Friday, February 12
Blacksburg, Va.
6 PM
Pitt
at
Virginia Tech
No. 16 Pitt Concludes Regular Season with Dual at No. 4 Virginia Tech
2/11/2021 5:00:00 PM | Wrestling
PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh wrestling team, ranked No. 16 by the NWCA Coaches Poll this week, concludes its 2021 regular season Friday night with a marquee match at No. 4 Virginia Tech in the ACC Network featured dual of the week in the conference.
The Panthers (3-3, 1-3 ACC) beat the Hokies (8-0, 4-0 ACC) to finish the regular season last year in Pittsburgh by an 18-13 score and face a stiffer challenge this time around against a Virginia Tech team that clinched the ACC dual meet title in 2021 with a thrilling win over NC State last Friday.
The contest takes on further significance after Thursday afternoon's announcement by the NCAA that there will be more at-large berths given to the NCAA Championship this year due to the shortened season, which leaves the ACC with 33 automatic qualifiers to the national tournament to be awarded in a few weeks at the conference championship hosted by NC State in Raleigh, N.C.
Six Panthers were ranked by the Coaches Poll in addition to this week's NCAA allocation news:
#3 Micky Phillippi, 133
#7 Nino Bonaccorsi, 197
#9 Jake Wentzel, 165
#17 Cole Matthews, 141
#24 Gregg Harvey, 184
#28 Luke Kemerer, 149
The biggest individual battle of Friday night's ACC Network dual is slated to showcase Pitt's Wentzel, who already owns three wins over ranked wrestlers this season, facing his biggest test yet in the form of No. 1-ranked and 2019 NCAA champion Mekhi Lewis at 165 pounds.
In a dual filled with ranked wrestlers on both sides, Pitt's student-athletes will look to make one final impression in the conference – and nationally – knowing that all-important seeding for the conference tournament and possible at-large selection to the NCAA Championship are at stake.
ACC Network viewers will be treated to great action at 6 p.m. Friday evening with renowned wrestling commentators Shawn Kenney and Rock Harrison calling the contest for a national audience.
The ACC Network is available through the following video providers: Altice, AT&T, Charter/Spectrum, Cox Cable, DIRECTV, DISH, Google Fiber, Hulu Live TV, Optimum, Sling, Verizon Fios, Vidgo and YouTube TV, among others. All ACCN games will also be available on the ESPN App to authenticated cable subscribers. Fans interested in learning more about ACCN can visit GetACCN.com.
ABOUT ACC NETWORK
Owned and operated by ESPN in partnership with the Atlantic Coast Conference, ACC Network is a 24/7 national network dedicated to ACC sports that launched Aug. 22, 2019. Approximately 450 live contests including 40 regular-season football games, 150 men's and women's basketball games, and 200 other regular-season competitions and tournament games from across the conference's 27 sponsored sports will be televised annually, plus a complement of news and information shows and original programming. Together, ACC Network's TV and digital platforms featured over 1,000 ACC events in its first year. ESPN has been televising ACC content since 1979 and has exclusive rights to every conference-controlled game across sports and championships.
#pinzburgh | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
The Panthers (3-3, 1-3 ACC) beat the Hokies (8-0, 4-0 ACC) to finish the regular season last year in Pittsburgh by an 18-13 score and face a stiffer challenge this time around against a Virginia Tech team that clinched the ACC dual meet title in 2021 with a thrilling win over NC State last Friday.
The contest takes on further significance after Thursday afternoon's announcement by the NCAA that there will be more at-large berths given to the NCAA Championship this year due to the shortened season, which leaves the ACC with 33 automatic qualifiers to the national tournament to be awarded in a few weeks at the conference championship hosted by NC State in Raleigh, N.C.
Six Panthers were ranked by the Coaches Poll in addition to this week's NCAA allocation news:
#3 Micky Phillippi, 133
#7 Nino Bonaccorsi, 197
#9 Jake Wentzel, 165
#17 Cole Matthews, 141
#24 Gregg Harvey, 184
#28 Luke Kemerer, 149
The biggest individual battle of Friday night's ACC Network dual is slated to showcase Pitt's Wentzel, who already owns three wins over ranked wrestlers this season, facing his biggest test yet in the form of No. 1-ranked and 2019 NCAA champion Mekhi Lewis at 165 pounds.
In a dual filled with ranked wrestlers on both sides, Pitt's student-athletes will look to make one final impression in the conference – and nationally – knowing that all-important seeding for the conference tournament and possible at-large selection to the NCAA Championship are at stake.
ACC Network viewers will be treated to great action at 6 p.m. Friday evening with renowned wrestling commentators Shawn Kenney and Rock Harrison calling the contest for a national audience.
The ACC Network is available through the following video providers: Altice, AT&T, Charter/Spectrum, Cox Cable, DIRECTV, DISH, Google Fiber, Hulu Live TV, Optimum, Sling, Verizon Fios, Vidgo and YouTube TV, among others. All ACCN games will also be available on the ESPN App to authenticated cable subscribers. Fans interested in learning more about ACCN can visit GetACCN.com.
ABOUT ACC NETWORK
Owned and operated by ESPN in partnership with the Atlantic Coast Conference, ACC Network is a 24/7 national network dedicated to ACC sports that launched Aug. 22, 2019. Approximately 450 live contests including 40 regular-season football games, 150 men's and women's basketball games, and 200 other regular-season competitions and tournament games from across the conference's 27 sponsored sports will be televised annually, plus a complement of news and information shows and original programming. Together, ACC Network's TV and digital platforms featured over 1,000 ACC events in its first year. ESPN has been televising ACC content since 1979 and has exclusive rights to every conference-controlled game across sports and championships.
#pinzburgh | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
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