2 young stars in, but 2 big-name vets to miss Midlands

Pitt will have two of its top young studs competing at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships Thursday and Friday, but two of the Panthers’ biggest stars will skip the event.

Freshman Mac Stout and Dayton Pitzer are ready to show what they can do against some of the nation’s best while Micky Phillippi and Nino Bonaccorsi will miss the event for the Panthers, who are seventh in Intermat’s tournament rankings.

Of course, other teams might not bring all of the stars as well, but ranked squads scheduled to compete are: No. 2 Iowa, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 6 Arizona State, No. 8 Nebraska, No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 10 Michigan, No. 15 Northwestern, No. 16 Lehigh, No. 19 Northern Iowa, No. 24 North Carolina, No. 27 Air Force, No. 28 Illinois and No. 29 South Dakota State.

Panthers coach Keith Gavin said he’s using this as an opportunity to rest Phillippi – who is in his seventh season – and Bonaccorsi – who is in his sixth.

“Micky and Nino are fine,” Gavin said. “They’ll be back for the West Virginia dual (on Jan. 8). It just made sense with where they’re at.

“Both of them are for different reasons, but they’re in their extra years. Micky, we have to manage him. I tell people this – in his senior year of high school he wrestled 138. He’s wrestled 133 for seven years. He’s a little dinged up here and there. This is a good opportunity for him to rest. He’s got some big matches coming up.”

And as for Bonaccorsi?

“Nino, we can let some things heal up for him. Making weight isn’t an issue for him.”

Pitt is also limited to 14 wrestlers in the event, so not taking the veterans opens some spots for others.

Pitzer is the most high-profile of those. Gavin has said that the freshman heavyweight’s performance at Midlands will determine if it’s worth pulling his redshirt this season.

“I’m about as high on Dayton’s potential as anybody,” Gavin said but acknowledged that “people probably got a little overexcited” about Pitzer’s win over Lehigh’s Nathan Taylor, who is just 4-4 this season despite being ranked 17th early in the season.

“For us to pull his redshirt, he’s got to help us win the ACC tournament or score significant points at nationals. What other reason is there to do it?”

Midlands could prove a massive proving ground for Pitzer. Top-10 heavyweights who might be entered are: 2. Mason Parris (Michigan), No. 4. Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State), No. 5 Lucas Davison (Northwestern), No. 6 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force), No. 9 Scam Schuyler (Iowa State) and No. 10 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin). A FloWrestling preview does not mention Parris or Hendrickson, but a chance to face one or more of the top 10 will help us learn a lot about where Pitzer is right now.

The same can be said for Stout, who won the Clarion Open but is clearly redshirting this season with Bonaccorsi ahead of him.

“It’s great for his development,” Gavin said of Stout wrestling in the Midlands. “You constantly want to get that feedback. It’s one thing to train, but it’s different to get that feedback.”

It’s also an opportunity to see how Stout and Pitzer perform against NCAA tournament-caliber competition.

“I think that’s important,” Gavin said. “These guys are the future. We’ve got to make sure these guys are developing. You know it’s going to be good competition. That’s exciting if he’s in his redshirt or not.”

The rule change that allows Division I wrestlers to compete in up to five events and still redshirt also has another benefit for events such as Midlands: Those same wrestlers don’t have to pay their own way. In the past, Pitzer and Stout could have competed, but they would have had to arrange for their own transportation and lodging. Not so this year.

Another extra entry for Pitt will be redshirt freshman Brock McMillen. Gavin and the coaching staff had been very high on McMillen at 149 pounds entering the season, but health issues have made things difficult for him. He’s just 3-4 in open tournaments, and Gavin’s hopeful that a move up to 157 could benefit him.

“Brock’s going to try to wrestle ’57,” Gavin said. “We’ll see if that will help. We know ’49 was not going well. With cutting weight, dehydration might have been an issue. We’re not really sure. He’s only a freshman. We’ve got to get him matches.”

Aside from Phillippi and Bonacorris, the Panthers’ starters will all be participating. Dan Mancini will also see his first action of the season at 157, joining Tyler Badgett and McMillen in the bracket. James Lledo will also be in the mix, and Ryan Michaels will be competing unattached.

Pitt’s Midlands Lineup

125-Camacho

141-Matthews

149-Badgett

157-Casto, Mancini, McMillen

165-Heller

174-Augustine

184-Heller, Lledo

197-Stout

285-Slinger, Pitzer

141-Michaels (unattached)

Schedule (Times are presumably Central)

Thursday, Dec. 29

9:30 a.m. – First Session (10 Mats) – (Championship Rounds 1 & 2, Wrestlebacks)

7 p.m. – Second Session (10 Mats) – (Quarterfinals, Wrestlebacks)

Friday, Dec.30

11 a.m. – Third Session (8 Mats) – (Semis, consolation, 7th place match, women’s division begins)

6:05 p.m. – Fourth Session (4 Mats) – (1st, 3rd, 5th place matches–men’s and women’s divisions)

Awards ceremony to conclude at 9 p.m.

B1G+ is scheduled to stream the action.