Macchiavello Named ACC Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Greensboro, N.C. (theACC.com) — NC State redshirt senior Michael Macchiavello, who is the NCAA champion at 197 pounds, has been named the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year and heads up the sport’s 20-man All-ACC Academic Team, the league announced Thursday.

Macchiavello, from Monroe, North Carolina, has already completed his undergraduate degree in finance and is now a graduate student in Liberal Studies. He captured the 197-pound weight class by defeating Virginia Tech’s Jared Haught, the ACC’s 2017 Scholar-Athlete, with a 3-1 decision in the NCAA finals to take home the first national title for an ACC wrestler since 2015. Macchiavello and Haught became the first pair of ACC wrestlers to meet in the finals of the NCAA Wrestling Championship.

Macchiavello posted a 22-3 record on the season in leading NC State to a fourth-place tie in this year’s NCAA Wrestling Championship, which equaled the highest finish by an ACC school. He was voted by the league’s coaches as the ACC’s Wrestler of the Year. 

He becomes just the second NC State wrestler to be named the ACC Scholar-Athlete in wrestling. Former Wolfpack two-time national champion Nick Gwiazdowski captured the honor in 2016.

“This is a phenomenal way for Michael to cap off his academic career,” said NC State head coach Pat Popolizio. “His commitment to excellence and drive for greatness has certainly paid off.  

“Our mission as a program is to continue to produce national champions, not only on the mat but in the classroom as well. Michael Macchiavello exemplifies the definition of a student-athlete, earning ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year is a testament to all of his hard work.”

The ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards were established in September 2007 to be awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports. Candidates for the awards must have maintained a 3.0 grade point average for their career as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters.

To be eligible for All-ACC Academic Team consideration, a student-athlete must have earned a minimum 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a minimum 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career.

A total of six members of this year’s 20-man All-ACC Academic Wrestling Team are All-Americans, including five who earned honors this year in Macchiavello, Haught, redshirt senior Jacob Kasper of Duke, redshirt freshman Hayden Hidlay of NC State and junior Zack Zavatsky of Virginia Tech. North Carolina’s Ethan Ramos earned All-American honors as a freshman in 2015.

Haught, a redshirt senior from Parkersburg, West Virginia, who is majoring in mechanical engineering, and Kasper, a redshirt senior from Lexington, Ohio, who is majoring in sociology and cultural anthropology, were each named to the All-ACC Academic Wrestling team for the fourth time. Zavatsky, Pitt fifth-year senior Nick Zanetta and Virginia senior Andrew Atkinson were named to the team for the third time.

Haught (197), Hidlay (157), Ramos (174) and NC State redshirt junior Sean Fausz (125) all captured 2018 ACC individual championships.

NC State and Duke led all schools with five student-athletes each, followed by Pitt with four, and North Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech, with two each. 

The ACC Honor Roll, which recognizes conference student-athletes with a grade point average of 3.0 for the current academic year, will be released in July.

2018 All-ACC Academic Wrestling Team

Name, School, Year, Weight, Major, Hometown

Thayer Atkins, Duke, Senior, 125, Sociology, Dallas, Texas**
Andrew Atkinson, Virginia, Senior-R, 165, Kinesiology, Lynchburg, Va.**
L.J. Bentley, Pitt, Junior, 125, CBA—Supply Chain Management, Twinsburg, Ohio
Daniel Bullard, NC State, Freshman-R, 174, Business Administration, Lawrenceville, Ga.
Sean Fausz, NC State, Junior-R, 125, Electrical Engineering, Alexandria, Ky.
Josh Finesilver, Duke, Freshman, 133, Undeclared, Greenwood Village, Col.
Matt Finesilver, Duke, Freshman, 174, Undeclared, Greenwood Village, Col.
Dom Forys, Pitt, Senior, 133, CBA--Supply Chain Management, Pittsburgh, Pa.**
Brian Hamann, NC State, Senior-R, 165, Finance, Jackson, N.J.**
Jared Haught, Virginia Tech, Senior-R, 197, Mechanical Engineering, Parkersburg, W.Va.****
Louie Hayes, Virginia, Frreshman-R, 125, Media Studies, Orland Park, Ill.
Hayden Hidlay, NC State, Freshman-R, 157, Business Administration, Lewistown, Pa.
Jacob Kasper, Duke, Senior-R, 285, Sociology & Cultural Anthropology, Lexington, Ohio****
Michael Macchiavello, NC State, Senior-R, 197, Master of Liberal Studies, Monroe, N.C.
Ethan Ramos, North Carolina, Senior-R, 174, Exercise & Sport Science, Hawthorne, N.J.
Alec Schenk, Duke, Senior, 184, Sociology, Perry, Ohio**
Zack Sherman, North Carolina, Freshman, 133, Undeclared, Islamorada, Fla
Jake Wentzel, Pitt, Freshman-R, 165, CBA-Finance, South Park, Pa.
Nick Zanetta, Pitt, Senior-R, 141, Business Information Systems, Pittsburgh, Pa.***
Zack Zavatsky, Virginia Tech, Junior-R, 184, Packaging Systems & Design, Latrobe, Pa.

** - Two-time honoree
*** - Three-time honoree
**** -Four-time honoree

ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Michael Macchiavello, NC State

ACC Wrestling Scholar-Athletes

2007-08—Hudson Taylor, Maryland

2008-09—John Barone, Duke

2009-10—Hudson Taylor, Maryland

2010-11—Kyle John, Maryland

2011-12—Matt Snyder, Virginia

2012-13—Matt Snyder, Virginia

2013-14—Devin Carter, Virginia Tech

2014-15—Tyler Wilps, Pitt

2015-16—Nick Gwiazdowski, NC State

2016-17—Jared Haught, Virginia Tech

2017-18—Michael Macchiavello, NC State