Completed Event: Wrestling versus NCAA Championships on March 19, 2026 , , NTS
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Final
Wrestling
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ACC Championship Seeds Announced; Kasper No. 2
2/28/2017 2:31:00 PM | Wrestling
DURHAM, N.C.—The Atlantic Coast Conference has announced the seeding for the 63rd ACC Wrestling Championship set for this Saturday at NC State's Reynolds Coliseum. The action on the mat gets underway at 11 a.m., with the first-round bouts.
Redshirt junior Jacob Kasper headlines the Duke lineup, earning the No. 2 spot in the heavyweight bracket behind Virginia Tech's Ty Walz. Kasper will have a first-round bye into the semifinals where he will face the winner of the match between Pitt's Ryan Solomon and Virginia's Tyler Love. Solomon is Kasper's lone loss in the ACC, falling to the Panther heavyweight by a narrow 4-3 decision. A win would likely pit Kasper against third-ranked Walz in a rematch of the regular season dual in which Kasper won by major decision 15-7.
Earning the third seed are Connor Bass (174) and Alec Schenk (184). Bass will battle No. 6 Donovan McAfee off Pitt, who he defeated just two weeks ago by a 4-1 decision. The winner advances to the semifinals to face No. 2 seed Ethan Ramos of North Carolina. Four wrestlers will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships, meaning Bass must win at least one match to take one of the four bids.
Schenk will grapple against Elijah Kerr-Brown of North Carolina in his first-round match. The Duke 184-pounder cruised to victory over Kerr-Brown in an 11-0 major decision during the regular season. A win would match Schenk up with Zack Zavatsky of Virginia Tech, who Schenk fell to by major decision. Only the top two finishers in the conference earn automatic bids to NCAAs.
Cole Baumgartner (133) and Zach Finesilver (141) are four seeds in their respective weight classes, while Thayer Atkins is fifth at 125. Baumgartner will take on No. 5 seed Dennis Gustafson in the opening match after beating the Hokie 133-pounder by a 9-4 decision during the regular season. The win takes on top-seeded Dom Forys of Pitt with the winner of the semifinal match guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Championships.
For the second time in two weeks, Finesilver will wrestle Nick Zanetta of Pittsburgh. The Colorado native is unbeaten against Zanetta in his career and defeated him 6-1 during the regular season dual. The ACC received three at-large bids to the NCAAs as Finesilver heads to Raleigh in search of his second NCAA berth.
Atkins is the No. 5 seed and will take on LJ Bentley of Pitt in a rematch of a hard-fought 3-2 loss two weeks ago. The Duke junior will need to capture at least two wins to grab one of the three at-large bids to the NCAA Championships.
Faust, wrestling at 157 pounds, will vie for one of the five bids as the No. 6 seed. He opens his final ACC Championship against Pitt's Taleb Rahmani of Pitt. Rahmani pinned Faust in the regular season dual. Xaviel Ramos (149), Michael Wright (165) and Luke Farinaro (197) also are No. 6 seeds.
Tickets are priced at $7 for adults, $5 for youth (17 and under); children aged two and
under are admitted free of charge. ACC students with valid IDs are admitted free.
All bouts of the Championship will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra with Shawn Kenney and Dean Linke handling the play-by-play and Tim Foley and Rock Harrison providing the expert analysis.
During the preliminary rounds, the action will be streamed live from two mats, moving to one mat for the Finals on Saturday evening.
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Players Mentioned
125
/ Wrestling
157
/ Wrestling
133
/ Wrestling
184
/ Wrestling
165
/ Wrestling
149
/ Wrestling
197
/ Wrestling
165
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