Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 13 No. 4 | March 2021

24 Inside Hokie Sports HOKIEGEAR.COM Get your Hokie gear at Bursting onto the collegiate wrestling scene, Sam Latona has been one of Virginia Tech wrestling’s top performers during the 2020-21 season. He’s regarded as a Top-5 wrestler nationally at the 125-pound weight class and has earned the ACC’s Wrestler of the Week award twice. Voted as a captain this season by his teammates, Latona has helped lead the Hokies to a No. 3 national ranking in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Poll, tied for their highest ever in the poll. However, the redshirt freshman may be best known for arguably the greatest finish in NCAA history. “It’s probably the most exciting dual meet that I’ve ever been a part of,” said Virginia Tech head coach Tony Robie. Down 4-3 with seconds remaining in the Feb. 5 dual vs. then- No. 3 NC State with the ACC Dual Meet Championship on the line, Latona scored a takedown and a two-point near-fall at the buzzer to win 7-4 and clinch the meet and ACC title for the Hokies via the third tiebreaker—total match points—48-47. The win vaulted Latona into the national spotlight. That week, he moved up to the No. 2 spot on media outlet FloWrestling’s national rankings at 125 pounds, and he was interviewed on the ACC Network’s morning show, Packer and Durham. “It was wild,” Latona said. “I didn’t mind the attention, but it was just getting a little too much, so I deleted social media and had to refocus and reset.” Although it may have been the first time people heard about Sam Latona, Robie and his staff have not been surprised by his performance this season. “He’s developed a ton since he’s been here, and he’s exceeded my expectations with his development since he’s been at Virginia Tech,” Robie said. “That’s a credit to him, that’s a credit to Coach [Cody] Brewer, that’s a credit to his work ethic as much as anything. We knew he was going to be really good for us this year.” Latona wrestled at Thompson High School in his hometown of Alabaster, Alabama where he was a three-year letterwinner. He won the Alabama state championship his sophomore year and was a two-time national champion at the Fargo Nationals, one of the largest wrestling tournaments in the world. However, despite the illustrious high school career Latona had built in Alabama, he decided to leave his senior year to move to the New River Valley. “It was a pretty tough decision leaving my senior year and all my friends and missing that senior year experience,” Latona said. “But I knew it would be best for me to get up here a year early and get around the right guys and the coaching staff for my development.” Latona moved in with his brother, Dom, who wrestled for Virginia Tech from 2016 to 2020, and began to train with the team in Christiansburg, Virginia, while most kids his age were competing in high school. “I think he wanted to be around people and have the training partners that could help him accomplish his goal of being the best wrestler that he could be. That’s his level of commitment,” Robie said. “There aren’t a lot of high school kids that are willing to forego their senior year of high school and move in with their brother, just so they could have the opportunity to train with some college guys.” It was that commitment and mindset that drew Robie to Latona on the recruiting trail, on top of the familial connection already in place with Dom. “Everybody I talked to about him and knew him just talked about his desire to be great and his work ethic,” Robie said. “It’s held true. The guy works his tail off every day, and his commitment to wrestling is pretty special, pretty awesome to see.” Despite demonstrating his commitment to the future of the program, Latona had to wait another year to crack the starting lineup as the coaching staff decided to redshirt him for the 2019-20 season. A TAKEDOWN IN THE Making TwoYears