Former Danbury High wrestler Jakob Camacho (125, right) won his third straight ACC championship on Sunday. (Photo courtesy NC State Wrestling)
Three Connecticut wrestlers secured berths in the upcoming NCAA Division I wrestling tournament on Sunday night.
Danbury’s Jakob Camacho (125) and Ryan Jack (141) of No. 7 North Carolina State each won titles at the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championships. Both wrestlers will be attending the NCAA tournament on March 21-23 in Kansas City for the third time.
Stratford’s Nico Provo, a sophomore at Stanford, earned his second NCAA tournament berth by beating Oregon State’s Brandon Kaylor, 9-6 in an extra match to determine the second place finisher at 125 pounds at the Pac-12 tournament. Only the top two finishers at 125 in the Pac-12 earned an automatic bid.
Camacho and Jack helped North Carolina State win their sixth straight ACC championship, the longest run in the league since Maryland won 20 in a row from 1954-73. The Wolfpack had eight wrestlers in the finals and seven individual champions. NC State finished with 116 points, the most by an ACC wrestling champion since Virginia totaled 124 points on its way to the championship in 1974.
Camacho (15-4) won his third ACC title at 125 pounds with a 4-2 win over No. 2 seed Cooper Flynn of Virginia Tech. A takedown in the first period put Camacho in control of the match.
Camacho is just the third wrestler in league history to win the 125-pound weight class three times. He went 2-0 on the day, pinning Duke’s Logan Akin in the semifinals in 5:41.
Camacho, who missed the 2023 season with a knee injury, previously won ACC titles in 2021 and 2022.
Jack (18-3) snapped a five-match losing streak against Pittsburgh’s Cole Matthews, beating him for the first time in college with a 4-1 decision. Matthews had beaten Jack in the last two ACC Tournament finals at 141 pounds, 4-2 last year and 3-2 in 2022.
On Sunday, Jack had a 1-0 lead after one period thanks to a second period escape. Matthews (15-10) tied it with an escape of his own with 17 seconds gone in the first period.
Jack had two takedown attempts in the first period that failed due to Matthews’ extraordinary ability to scramble out of difficult situations. But with 44 seconds left in the match, Jack swooped to grab a single leg and he continued to drive. Eventually, he got a hand around Matthews’ waist and continued to pressure, getting the takedown for a 4-1 lead.
It was Jack’s first ACC championship and denied Matthews the opportunity to be the first ACC wrestler to win three titles at 141 pounds.
Virginia’s Nick Hamilton was selected as the Championship’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. Hamilton, who entered as the No. 4 seed at 165 pounds, posted a 14-2 major decision win in the quarterfinals and followed that with a 2-1 tiebreaker win over No. 1 seed Derek Fields of NC State to advance to the finals. In the finals, Hamilton earned a 7-2 decision over No. 21 Connor Brady of Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Lewis (174) and NC State’s Trent Hidlay (197) joined an elite company of ACC wrestlers as four-time conference champions, joining only 10 other grapplers.
Provo (16-6) was the No. 2 seed at 125 pounds at the 62nd annual Pac-12 tournament in Corvallis, Oregon, but he was upset in the semifinals by eventual champion Richard Figueroa of Arizona State in overtime, 4-1.
Provo had three takedowns in a 12-2 win over Richard Casto-Sandoval of California-Bakersfield to earn a spot in the consolation final against Dom Mendez of California-Poly.
Leading Mendez 3-2 after two periods, Provo escaped early in the third period to extend his lead to two points. He got a takedown with 35 seconds remaining for a 7-2 lead. An additional point for riding time made the final score, 8-2.
That set up a true second place match with Kaylor for the No. 2 spot and the berth at the NCAA tournament. Kaylor lost in the final to Figueroa, 2-1, on a stalling call with eight seconds left in regulation.
Provo had lost three straight matches to Kaylor, dating back to last year. But Provo grabbed a 6-0 lead in the second period with a two-point and four-point near fall. He extended the lead to 7-0 with an early escape in the third period.
Kaylor got a takedown and a three-point fall with 48 seconds left in the match to cut the lead to one, 7-6. Provo escaped with 46 seconds left and was able to hold off Kaylor’s takedown attempts. A point for riding time made the final score, 9-6.
A year ago, Provo, who wrestled at Greens Farms Academy in Westport, received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
2024 ACC Championships
At Chapel Hill, N.C.
Team results – 1. North Carolina State 116, 2. Virginia Tech 86½, 3. North Carolina 54, 5. Pittsburgh 47, 6. Virginia 35, 7. Duke 4
Individual results
125
Final — Jakob Camacho (NC State) dec. Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech) 4-2
3. Spencer Moore (North Carolina) dec. Colton Camacho (Pittsburgh) 2-0
133
Final — Kai Orine (NC State) dec. Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) 4-0
3. Marlon Yarbrough (Virginia) dec. Vincent Santaniello (Pittsburgh) 6-2
141
Final — Ryan Jack (NC State) dec. Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) 4-1
3. Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) dec. Tom Crook (Virginia Tech) 12-2
149
Final — Jackson Arrington (NC State) dec. Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) 4-1 OT
3. Finn Solomon (Pittsburgh) dec. Jayden Scott (North Carolina) 5-2
157
Final — Ed Scott (NC State) dec. Sonny Santiago (North Carolina) 8-2
3. Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) pin Logan Ferrero (Duke) 1:12
165
Final — Nick Hamilton (Virginia) dec. Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) 7-2
3. Derek Fields (NC State) dec. Holden Heller (Pittsburgh) 4-1 OT
174
Final — Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec. Justin McCoy (Virginia) 8-1
3. Tyler Eischens (North Carolina) pin Alex Faison (NC State) 2:26
184
Final — Thomas Stewart Jr (Virginia Tech) dec. Dylan Fishback (NC State) 8-5
3. Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) dec. Gavin Kane (North Carolina) 5-4
197
Final — Trent Hidlay (NC State) win by medical forfeit over Max Shaw (North Carolina)
3. Mac Stout (Pittsburgh) win by medical forfeit over Krystian Kinsey (Virginia)
285
Final — Owen Trephan (NC State) dec. Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) 4-2
3. Dayton Pitzer (Pittsburgh) dec. Ryan Catka (Virginia) 7-0
Outstanding wrestler: Nick Hamilton, Virginia (165)
2024 ACC Tournament (TrackWrestling)
