Virginia Tech fell eight points short of North Carolina State in the Feb. 23 dual meet season finale, but the upcoming Atlantic Coast Conference Championships provides the Hokies with an opportunity to put an end to the Wolfpack’s five-year tournament reign.

With both teams riding a six-match winning streak, sharing 4-0 conference records and boasting a combined 11 wrestlers among the top 13, Friday’s ACC championship rumble between Virginia Tech (9-3) and North Carolina State (15-2) might give new meaning to the word toss-up.

Things can change quickly when you’re wrestling, and Virginia Tech’s Cooper Flynn learned that plans can be altered just as rapidly even when you’re not.

As one of just three college wrestling teams that hold the same spot in Flo’s dual meet rankings and team tournament ratings, Virginia Tech may well be — in the paraphrased words of former New York Giants football coach Bill Parcells — what its record says it is.

Talented, successful teams in any sport at any level typically can brag that a little luck was on their side. If Virginia Tech has a matside chair reserved for luck, it’s gone unfilled.

The kid’s only a sophomore but his name has been in the rankings and in the news for so long that one could believe he’s a senior.

When it comes to wrestling, not everything that happens in Vegas necessarily has to stay in Vegas.

A Virginia Tech season that opened with a deflating loss to #5 Ohio State has taken a much-needed U-turn with wins over American and #21 Rutgers and a four-champion performance at the Keystone Open. Coach Tony Robie will look for continued progress Friday and Saturday at the talent-laden Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, but only seven Hokies boarded the westbound plane on Wednesday.

Things were all set up for a Cassell Coliseum crowd of over 5,000 to watch Virginia Tech show off its #4 ranking and its five highly ranked wrestlers. Instead, it was #13 Ohio State which showed up and showed out.

When departing Tulsa last March after the NCAA Championships, Tony Robie was able to look ahead with a smile, knowing that his Virginia Tech team this season would return 46.5 of its ninth-place total of 49 team points. A quick glance backward didn’t provide a bad view, either.