Virginia Set To Compete At ACC Championships Sunday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia wrestling team begins the postseason on Sunday (Feb. 28) when members of the squad compete in the ACC Championships at NC State’s Reynolds Coliseum. Virginia will be vying for its sixth ACC team title in program history, while individual wrestlers are looking to earn bids to the upcoming NCAA Championships.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
All bouts of the ACC Championships will be streamed live on ACCNX through the ESPN app with live streams available for each of the two competition mats. Links to the live streams and live stats are available at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates on the action by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVAWrestling).
The finals will be broadcast on the ACC Network beginning at 7 p.m. and also available for stream on ACCNX.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
11 a.m. – First round
1 p.m. – Semifinals
3:30 p.m. – Consolation semifinals
5 p.m. – Consolation finals
7 p.m. – Finals
VIRGINIA LINEUP/SEEDS (Record/ACC Record)
125: No. 4 seed Patrick McCormick (5-4, 1-2 ACC)
133: No. 4 seed Louie Hayes (7-3, 2-3 ACC)
141: No. 3 seed Brian Courtney (7-2, 3-2 ACC)
149: No. 5 seed Denton Spencer (1-5, 0-5 ACC)
157: No. 2 seed Justin McCoy (8-1, 4-1 ACC)
165: No. 3 seed Jake Keating (8-2, 3-2 ACC)
174: No. 3 seed Vic Marcelli (6-3, 3-2 ACC)
184: No. 4 seed Michael Battista (6-2, 2-2 ACC)
197: No. 2 seed Jay Aiello (8-1, 4-1 ACC)
HWT: No. 2 seed Quinn Miller (7-1, 3-1 ACC)
AUTOMATIC NCAA BERTHS ON THE LINE SUNDAY
The championships serve as the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championships. The ACC has been allotted 35 automatic qualifiers; the breakdown by weight class: 125: 3, 133: 4, 141: 3, 149: 3, 157: 4, 165: 3, 174: 3, 184: 3, 197: 3, 285: 4. To earn the automatic qualifier, each wrestler must finish a certain place or higher at the conference championships (e.g., place in top three at 125 pounds).
AIELLO LOOKING TO REPEAT AS ACC CHAMPION
Jay Aiello is looking to repeat as ACC Champion at 197 pounds after claiming the title a year ago. In 2020 he became the first Cavalier to claim the title at that weight class since Brent Jones in the 2009 championships. He was only the third Virginia wrestlers to ever claim the ACC Championship at 197 pounds.
FOUR CAVALIERS LOOKING TO EARN RETURN BIDS TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
A quartet of Hoos are looking to earn return trips to the NCAA Championships as Aiello, Hayes, McCoy and Miller all earned automatic bids a year ago before the Championships were canceled. Aiello is looking to make earn his third consecutive bid, while Hayes is looking for his third bid after earning one as a redshirt freshman and then again last season. McCoy and Miller are both looking for a second NCAA bid for their careers.
VIRGINIA AT THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS
UVA has won five ACC Championships – 1974, 1975, 1977, 2010 and 2015. Virginia finished second at the 2012 and 2013 ACC Championships. The five ACC Championships is third most of all current members of the league behind North Carolina and NC State. Virginia has finished as runner-up 22 times, giving the Cavaliers 27 finishes in the top two in the league all-time.