Get Excited: Friday Night Duals on ACC Network Returns for a Third Season in 2022!
by Christopher Miller
Release courtesy of the Atlantic Coast Conference. • Five Straight Weeks of ACC Friday Night Duals Beginning with No. 10 Virginia Tech at No. 5 NC State on January 21 • ACC Wrestling Championship Finals Live on ACC Network on March 6 For the third straight year, ACC wrestling fans will enjoy a dedicated night of programming on ACC Network (ACCN), the 24/7 national platform dedicated to ACC sports, as Friday Night Duals begin on Friday, January 21. ACC Network Extra (ACCNX), ACCN’s digital platform available on the ESPN App, will carry additional matches throughout the regular season. Five duals, including three ranked matchups, highlight the Friday Night Duals slate beginning with the anticipated date between Virginia Tech and NC State at Reynolds Coliseum on January 21 at 7 p.m. The Wolfpack enter the season ranked fifth while the Hokies are 10th. No. 14 North Carolina travels to Virginia the following week (January 28, 7 p.m.) and Duke visits Blacksburg to meet the Hokies on February 4 at 7 p.m. Back-to-back ranked duals round out ACCN’s regular season coverage with No. 20 Pitt hosting the Wolfpack on February 11 (7 p.m.) and rivals No. 14 North Carolina and NC State clashing in Raleigh on February 18 (7 p.m.). Shawn Kenney and Rock Harrison, who have called multiple ACC Wrestling Championships and the past two seasons of Friday Night Duals will be back for the 2022 slate of duals. Weekly ACC Wrestling Guests on Packer and Durham Packer and Durham, ACCN’s weekday morning show from 7-10 a.m., will again spotlight ACC wrestling with guests throughout the season. ACC Wrestling Championship Coverage ACC Network will carry the finals of the 2022 ACC Wrestling Championship live from John Paul Jones Arena at Virginia on Sunday, March 6, beginning at 7 p.m. Preliminary and consolation round matches will be available on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX), ACCN’s digital platform available on the ESPN App. NC State has won the last three straight ACC wrestling crowns and four of the last six. Ranked Teams, Individuals The ACC has four teams ranked in the latest InterMat rankings, including two among the top 10 (No. 5 NC State and No. 10 Virginia Tech), along with No. 14 North Carolina and No. 20 Pitt. Individually, nine ACC wrestlers are nationally ranked in the top five of their respective weight classes by InterMat, including 2021 NCAA 149-pound Champion Austin O’Connor who enters the season ranked No. 2 in the 157-pound weight class. Additionally, NC State’s Tariq Wilson (149) and Pitt’s Nino Bonaccorsi (197) are also ranked No. 2 nationally, while NC State’s Trent Hidlay (184) is ranked third. Pitt’s Jake Wentzel (165) and Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Lewis (174) are ranked fourth, and Virginia Tech’s Korbin Myers (133), North Carolina’s Zach Sherman (149) and NC State’s Hayden Hidlay (174) are ranked fifth. Lewis won a 2019 individual NCAA title at the 165-point weight class. Overall, a total of 35 ACC wrestlers hold top-30 weight class rankings entering the 2021-22 season. Friday Night Duals on ACC Network
Date Time (ET) Match Network
Fri, Jan. 21 7 p.m. No. 10 Virginia Tech at No. 5 NC State ACCN
Fri, Jan. 28 7 p.m. No. 14 North Carolina at Virginia ACCN
Fri, Feb. 4 7 p.m. Duke at No. 10 Virginia Tech ACCN
Fri, Feb. 11 7 p.m. No. 5 NC State at No. 20 Pitt ACCN
Fri, Feb. 18 7 p.m. No. 14 North Carolina at No. 5 NC State ACCN
About ACC Network Owned and operated by ESPN in partnership with the Atlantic Coast Conference, ACC Network (ACCN) and its digital platform ACCNX is a 24/7 national network dedicated to ACC sports that launched on August 22, 2019. ACCN televises more than 500 regular-season and tournament games from across the conference’s 27 sponsored sports plus a complement of news and information shows and original programming. Together, ACCN and its digital platform, ACCNX, combine to feature more than 1,500 ACC events each year. ESPN has been televising ACC content since 1979 and has exclusive rights to every conference-controlled game across all sports and championships. Carriage agreements are in place with the following video providers: Cox, DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM, DISH Network, Frontier, fuboTV, Google Fiber, Hulu+ Live TV, Mediacom, Optimum, Sling TV, Spectrum TV, Suddenlink, Verizon Fios, YouTube TV, members of the NCTC, NRTC and Vivicast, among others. All ACCN games will also be available on the ESPN App to authenticated subscribers. Fans interested in learning more about ACCN can visit www.GetACCN.com.

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