Virginia Tech @ North Carolina

North Carolina topped Virginia Tech 20-17 in a tight ACC dual at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill on January 10, 2025. The meet came down to bonus-point outcomes as both teams traded high-scoring wins that kept the result in doubt until the final bouts.

Lachlan McNeil’s 22-6 technical fall at 149 pounds provided a huge boost for North Carolina, supplying five team points with a dominant showing. Virginia Tech answered with a big margin of its own when Mac Church ran away with a 14-2 major decision at 165, tacking on four team points and keeping the Hokies within striking distance.

The clear turning point was Gavin Kane’s fall at 184 for North Carolina. His pin delivered six team points and gave the Tar Heels the cushion they needed late in the dual. Jimmy Mullen at 285 kept the outcome tense, earning a 20-8 major decision that brought Virginia Tech back into contention with four more team points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Tar Heels’ bonus scoring.

In the end, bonus points decided the meet: North Carolina’s tech fall and pin, combined with solid wrestling elsewhere, edged out Virginia Tech’s two major decisions for the 20-17 final. The match highlighted a handful of decisive individual performances in an otherwise closely contested ACC dual.