When Virginia Tech takes its 10-man crew to Cleveland for the NCAA Championships, it will be the team’s first road trip since Feb. 6. But coach Tony Robie has had the Hokies on a season-long road to success.

They went 11-3, including 6-0 in the ACC regular season, and won the ACC Championships by 22 points over second-place Stanford with six champions from eight finalists.

With the bulk of this year’s team set to return next season and the addition of the country’s second-ranked recruiting class, one can believe Robie when he says “our best days are in front of us.”

For the time being, the Hokies must settle for the three days in front of them in Cleveland. They have a #2 seed in Eddie Ventresca (125) and #4 seeds in Aaron Seidel (133), Colin Gaj (149) and Sonny Sasso (197). They also have a pair of #14s, a #16 and a trio of #25s who will need to wrestle above those seeds to garner more team points.

It’s the fourth time Tech has qualified all 10 men, and the Hokies will look to improve on numbers from the past three seasons when they have won 69 bouts at the NCAAs and lost 45 while having 12 All-America finishes and one champion.

Seeds alone project the Hokies with 53.5 points and seventh place, but off the pace of the six teams ahead of them. Eddie Ventresca placed fifth at 125 last season and Mac Church (165) and Jimmy Mullen (285) also qualified.

Here is a look at what the tournament holds for the Hokies:

125 pounds — #2 seed Eddie Ventresca

Ventresca is 19-2 and lost in overtime to top-seeded Luke Lilledahl of Penn State in last season’s consolation semifinals. His first-round opponent is Desmond Pleasant (23-8) of Drexel. He’s a strong favorite to make the quarterfinals, where he could face Stanford 7-seed Nico Provo (13-5), whom he beat in a 2-1 tiebreaker in the ACC finals, or former teammate Cooper Flynn (18-4) of Chattanooga.

A possible quarterfinal bout between 3-seed Nic Bouzakis (16-2) of Ohio State and Jore Volk (22-5) of Minnesota would determine Ventresca’s likely semifinal foe.

Lillledahl has anything but an easy path to the finals. West Virginia’s Jett Strickenberger (19-7), Iowa’s Dean Peterson (14-6), defending NCAA champ and 12-seed Vincent Robinson (15-4) of North Carolina State and Lehigh 4-seed Sheldon Seymour (19-0) are all possible opponents.

“Eddie Ventresca is having a heck of a year,” Robie said earlier this season. “Not a lot of people are talking about him, but I think Eddie Ventresca has really, really jumped levels. He was definitely good enough to win last year. And I think he's on a different level, mentally, technically, physically. So we’re excited about Eddie for sure.”

133 pounds — #4 seed Aaron Seidel

Seidel, a true freshman and three-time Pennsylvania state champion, had no plans to compete this season until previous Tech starter Dillon Campbell was injured. Here he is, in one of the NCAA’s most difficult and talented brackets.

He won 18 of 19 matches, losing only to top-seeded Jax Forrest of Oklahoma State in the February dual meet, 10-9, in which he took down Forrest three times but yielded a seven-point move.

Seidel opens with Luke Willochell (15-10) of Wyoming, another former Pennsylvania wrestler. If Seidel wins, the winner of 13-seed Jacob Van Dee (17-6) of Nebraska and 20-seed Julian Farber (18-9) of Northern Iowa awaits.

A possible quarterfinal bout with 5-seed Kyler Larkin (18-2) of Arizona State would be entertaining, and if Seidel wins three straight, it’s a likely rematch with Forrest in the semis.

That’s just the top bracket. Ohio State’s Ben Davino (27-1) is #2 and Penn State’s Marcus Blaze (21-1) is #3, while defending champion Lucas Byrd (20-2) of Illinois is #7. Two-time runner-up Drake Ayala (13-8) of Iowa is the #6 seed. No matter what happens, Seidel will gain valuable experience.

“He's tough, and when you have that, and you have a lot of talent, and you've had a ton of success throughout the course of your life, it usually continues to go in a positive direction,” Robie said about Seidel.

141 pounds — #25 seed Tom Crook

Crook (20-12) is a two-time qualifier at 141 who won three of seven NCAA bouts in 2023 and 2024.

The ACC fifth-placer will face #8 seed Vance VomBaur of Minnesota, who placed third in the Big Ten. 

Ohio State two-time champ Jesse Mendez (19-0) is the overwhelming favorite, and 2-seed Sergio Vega (19-0) of Oklahoma State also is unbeaten and has an 11-2 win over Crook.

149 pounds — #4 seed Collin Gaj

Another freshman from PA, Gaj (20-8) has had a strong, late-season run to an ACC title, beating NCAA #10-seed Aden Valencia (16-7) of Stanford and #5-seed Koy Buesgens (21-3) of N.C. State.

Gaj’s first-round foe is Kaden Cassidy (15-4) of George Mason. If he wins, he gets the winner of #13 seed Joseph Zargo (18-6) of Wisconsin and #20 seed Chance Lamer (17-8) of Nebraska.

He could have a rematch with Buesgens, and top-seeded Shayne Van Ness (21-0) sits at the top of Gaj’s bracket.

“Collin Gaj is, I think, just a super talented true freshman, a guy that is going to do great things for us,” Robie said. 

157 pounds — #14 seed Ethen Miller

The Maryland transfer and grad student had a rough start as a Hokie, recovering from a foot injury early on.

Miller (16-6) rebounded to place second in the ACC, losing 5-2 to Stanford’s Daniel Cardenas (17-3), the NCAA #9 seed.

Miller is paired with #19 seed Kai Owen (18-7) of Columbia. A win there most likely puts him against #3 seed Meyer Shapiro (15-1) of Cornell. Nebraska #2 seed Antrell Taylor (22-3) is at the bottom of Miller’s bracket; Penn State freshman PJ Duke (19-1) is the #1 seed.

165 pounds — #25 seed Mac Church

Church (24-10) qualified last year and went 1-2 and placed second in the ACC this season.

He’ll face #8 seed Matty Bianchi (19-2) of Little Rock. If he wins, he could have a rematch with UNC #9 seed Bryce Hepner (15-4), who beat him last week.

Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink (22-0) is the defending champ and #1 seed while Purdue’s Joey Blaze (22-1) is the #2 seed.

174 pounds — #25 seed Sergio Desiante

A redshirt sophomore who transferred from Chattanooga, Desiante (20-13) knocked off NCAA #6 seed Matty Singleton (16-3) in the ACC finals.

Desiante is paired with #8 seed and Penn State transfer Alex Facundo (16-6) of Oklahoma State. Michigan #9 seed Beau Mantanona (21-7) is above Desiante and Penn State’s Levi Haines (21-0) is the #1 seed.

184 pounds — #14 seed Jaden Bullock

The graduate student who transferred from Michigan was an NCAA qualifier in 2024. 

Bullock (20-10), who won an ACC title, will face #19 seed Jared McGill (17-3) of Edinboro.

If he upends McGill, a past qualifier as well, he’ll get the winner of #2 seed Max McEnelly (19-2) of Minnesota and #30 seed Tyler Bienus (19-14) of Bucknell.

197 pounds — #4 seed Sonny Sasso

Sasso (25-5), one of Tech’s six ACC champs, majored Stanford’s NCAA 9-seed Angelo Posado (16-5) in the ACC finals.

Sasso will wrestle Missouri transfer and #29 seed Colton Hawks (7-9) of Arizona State in the first round. Above him in the bracket are #13-seed Bennett Berge of South Dakota State and #20 seed Wyatt Ingham (17-8) of Wisconsin.

Wyoming’s Joey Novak (17-3) is the 5-seed while Penn State’s Josh Barr (19-0) is the #1 seed in the same bracket.

285 pounds — #16 seed Jimmy Mullen

The Hokies’ 10th of 10 entrants went 22-7 and finished third in the ACC.

He’ll face #17 seed Vincent Mueller (25-6) of Columbia and that winner moves out to most likely face top-seeded Yonger Bastida (25-0) of Iowa State.

ACC champ Isaac Trumble (16-0) is the #2 seed while Michigan’s Taye Ghadiali (23-2) is #3.