Virginia's Justin McCoy Wins ACC Wrestling Title at 165 Pounds

McCoy earned All-ACC honors for the third time and secured an NCAA Championship bid for the fourth time in his career

Virginia Athletics

Virginia fifth year Justin McCoy became the 93rd individual ACC Champion for the UVA wrestling program as he took home the title at 165 pounds at the ACC Wrestling Championships on Sunday night in Raleigh. McCoy earned his third All-ACC selection and secured a bid to the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in his career. 

Justin McCoy is an ACC Champion!

The fifth-year locks up his third All-ACC honor and his fourth NCAA Championship berth with the win!#GoHoos | #TheVirginiaWay pic.twitter.com/aiEqA9MQoO

— Virginia Wrestling (@UVAWrestling) March 6, 2023

McCoy had a first-round bye and then defeated NC State's Matthew Singleton 6-2 in the semifinals. In the finals, McCoy went head-to-head with Virginia Tech's Connor Brady. McCoy trailed by one entering the third period, but he tied it up with an escape and then got a takedown with 23 seconds left and went on to win 3-2. 

"The athleticism and patience of Justin McCoy! We said it before he can scramble!"

Here's where he took the lead on the way to his ACC title.#GoHoos | #TheVirginiaWay pic.twitter.com/VOAmINSmF1

— Virginia Wrestling (@UVAWrestling) March 6, 2023

“I’m so happy for him - to see Juddy [Justin McCoy] finally get that ACC title warms my heart," said Virginia head coach Steve Garland. "He’s put in a lot of work in this year, but the way he won was just flat out guts. He just found a way. That’s what it takes at this level.”

Graduate student Jarod Verkleeren notched a podium finish, placing third at 149 pounds. Verkleeren defeated Duke's Patrick Rowland 6-2 in the first round before falling to NC State's Jack Arrington, the No. 2 seed, 4-3 in the semifinals. He bounced back with a tough 3-2 win over Pitt's Tyler Badgett in the consolation semifinals and then defeated North Carolina's Zach Sherman 8-7 in the third-place match. 

Virginia had six wrestlers advance to the semifinals in their weight classes and five of them advanced to the third-place match. UVA finished fifth in the team standings at the ACC Championships. 

ACC Championship Team Scores

1. NC State – 101.5 pts
2. Virginia Tech – 78.0 pts
3. Pittsburgh – 60.0 pts
4. North Carolina – 37.0 pts
5. Virginia – 35.0 pts
6. Duke – 14.0 pts

Virginia has four automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Championships - Justin McCoy, Jarod Verkleeren, Neil Antrassian, and Michael Battista. The 2023 NCAA Championships will take place March 16th through March 18th in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

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