The National Duals Invitational sponsored by Paycom will feature a first-round dual between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Virginia Tech Hokies. This dual has the potential to feature a remarkable EIGHT ranked matchups and five past All-Americans. Check out the article below for a full breakdown and prediction of what has the potential to be the best dual of the first round.

With so many head-to-head ranked matchups, almost every match could be considered a “key matchup.” However, I think there are five that will be especially important to deciding this dual - 125, 157, 174, 197, and 285. First up is the matchup between All-Americans Eddie Ventresca and Jore Volk at 125 pounds. These two have surprisingly never met in their college careers, but both are title contenders this year at 125 pounds, and this should be an incredibly close match. Volk placed 7th in 2024 for Wyoming but missed his entire year last season. Now competing for the Gophers, this will be his first real test since his return from injury. Ventresca is a two-time All-American, finishing in 7th in 2023 and 5th last season. Ventresca is also coming off an outstanding performance at the All-Star Classic, where he took out All-American Sheldon Seymour. If Virginia Tech hopes to win this dual, they’ll need Ventresca to take out Volk to start the dual.

Eddie Ventresa's win over Sheldon Seymour at the All-Star Classic:

At 157 pounds, Ethen Miller vs Charlie Millard is another match that could swing the dual for either team. As a three-time NCAA Qualifier, Miller is the more established wrestler and has notable victories in his college career against All-Americans Jacori Teemer, Joey Blaze, Matt Bianchi, and Dylan D’Emilio. On the other side of things, Millard is just a redshirt freshman and a first-year starter for the Gophers. However, Millard was the #33 overall recruit in the class of 2024 and recorded significant wins over James Conway, Cody Chittum, and Cobe Siebrecht (X2) during his freshman year. On top of that, Millard just defeated Miller’s brother (Kal) last weekend at the Southeast Open (5-2). Millard has big point-scoring potential and has recorded 13 bonus point wins in his 20-match college career. I expect this to be a great match between these two, and similar to 125, Virginia Tech needs to come out on top here.

Millard's win over Kal Miller:

The final three “key matchups” will likely be rematches from last weekend's Southeast Open. All three of these matches went Minnesota’s way with Ethan Riddle defeating Sergio Desiante (16-10), Gavin Nelson defeating Sonny Sasso (7-0), and Koy Hopke taking out Jimmy Mullen (11-1). Those results obviously point toward Minnesota as the favorites in those bouts, but it was just the first weekend of the season, and all of those wrestlers are capable of making adjustments to swing those results. The Hokies will need at least one of their guys to flip a previous loss to a win if they hope to come out victorious in this dual.

Riddle's win over Desiante:

Nelson's win over Sasso:

Hopke's win over Mullen:

2025-26 Virginia Tech Overview

• Head Coach: Tony Robie (9th Season)
• Assistants: Jared Frayer, Zach Tanelli, Jared Haught
• 2025 NCAA tournament finish: 11th
• 2025 NCAA tournament points: 41
• 2025 ACC tournament finish: First
• 2025 Dual Record: 9-2
• All-Americans: Eddie Ventresca (125)
• National Qualifiers: Eddie Ventresca (125), Tom Crook (141), Ethen Miller (157), Mac Church (165), Sergio Desiante (174), Jaden Bullock (184), Jimmy Mullen (285)
• Key Off-Season Transfers: Ethen Miller (157), Sergio Desiante (174), Jaden Bullock (184)
• Last NCAA Champion: Caleb Henson (2023)
• Highest NCAA Team Finish: 4th (2016)
• Highest NCAA Team Finish under Tony Robie: 7th (2024)

2025-26 Minnesota Overview

• Head Coach: Brandon Eggum (9th Season)
• Assistants: Luke Becker, Zach Sanders, Michael Kemerer
• 2025 NCAA tournament finish: 5th
• 2025 NCAA tournament points: 51.5
• 2025 Big Ten tournament finish: 4th
• 2025 Dual Record: 10-2
• All-Americans: Jore Volk (125), Chris Cannon (133), Vance VomBaur (141), Max McEnelly (149)
• National Qualifiers: Jore Volk (125), Chris Cannon (133), Vance VomBaur (141), Drew Roberts (149), Andrew Sparks (165), Clayton Whiting (174), Max McEnelly (184)
• Key Off-Season Transfers: Jore Volk (125), Chris Cannon (133), Clayton Whiting (174)
• Last NCAA Champion: Caleb Henson (2023)
• Highest NCAA Team Finish: First (2001, 2002, and 2007)
• Highest Team Finish under Brandon Eggum: 5th (2025)

Probable Lineups

Virginia Tech

125 lbs - #4 Eddie Ventresca

133 lbs - #15 Dillon Campbell/Aaron Seidel

141 lbs - #24 Tom Crook

149 lbs - Collin Gaj/Noah Nininger

157 lbs - #10 Ethen Miller

165 lbs - #26 Mac Church/Ryan Burton

174 lbs - #24 Sergio Desiante

184 lbs - #17 Jaden Bullock

197 lbs - #27 Sonny Sasso

285 lbs - #16 Jimmy Mullen

Minnesota

125 lbs - #8 Jore Volk

133 lbs - Chris Cannon

141 lbs - #5 Vance VomBaur

149 lbs - #29 Drew Roberts

157 lbs - #20 Charlie Millard

165 lbs - #11 Andrew Sparks

174 lbs - #23 Ethan Riddle/Clayton Whting

184 lbs - #1 Max McEnelly

197 lbs - #23 Gavin Nelson

285 lbs - #15 Koy Hopke

Key Matchups

125: #4 Eddie Ventresca, Virginia Tech vs #8 Jore Volk, Minnesota

157: #10 Ethen Miller, Virginia Tech vs #20 Charlie Millard, Minnesota

174: #24 Sergio Desiante, Virginia Tech vs #23 Ethan Riddle/Clayton Whiting

197: #27 Sonny Sasso, Virginia Tech vs #23 Gavin Nelson, Minnesota

285: #16 Jimmy Mullen, Virginia Tech vs #15 Koy Hopke, Minnesota

Minnesota vs Virginia Tech Predictions

Minnesota enters this dual as the favorite in 7 out of 10 matches, and I picked them to win 6 of those. That means Virginia Tech will need to pull off 2 upsets to just tie the dual. On paper, that might sound unrealistic, but we know wild things always happen in dual meets, and the margins will be so close in almost every single match between the Hokies and Gophers. Regardless of what goes down in Tulsa, I expect a battle from start to finish and an incredible dual between these two outstanding teams.

125 lbs - Eddie Ventresca, Virginia Tech over Jore Volk, Minnesota by decision

133 lbs - Dillon Campbell, Virginia Tech over Chris Cannon, Minnesota by decision

141 lbs - Vance Vombaur, Minnesota over Tom Crook, Virginia Tech by decision

149 lbs - Drew Roberts, Minnesota over Collin Gaj, Virginia Tech by decision

157 lbs - Ethen Miller, Virginia Tech over Charlie Millard, Minnesota by decision

165 lbs - Andrew Sparks, Minnesota over Mac Church, Virginia Tech by decision

174 lbs - Sergio Desiante, Virginia Tech over Ethan Riddle, Minnesota by decision

184 lbs - Max McEnelly, Minnesota over Jaden Bullock, Virginia Tech by decision

197 lbs - Gavin Nelson, Minnesota over Sonny Sasso, Virginia Tech by decision

285 lbs - Koy Hopke, Minnesota over Jimmy Mullen, Virginia Tech by decision

Final Score Prediction: Minnesota 18, Virginia Tech 12