February 25, 2010
ACC earns 24 automatic qualifier allocations for NCAA Wrestling Championships
Conference tournament determines spots

BLACKSBURG - The NCAA has announced the qualifier allocations for the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships with the Atlantic Coast Conference garnering 24 spots.

Each qualifying tournament was awarded spots per weight class based on current year data. Each wrestler was measured on the following: Division I winning percentage; rating percentage index (RPI); and coaches ranking. A threshold of a 0.725 winning percentage, top 28 in the RPI and top 28 in the coaches ranking was established to allocate 284 of the 330 championships field positions.

For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his qualifying tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. Each qualifying tournament was awarded a minimum of one wrestler per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA tournament spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at the tournament based solely on place-finish. The ACC Championships are March 6 at NC State’s Reynolds Coliseum.

After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 46 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 10. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers. The at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition; qualifying event placement; quality wins; results against common opponents; winning percentage; RPI; coaches ranking and the number of matches contested at that weight class.

Below is a breakdown of each weight class and how many spots the ACC will earn.

125 (VT – Jarrod Garnett): 3 (the top three finishers automatically qualify for NCAAs)
133 (VT – Brock LiVorio): 1 (the champion automatically qualifies for NCAAs)
141 (VT – Chris Diaz): 3 (the top three finishers automatically qualify for NCAAs)
149 (VT – Brian Stephens): 2 (the top two finishers automatically qualify for NCAAs)
157 (VT – Jesse Dong): 4 (the top four finishers automatically qualify for NCAAs)
165 (VT – Matt Epperly): 2 (the top two finishers automatically qualify for NCAAs)
174 (VT – Taylor Knapp): 1 (the champion automatically qualifies for NCAAs)
184 (VT – Tommy Spellman): 2 (the top two finishers automatically qualify for NCAAs)
197 (VT – Chris Penny): 3 (the top three finishers automatically qualify for NCAAs)
285 (VT – Tim Miller): 3 (the top three finishers automatically qualify for NCAAs)

Following all of the conference tournaments, the NCAA will announce at-large selections.

For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Wrestling).

HokieSports Shop