One of the biggest wrestling dual meets of the season is upon us as No. 8 Virginia Tech takes on No. 9 Missouri. The Hokies have their eyes set on their most successful season in years as the early ACC favorite while being a serious contender for a top 5 finish in the NCAA Championships. Meanwhile, Missouri will be down a couple starters at 125 and 197, but will be looking to pull off the upset despite not having those starters. The expected 197 absence of #4 Rocky Elam specifically shakes up this dual meet and flips a match in Tech's favor on paper.
So with that said, let's dive into my matchups to watch for the Hokies against the Tigers.
141: #18 Sam Latona vs #13 Joshua Edmond
This is a fascinating early matchup in this dual that Missouri has to win if they want to have a chance at pulling off the upset. Meanwhile, this is a big opportunity for Sam Latona to show how well he is or isn't adapting to making the second weight jump of his collegiate career, this one coming from 133 to 141.
Latona had a surprising loss to App State's Sean Carter last week, but we've seen him have some weird early season tournament results before and then hit his stride in non-conference dual meets. The fact that he had two tech fall victories last weekend and is 4-1 on the season is an encouraging sign that Latona is adjusting fairly well to 141.
However, the former All-American at 125 (2021) and 133 (2023) will face his toughest test of the young season when he faces Missouri's Joshua Edmond.
Edmond is in his third year as a starter for the Tigers and almost broke through to become an All-American last season, coming one victory short of doing so in the Round of 12 wrestlebacks. Edmond does have an early loss, but it was in a dual meet to one of the national title favorites at 141 in Northern Colorado's Andrew Alirez.
Edmond will go into this match likely knowing he has to beat Latona if Missouri wants to have a decent chance at winning this dual meet. Meanwhile, a victory for Latona would be an encouraging sign that the Alabama native is ready to make a run at becoming a three-time All-American in three different classes.
While this may not be the headline match, this is a true toss-up that should provide some of the best drama of the night.
157: #25 Rafael Hipolito vs #32 James Conway
There's been plenty of excitement surrounding redshirt freshman Rafael Hipolito and the immense potential he's shown during his brief time in Blacksburg.
He started the season out well with a Southeast Open title and a dual meet victory, with three of his five victories coming by fall or tech fall. The competition wasn't necessarily the toughest, but the dominant at which Hipolito showed made it clear that he's ready to be a starter for the Hokies.
This dual meet presents a great opportunity for Hipolito to show if he's ready to be a high-level starter at 157 from the start of the season. He's still fairly raw as a wrestler, but brings a unique style as a former world champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which can throw off his opponents and makes you wonder if he has his eyes set on a MMA career after his time at Virginia Tech.
Conway should provide a decent test for Hipolito as though he's only 2-3 on the season, he hasn't lost a match by more than a decision. However, it's fair to wonder if he might be a little underrated at the moment simply because of the fact that he wrestles for a top 10 program.
Regardless, this is a solid opportunity for Hipolito to showcase that he can keep VT at a high level at the 157 weight class in the post-Bryce Andonian era. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if Hipolito puts together a statement-level performance against Conway.
174: #4 Lennox Wolak vs #1 Keegan O'Toole
The dual of the night comes at 174 when former 2024 Columbia All-American Lennox Wolak makes his Hokies' dual meet debut against Keegan O'Toole, the 2022 and 2023 national champion at 165.
Wolak has started his Hokie tenure strong with a pair of victories including a victory by fall over #16 Clayton Whiting of Minnesota. It's quite early in the season, but Wolak is already starting to live up to the hype and fill the vacancy left by Hokie legend Mekhi Lewis well.
This is only the second time Wolak has faced a former national champion at any weight class, as he lost to Lewis during the 2024 NCAAs by a 9-6 decision. Wolak has shown he can wrestle tough against the best guys in his weight class and there's no reason to doubt that he can't wrestle well again versus tough competition.
Meanwhile, O'Toole has made the jump to 174 for his final season and is unsurprisingly ranked #1 in the country even after making that jump. Part of that is also due to Penn State's Carter Starocci making the jump up from 174 to 184 after dominating this weight class for the past few years.
Missouri will likely be looking for O'Toole to get bonus points, even with him facing a top five wrestler in his weight class in Wolak. That's a credit to O'Toole and his immense talent, but the veteran savviness of Wolak should help him keep this very competitive throughout and prevent bonus points.
This match is an opportunity to show that Wolak can be more than just an All-American frontrunner, but a contender for a national title if he can at least give O'Toole a serious scare. Don't be surprised if O'Toole wins but Wolak keeps him from earning any bonus points.
HWT: #15 Jimmy Mullen vs #20 Seth Nitzel
Former #1 heavyweight recruit in the country and redshirt freshman Jimmy Mullen has earned this starting job the old school way, opening the season 8-0 with a pair of titles including the Mountaineer Invitational where he beat previous starter Hunter Catka in the final.
Now, Mullen gets his chance in a major dual meet to show that he is ready to fully take over the heavyweight starting spot and elevate the Hokies' performance.
Catka has been solid during his time at VT but outside of a solid showing at the 2024 NCAAs where he was one win away from All-American honors, he's never been able to break into being a top 10 level heavyweight. Mullen has shown the potential to do just that, especially after his impressive start to the season where he has won five of his eight matches by fall including last weekend in the second period against Catka.
There's a chance that this dual meet could come down to the heavyweights, though a couple injuries for Missouri make that less likely.
Even if it doesn't, this is a big opportunity for Mullen against a veteran, top 20 opponent in Missouri redshirt junior Seth Nitzel. He may be in his first year as a starter, but Nitzel has shown promise with a victory over #21 Trevor Tinker of Cal Poly while his only loss is to #14 Seth Nevills of Maryland.
Nitzel should provide Mullen a quality test that will give us an additional indicator to see how high Mullen's ceiling could be this season. If Mullen not only wins but dominates Nitzel, then it'll be fair to start wondering if Mullen could be an All-American this year and start living up to the hype and expectations as the former #1 heavyweight recruit in the 2023 class.
