After finishing a program-best third in last year's NCAA Wrestling Championships, the Virginia Tech Hokies enter the 2016-2017 season as a national title contender and favorite in the ACC. Virginia Tech is returning most of their stars other than Nick Brascetta though the Hokies will also be without David McFadden who is recovering from a torn ACL and is expected to redshirt according to Kevin Dresser.
Despite those two losses, the Hokies return a strong wrestling team that is unsurprisingly ranked very high to start the season.
https://twitter.com/ncaawrestling/status/794191844301242369
The Virginia Tech Hokies are ranked sixth in the preseason USA Today NWCA D1 Coaches Poll while also being the top ACC team in the poll, three spots ahead of N.C. State. The Hokies also have received top six rankings from two major wrestling sites: InterMat and FloWrestling.
The Hokies are one of four ACC teams ranked alongside N.C. State, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina while Chattanooga is currently slated to be the Hokies' first ranked opponent on their schedule. The Hokies also face #22 Northern Iowa, #5 Missouri, and #11 Lehigh while three other VT opponents; South Dakota State, Edinboro, and Princeton, are the first three outside the top 25.
Kevin Dresser and the Hokies are poised to once again be a national title contender and have many hoping that this could be the year Virginia Tech wins its first NCAA title.
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