This past week in the national coaches’ poll, the ACC had five of its six wrestling teams ranked among the top 20 nationally. The league has come a long way in a short time, and there’s been two programs leading the way — NC State and Virginia Tech.

The ACC powerhouses meet as top-10 teams Friday night at 8 p.m. in Blacksburg (ACC Network).

The Hokies were the first ACC team ever to claim a team trophy for a top-four finish at the NCAA Championships in 2016.

That was the same year that Pat Popolizio really put his Wolfpack program on the national wrestling map. During the regular season, the team became the first program ever — from any league — to go on the road and defeat traditional powerhouses Oklahoma State and Iowa. It finished 23-1 … and the ‘one’ was to the Hokies.

RELATED: Meet Isaac Trumble, NC State Wrestling's Newest Star

Ever since that 19-14 upset, there have been fireworks every time the ACC rivals have met on the mat. There were three pins in last year’s match alone, an unheard of number in a college dual, especially between a pair of top-10 squads.

Each of the last five duals between the rivals have been decided by six points or less — the maximum number of team points that can be earned in an individual bout. All but one of those have featured a pair of top-10 squads squaring off — and the exception was when they were ranked 10th and 14th in 2019.

There's also conference seeding implications and the last four have determined the ACC regular-season champion … and this year will be no different.

It is, without a doubt, the marquee matchup of every ACC wrestling season. And this season’s edition has the potential to be one of the best in the always-intense rivalry.

The Wolfpack went undefeated last year, finished second nationally in the coaches’ poll and looked poised to threaten for another NCAA team trophy before the tournament was canceled. They returned all 10 starters this season and added a freshman class so talented that three rookies have broken into the starting lineup, including breakout 197-pounder Isaac Trumble and 149-pounder Ed Scott, who has been the team’s starter all season.

The Hokies had placed among the top 11 at each of the last eight NCAA Championships, and had nine NCAA qualifiers to help continue the streak last year. This season, they’ve welcomed 2019 NCAA champion Mekhi Lewis back to the lineup after his Olympic redshirt.

The two squads put on a show that many in the wrestling community deemed the best dual in the country overall, and this year's could be just as good.

A full weight-by-weight preview is below (with the NC State wrestlers listed first and each grappler's listing in five of the major national polls):

There are a few matches that seem to be likely ACC finals previews, and this is certainly one. Both Camacho and Latona are ranked among the top 10 by all five major outlets, and this will be the toughest test of the year so far for each.

Latona topped Camacho at last year’s Southern Scuffle 10-5 on his way to a third-place finish — but that 3-2 performance at that tournament in particular has been considered a major turning point in the career of Camacho, the defending ACC champion. Since then, Camacho is 14-1 with six bonus-point victories and the only loss coming last year to former NCAA finalist Jack Mueller of Virginia, who Camacho then beat in dominant 11-4 fashion for his ACC title.

If it’s Prata, Camacho has beaten him twice, but the most recent was a hard-fought 5-4 decision in last year’s dual.

Trombley and Jack have split starting duties this year for the Pack, while Myers is a sixth-year senior and three-time NCAA qualifier. In ACC action, he has posted dominant major decisions over UVA’s Louie Hayes (12-1) and UNC’s Jamie Hernandez (11-2) so far. Though the transitive property doesn’t always apply in wrestling, both beat Jack in their duals earlier this year.

Trombley has wrestled in some closer matches than would be expected on paper this year, but had the incredible 44-second pin against Virginia Tech last year that played a big role in allowing the Wolfpack to come back and win.

Both Trombley and Myers are ranked among the top 15 nationally by four of the five major outlets.

The All-American Wilson has been in a close match in every ACC dual this year, but the league is pretty loaded at the weight — all stand as quality victories, regardless of score.

Wilson and Gerardi met back in the 2018-19 season at 133 pounds, and Wilson posted a 10-1 victory. However, it’s been Hillegas who has started in five of his team’s duals. The rookie is a former two-time Pennsylvania state champion and top-100 recruit.

Two of the future stars of ACC wrestling. Andonian was pulled out of his redshirt in mid-December last year and earned the No. 20 seed for the NCAA Championships after going 18-6. He'll be an All-America contender at NCAAs.

Scott is only 3-3 but done enough to crack a few national rankings and has faced one of the toughest schedules on the team so far.

Hidlay has thoroughly dominated ACC competition in his career, especially as of late. He’s never lost to a conference opponent, and that won't change here. This is the Pack's best chance on paper for some bonus points, which could decide the match if the teams split the 10 matches.

Lewis is one of the top college wrestlers in the country. Like many of these wrestlers, these two are familiar with each other — Lewis has beaten Bullard three times in his career: by a 7-4 decision in the most recent matchup, and also 11-5 in last year’s dual and a 12-5 victory back in Jan. 2018.

Howard is coming off his first win of the year, but it was a big one — an 8-7 upset of UNC’s Devin Kane, who had been ranked in the top 10. Bullard, meanwhile, beat Kane 7-4 the day before Howard posted his victory. These two have not met before since Howard had been wrestling as high as 197 pounds.

This is the main event of the dual. It’s not only a likely ACC finals preview, it’s a possible NCAA championship match. Bolen was the No. 2 seed for NCAAs last year after claiming an ACC crown, while Hidlay was fifth — and it wouldn’t have been a huge surprise if they had met in the finals.

Bolen beat Hidlay 3-1 in last year’s dual and then 2-1 for the ACC title, representing two of the mere six losses (against 50 wins) he’s had in two-plus years of college wrestling, including his redshirt.

However, Hidlay has improved a lot since last March and added diversity to his offense. This is arguably the top match in all of college wrestling happening this weekend.

Smith has started all but one dual this season, while Trumble has only started two … but they were the last two. Smith’s record is a bit misleading — he has wrestled some of the best 197-pounders in the country and kept the scores close. He lost 7-3 to No. 1 Noah Adams and 10-3 to No. 3 Jay Aiello.

Trumble has a win over one of the nation's best, topping former No. 5 Nino Bonaccorsi in his first start.

Trumble and Smith have a common opponent in UNC’s Max Shaw — Trumble fell behind 4-1 but came back and pinned him in the second period, while Smith lost to Shaw 9-5.

Go ahead and mark this one down for being a close one. These two couldn’t be any tighter.

Wilson beat Borst 3-1 last season, but it came down to a dramatic takedown in the final five seconds of regulation and was the only time they have wrestled in college.

Wilson earned the No. 22 seed at NCAAs last year, while Borst was a few slots higher, at 18th, despite losing the head-to-head matchup and placing lower at ACCs.

The two are basically next to each other in the national rankings either, no more than three slots separate them in the five polls — which can’t even agree on a favorite. Wilson has the better ranking in three of the five, and also has the experience of clinching two top-10 duals last year at the very end of the final bout.

The winner of this one basically clinches the No. 1 seed at the ACC Championships.

If Catka gets the nod, he was the headliner of the Hokies’ top-10 recruiting class, checking in as a top-10 recruit individually. However, it seems more likely we see Wilson-Borst 2, and if that's the case it's almost guaranteed to be a close one.

What's more in question is if it decides the dual.

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