Virginia Tech Wins ACC Wrestling Championship and Ziegler Wins National Title in Hammer Throw

It was an eventful day for Virginia Tech athletics today. Earlier in the day, track and field was competing in the NCAA Indoor Championships. The highlight of the day was when Alexander Ziegler, arguably one of the best athletes to come through Virginia Tech, won the national title in the hammer throw with a distance of 22.46 meters. This is Ziegler’s third NCAA national championship having won the hammer throw during both the 2011 and 2012 outdoor seasons.

And in wrestling, Virginia Tech had a thrilling end to their day at the ACC Championships. Virginia Tech trailed UVA 81-73.5 heading into the consolation finals. Jarrod Garnett started the comeback by winning his third ACC title, followed by Nick Brascetta and Jesse Dong both won gold in their respective weights. This set up a critical final bout in the heavyweight division. The final match came down to Virginia Tech’s David Marone and UVA’s Derek Papagianopoulous (what a mouthful, right?).

The heavyweight class is a one-bid weight, meaning that the winner would not only win the team title, but head to the NCAA Championships as well. From the get-go it was all Marone. Marone started off with a quick 2-0 lead, and continued the domination until the third period ended. The final score of the bout was 8-0 in favor of Marone and Virginia Tech. This is Virginia Tech’s first ACC Championship in wrestling. It should be noted that Virginia Tech was also redshirting one of their best wrestlers this year. Virginia Tech should be in a very good place moving forward.