-point feet-to-back takedown and clinches a 10-3 win over Leitten.

1:20 — Top-seeded 141-pounder Tariq Wilson wastes no time scoring a takedown against Pitt's Cole Matthews, and adds a second though he allowed a pair of escapes for a 4-2 lead going into the second.

Another Wilson takedown in the second, no escape this time means he takes a 6-2 lead going into the third frame.

The final period was absolutely nuts. There were a bunch of stall calls and Wilson was cement mixered to his back, giving up two points for the takedown and four near-fall points, but he hangs on for a 10-9 victory to move on to the finals and claim an NCAA bid.

1:10 p.m. — Third-seeded Jarrett Trombley is on the mat at 133 pounds against UNC's Jamie Hernandez, who beat Trombley 1-0 in the regular season.

Scoreless first period, but Trombley opens the second with a slick gramby roll for the match's first points. However, Hernandez escapes and hits a takedown at the end of the second period, adds an escape and takedown in the third plus riding time makes it a 7-2 loss for Trombley. He drops to the consolation bracket.

1:01 p.m. — No. 2 seed Jakob Camacho takes the mat against UNC's Joey Melendez on mat 2. Camacho scores first after a long, crazy scramble and finishes the period on top for a 2-0 lead.

The lone points in the second were a Camacho escape. Melendez starts the third with a quick escape, but the only other points are a Camacho takedown after Melendez tries a hail mary with a few seconds left. Camacho moves on with a 5-1 victory and has officially qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Our pre-event preview still applies, so check that out here. An ACC-best nine Wolfpackers will take the mat in the semifinals, so it should be an action-packed two hours or so. This round will also give us a great idea of how the team race is shaking up for the conference trophy.

133: No. 3 seed Jarrett Trombley (NCSU) tech fall over No. 6 Harrison Campbell (Duke), 17-1

149: No. 3 seed AJ Leitten (NCSU) decision over No. 6 Wade Unger (Duke), 9-4

197: No. 6 seed Tyrie Houghton (NCSU) falls to No. 3 Brandon Whitman (UNC), 6-3

12:02 p.m. — Sixth-seeded Tyrie Houghton is up at 197. He'll face No. 3 Brandon Whitman of UNC.

Whitman takes down Houghton and puts him on his back for a 6-0 lead at the end of the first period. Houghton shows some life in the second period and gets a reversal, and then rides the entire third period and picks up a stall call, but he still falls 6-3.

11:23 a.m. — Third-seeded AJ Leitten jumps out to a big lead over No. 6 Wade Unger of Duke. Two takedowns and a four-point near fall at the end of the first period gives him an 8-1 lead going into the second period. Only points scored in the second were a Leitten escape, while it was all Unger in the third period.

However, Leitten hangs on for a 9-4 win.

11:12 a.m. — Third-seeded Jarrett Trombley takes the mat to face No. 6 Duke's Harrison Campbell at 133 pounds.

Trombley gets a pair of first-period takedowns and two back points for a 6-1 lead in the first period. An escape for Trombley in the second, then a takedown and a boatload of back points secure the technical fall victory midway through the second period, 17-1.

Only three Wolfpackers are in action in the opening round of action — redshirt freshman 133-pounder Jarrett Trombley, the third seed, faces sixth-seeded Harrison Campbell of Duke. In the regular season, Trombley won via a 17-4 major decision.

Redshirt sophomore 149-pounder AJ Leitten also drew the third seed and will face another Duke grappler seeded sixth, Wade Unger. Leitten won via a 14-0 major decision in the regular-season matchup.

Finally, NC State's 197, sophomore Tyrie Houghton, is the sixth seed and will open against No. 3 seed Brandon Whitman of North Carolina. They have not faced each other before in college.

NC State should be hunting for bonus points in the first two matches.

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