CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- NC State placed eight wrestlers in the finals and claimed seven individual gold medals to run away with the 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestling Championship title for the sixth consecutive year on Sunday, March 10, in front of 3,251 fans in attendance at Carmichael Arena on the campus of the University of North Carolina.

With their sixth consecutive title, the Wolfpack are just the second wrestling program to capture at least six consecutive ACC titles and the first since former conference member Maryland won 20 in a row from 1954 through 1973.

This year's league wrestling championship is the 21st overall for NC State, the most among current ACC programs, and the seventh overall under head coach Pat Popolizio.

NC State finished with 116.0 points, the most by an ACC wrestling champion since Virginia totaled 124 points on its way to the championship in 1974. Virginia Tech placed second with 86.5 points, while host North Carolina took third with 54. Pitt took fourth place with 47.0 points, followed by Virginia (35) and Duke (4).

Virginia's Nick Hamilton was selected as the Championship's Most Outstanding Wrestler in a vote of the six head coaches and the media in attendance. 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) not only remained unbeaten on the season but also joined an elite company of ACC wrestlers as four-time conference champions, joining only 10 other grapplers. The duo also became just the fifth and sixth wrestlers in ACC history to be four-time champions while wrestling in at least two different weight classes.

No. 2 nationally ranked Lewis, who was the 2019 ACC champion at 165 pounds, became a three-time champion at 174 pounds, winning back-to-back-to-back titles over the last three years with his 8-1 decision over No. 2 seed and No. 16 ranked Justin McCoy of Virginia.

No. 2 Hidlay won his fourth gold medal, this one at 197 pounds by way of a medical forfeit from UNC's Max Shaw in the championship match. Hidlay was a three-time champion at 184 pounds in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Also repeating as champions were NC State's Kai Orine (133) and Owen Trephan (285), both earning their second ACC individual titles. No. 4 Orine held off No. 15 Sam Latona of Virginia Tech in a 4-1 decision, while No. 14 Trephan earned a hard-fought 4-2 decision over No. 19 Hunter Catka of the Hokies.

Winning the third gold medal of his collegiate career at 125 pounds was NC State's No. 10 Jakob Camacho. Camacho registered his second win in less than a month over No. 6 Cooper Flynn of Virginia Tech, holding on for a 4-2 victory. Camacho was also the ACC champion at 125 pounds in 2020 and 2022.

At 157 pounds, NC State's Ed Scott avenged his regular-season loss to North Carolina's Sonny Santiago back on Feb. 2 with an 8-2 decision to become a two-time ACC champion, having taken the title in 2022.

In addition to UVA's Hamilton, earning their first ACC championship individual titles were NC State's Ryan Jack at 141 pounds and Jackson Arrington at 149 pounds, and Virginia Tech's Thomas Stewart, Jr. at 184 pounds.

After finishing runner-up each of the last two years to Pitt's Cole Matthews, Jack picked up a tough 4-1 win over Matthews, avenging an earlier season loss to the two-time ACC champion back on Jan. 26.

Arrington also knocked off a 2023 champion in No. 2 Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech, winning dramatically with a three-point takedown late in a 4-1 sudden victory to cap the championship.

The top seed at 184 pounds, No. 15 Stewart, Jr. scored two early takedowns to take an early lead and hold on to an 8-5 decision over No. 10 Dylan Fishback of NC State to win his first conference crown.

In addition to determining league champions, this year's ACC Wrestling Championship filled the conference's 28 automatic NCAA berths with the champions and runner-up at each weight class.

Runner-up and automatic qualifiers included VT's Flynn (125), VT's Latona (133), UNC's Santiago (157), VT's Brady (165), UVA's McCoy (174), NCSU's Fishback (184), UNC's Max Shaw (197), and VT's Catka (285).

Also earning an automatic berth were Virginia's Marlon Yarbrough (133) and North Carolina's Lachlan McNeil (141) with their respective third-place finishes at 133 and 141 pounds. North Carolina's Tyler Eischens (third) and NC State's Alex Faison (fourth) both qualified at 174 pounds, Pitt's Reece Heller (third) and North Carolina's Gavin Kane (fourth) qualified at 184 pounds, while Pitt's Max Stout (third) and Virginia's Krystian Kinsey (fourth) will represent the ACC at the NCAA Championships at 197 pounds.

The ACC is hopeful of landing additional at-large spots in the 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which will be held March 21-23 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Please see below for the results of Sunday night's championship matches. The winner and runner-up in each weight class earned 2024 All-ACC honors.

Championship Results
^ 157 – #12 Ed Scott (NCSU) dec. #32 Sonny Santiago (UNC) – 8-2
165 – Nick Hamilton (UVA) dec. #21 Connor Brady (VT) – 7-2
*+ 174 – #2 Mekhi Lewis (VT) dec. #16 Justin McCoy (UVA) – 8-1
184 – #15 Thomas Stewart, Jr. (VT) dec. #10 Dylan Fishback (NCSU) – 8-5
*+ 197 – #2 Trent Hidlay (NCSU) over #23 Max Shaw (UNC) – medical forfeit
*^ 285 – #14 Owen Trephan (NCSU) dec. #19 Hunter Catka (VT) – 4-2
! 125 – #10 Jakob Camacho (NCSU) dec. #6 Cooper Flynn (VT) – 4-2
*^ 133 – #4 Kai Orine (NCSU) def. #15 Sam Latona (VT) – 4-0
141 – #4 Ryan Jack (NCSU) def. #14 Cole Matthews (Pitt) – 4-1
149 – #5 Jackson Arrington (NCSU) def. #2 Caleb Henson (VT) – 4-1 SV-1

* - Repeat ACC champion
^ - two-time ACC champion
! – three-time ACC champion
+ - four-time ACC champion

MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER
Nick Hamilton, Virginia (165)

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1. NC State – 116.0
2. Virginia Tech – 86.5
3. North Carolina – 54.0
4. Pitt – 47.0
5. Virginia – 35.0
6. Duke – 4.0