The Atlantic Coast Conference has announced the pre-seeds and brackets for the 2026 ACC Wrestling Championships, which will take place this weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Luke Simcox is the highest-seeded wrestler for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, holding the No. 2 seed at 141 pounds ahead of Sunday’s postseason matches. Other UNC wrestlers earning notable seeds include Kysen Terukina (125), Laird Root (157), Bryce Hepner (165), and Jake Dailey (184), each seeded fourth in their respective weight classes. Ethan Oakley (133) and Robert Platt (197) are seeded fifth, while Nate Askew is seventh at 149 pounds, Collin Carrigan is sixth at 174 pounds, and Jacob Levy is sixth at heavyweight (285).
Pre-seeding was based on rankings from WrestleStat.com as well as a vote among the conference’s seven head coaches. For the second year in a row, seven teams will compete in the championships. All No. 1 seeds will receive a bye into the quarterfinals across all ten weight categories.
The competition begins Sunday morning with first-round matches starting at 10 AM. The consolation quarterfinals are scheduled for 1 PM, semifinals at 2 PM, consolation semifinals at 4:30 PM, and consolation finals at 6 PM. Championship bouts are set to begin at 8 PM, followed by an awards ceremony.
Coverage of the event will be provided by ACC Network and ACC Network Extra. Nearly twelve hours of live broadcast are planned from 10 AM to 10 PM. Early rounds and consolation matches will stream on ACC Network Extra across two mats, while championship finals will air live on ACC Network beginning at 8 PM.
The first round matchups for UNC athletes include:
– Kysen Terukina vs. Tyler Chappell (Pitt) at 125 pounds
– Ethan Oakley vs. Evan Tallmadge (Pitt) at 133 pounds
– Luke Simcox vs. Raymond Adams (Duke) at 141 pounds
– Nate Askew vs. Aden Valencia (Stanford) at 149 pounds
– Laird Root vs. Colton Washleski (Virginia) at 157 pounds
– Bryce Hepner vs. Jared Keslar (Pitt) at 165 pounds
– Collin Carrigan vs. Aidan Wallace (Duke) at 174 pounds
– Jake Dailey vs. Don Cates (NC State) at 184 pounds
– Robert Platt vs. Patrick Brophy (NC State) at 197 pounds
– Jacob Levy vs. Jimmy Mullen (Virginia Tech) at heavyweight