The NC State wrestling team not only has last year’s ACC Championship to defend Sunday in Pittsburgh at the ACC Championships, but they also claimed the conference’s regular-season title outright to make the target on its back even bigger than usual.

The Wolfpack will be going for its first back-to-back ACC Championships since 2001-02, and with seven seeded among the top two at their weight class — more than any other team in the league — they are considered the favorite going in.

Only three NC State wrestlers compete in the first round (133, 149, 197), which begins Sunday at 11 a.m., and the real action heats up with the semifinals at 1 p.m. Everything will be streaming on ACC Network Extra, except for the finals, which will air on ACC Network at 7 p.m.

We examine the draws and preview each weight for the event below:

Camacho earned the No. 2 seed by beating everybody but the top seed during the regular season. For that he received a good draw, winding up on the same half of the bracket as UNC’s Joseph Melendez, who he beat in the regular season by a more decisive margin (9-4) than No. 4 seed Joey Prata of Virginia Tech (5-4). Prata is ranked higher than Melendez in most of the national rankings.

It might be tough for Camacho to win a title. The undefeated No. 1 seed, Jack Mueller of Virginia, has lost only once the last two years (in the 2019 national championship bout to Iowa’s Spencer Lee). However, Camacho did give him one of his most competitive matches this year in the January dual, a 5-2 loss, which was tied for Mueller’s lowest margin of victory this year. Mueller recorded bonus points in nine of his 12 matches this year.

Camacho enters the postseason ranked among the top 18 nationally by all major wrestling outlets, led by a No. 15 listing from FloWrestling and TrackWrestling. He should lock up one of the league’s three NCAA Tournament automatic qualifying bids and be a dangerous double-digit seed that can win a few matches at nationals.

Prediction: Second place, NCAA qualifier

This is one of three weight classes that was so strong within the six-team ACC that the league was awarded five NCAA bids. So punching a ticket to nationals shouldn’t be an issue for Trombley, but the No. 3 seed can finish higher than his listing coming in.

He lost a close 1-0 bout to second-seeded Jamie Hernandez of UNC but beat everybody else. Trombley enters the postseason ranked in half of the six major media polls, checking in at No. 23 in one and No. 25 in the other two.

Pittsburgh’s Micky Phillippi has lost only once this year and is the favorite, but the four wrestlers seeded second through fifth wrestled him within four points during the regular season, so this weight class could provide some great matches. Both semifinals have the potential to be intriguing.

Prediction: Second place, NCAA qualifier

Wilson, one of just five ACC grapplers who enter the postseason having already earned All-America honors (third-place finish after a magical run in 2018), earned the No. 1 seed despite being one of three at the weight to go 4-1 against ACC foes during the regular season. He beat all league foes except for third-seeded Mitch Moore of Virginia Tech, who caught him early in a headlock and held on for a 7-3 win. However, Wilson did beat Moore at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite in December, winning 5-3 in sudden victory.

Moore lost to UNC’s Zach Sherman 5-2 in the January dual, which is how Sherman earned the second seed (Wilson beat Sherman 6-0 in the dual).

Wilson won’t have it easy in the semifinals, where he’s likely to face Pittsburgh’s Cole Matthews, who is ranked in the top 25 by a few outlets and wrestled every foe ranked above him within three points this year, including a 5-2 loss to Wilson.

Wilson is ranked between 10 and 13 nationally by the media polls, but the Pack really needs him to win this weight class and earn All-America honors at nationals (top-8 finish) to accomplish its team goals. Though Wilson is up at a new weight class, he has a win over the nation’s No. 2-ranked (per FloWrestling) competitor, Luke Pletcher of Ohio State, in his career so can conceivably compete with anybody in the country.

Prediction: First place, NCAA qualifier

This weight also has a heavy favorite with only one loss this year, and that’s returning All-American Austin O’Connor of North Carolina. The most intriguing element of this bracket will be who wins the semifinal between Virginia Tech’s Bryce Andonian and Leitten, who should have no problem in the first round against Duke’s Wade Unger. The winner of that semifinal punches a ticket to NCAAs, while the loser will have to wrestle for third place and hope to earn an at-large berth.

Andonian is ranked higher in all of the national polls and also pinned Leitten, who is listed 33rd nationally by the coaches, in the first period of a wild NC State-Virginia Tech dual Feb. 14 that featured a staggering three wins by fall.

Prediction: Third place

Hidlay is not only vying for his third ACC title in three years, but looks to be on pace to become NC State’s fifth four-time conference champion and just the 10th in league history.

But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. Hidlay has a loaded field that earned five NCAA automatic qualifying bids this year to navigate. However, he has been downright dominant against them, despite the four seeded second through fifth all being ranked among the top 25 nationally by at least two major media polls. Still, Hidlay (26-1 this year) pinned one ACC foe in 1:32 and beat the other four by a combined total of 45-6 in duals.

Hidlay enters the postseason tied for eighth in the NCAA’s most dominant wrestler rankings, and should be able to showcase why over a strong field at ACCs. A title Sunday would make him the 11th in school history to win a trio of conference golds.

Prediction: First place, NCAA qualifier

This might be the most wide-open weight class, where any of the top four seeds have a chance to claim gold. Each is ranked between seventh and 12th nationally by the coaches, and all six competitors have been to NCAAs before.

This was a tough draw for the second-seeded Bullard, who will face Virginia Tech’s third-seeded David McFadden in the semifinals. Two of the three-time All-American’s four losses this year came to league rivals — a shocking 21-6 defeat at the hands of top-seeded Kennedy Monday of UNC and 2-1 to Bullard.

Bullard has not wrestled Monday before in college, but that’s still the more favorable draw over McFadden, who is looking to become the Hokies’ first-ever four-time All-American. McFadden’s postseason resume and consistency ­— in addition to a trio of top-six national finishes, he’s claimed conference crowns in each of the last two years, including at 174 pounds last season — presents a major roadblock to Bullard’s first ACC title.

However, the Wolfpacker does enter the postseason ranked highest nationally — usually one spot ahead of McFadden — in three of the national polls (FloWrestling, InterMat, The Open Mat).

Prediction: Third place, NCAA qualifier

In every major media poll, No. 1 seed Gregg Harvey is listed one spot ahead of Bullard, the No. 2 seed. Harvey beat Bullard 10-8 with a wild scramble and takedown that was secured with just seven seconds left in the dual, so this should be an exciting, scramble-filled matchup once again the ACC finals.

Last year, the two split their two matches, with Harvey winning in the regular season by two and Bullard winning at ACCs in more dominant fashion, 8-2. Does history repeat itself?

Bullard beat a former All-American in Cornell’s Brandon Womack earlier this year and is wrestling the best of his college career right now, losing only twice since Dec. 13, including the loss to Harvey.

The way 174 is within the ACC and nationally, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Bullard — who can scramble with anybody in the country, is near-impossible to take down and very tough on top — outperform his seeds. He’s placed third at the last two ACC championships, but could break through to the top spot here.

Prediction: Second place, NCAA qualifier

While 165 is the ACC’s most competitive, in terms of having four possible champions, 184 is the weight every wrestling fan in the country can’t wait to watch. The ACC’s top three seeds all enter the postseason ranked among the top five nationally per FloWrestling, and the eventual champion will have a major opportunity to strength his case for the No. 1 seed at NCAAs.

Hidlay comes in ranked third nationally by almost everybody (Bolen is No. 2 by most) and has a 6-3 win on his resume over Bonaccorsi, who beat top-seeded Bolen, who beat Hidlay. The seeds mean Hidlay will almost certainly see Bonaccorsi in the semifinals.

Like the first time around, Hidlay vs. Bolen in the finals is likely to be a one-move match that either can win.

Prediction: Second place, NCAA qualifier

Head coach Pat Popolizio did leave the door open on the #PackMentality Pop-Ins Podcast that redshirt junior and two-time NCAA qualifier Nick Reenan could wind up wrestling after having his knee “cleaned up,” but the guess is we’ll see Houghton wrestle in his first ACC Championships. “A minor, slight chance” is what Popolizio deemed it.

Any wins NC State picks up at this weight class, where Houghton is seeded sixth, are a bonus, though he did have one of his more competitive matches lately against No. 2 seed Kellan Stout of Pitt, a 5-3 loss Feb. 1. However, Houghton will have to get past UNC’s Brandon Whitman, an NCAA qualifier in 2019, round one to force that matchup in the semifinals.

Prediction: Does not place in the top 4

The Wolfpacker has been singing Wilson’s praises all year, dubbing him the team’s most improved wrestler while he has also proven to be one of the most clutch. Heavyweight seems wide open after No. 1 seed Demeterius Thomas of Pitt, but Wilson did beat everybody else during the regular season.

Wilson missed NCAAs by one placement at ACCs last year and enters in position to make the finals this season. He broke into most of the national rankings for the first time this year, though he is still listed behind Virginia’s Quinn Miller in many of them, despite topping Miller 5-1 in the dual. That will likely be Wilson’s semifinal match after a first-round bye.

Prediction: Second place, NCAA qualifier

Although the above predictions call for only two champions, it also has the Wolfpack with seven in the finals. With just 10 weight classes, that is incredible top-end depth and should be enough to claim a team title unless another somehow racks up four or more champions.

The key to winning a second straight conference title could be placing at least five into the finals and having two champs (or more) to pave a clear path to victory. North Carolina and Pitt are the only others that seem to have a chance with that many placing among the top two, while NCSU could realistically have as many as nine, so that depth should be a major advantage.

If the better seed wins every match, NC State has a pretty sizable margin of victory, but it’s a good bet that the team race develops into a competitive one once again. Bonus points definitely seem like they may decide a tight race for second place behind the Wolfpack.

——

• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook