Gavin keeps Chartiers Valley's Evans home
Dylan Evans’ friends ended up being some of Pitt’s top recruiters.
The Chartiers Valley rising senior admits that he wasn’t really thinking about wrestling for the Panthers when his recruiting process started.
“I wasn’t super interested in Pitt,” he said a day after announcing his commitment to Keith Gavin’s team. “The more I started to take this process, I started to enjoy being in the city a lot more, especially with my friends. I started to like the city more and more.”
Evans, who wrestles for his father, Bill, won a PIAA 3A title in March at 152 pounds, and he’s 102-24 in his high school career, with fourth- and eighth-place finishes on his resume. PA Power Wrestling has him as the No. 5 recruit from the Keystone State in the class of 2023, while MatScouts has him 59th nationally and 10th at 152 pounds.
Those kinds of accolades draw attention from across the country, but Evans realized he could accomplish all his goals without leaving the 412 area code.
“I had the opportunity to talk to a bunch of colleges but one of the biggest things is I live in Pittsburgh. I’ve talked to guys from all different conferences – Big Ten, Big 12, Ivy League, even the academies,” he said.
None of the schools he talked with compared to what he found in his own backyard.
“When you talk about synergy, the team-bonding experience, Pitt has one of the best in the NCAA,” Evans said. “Very few colleges have that family aspect that everyone talks about. You really saw it with Pitt. They didn’t have to say it. It was just shown by example.”
It helps that much of Pitt’s roster is homegrown, with nearly a dozen WPIAL wrestlers on the 2021-22 team and high-profile recruits such as Mac Stout, Dayton Pitzer, Jared Keslar, Briar Priest and Jack Pletcher on the way.
“A lot of the guys of the team are Pittsburgh guys,” Evans said, mentioning Luca Augustine, who won the Under-20 national freestyle championship after his freshman year at Pitt. “Luca Augustine, I’ve known him since middle school. He was always really kind to me. I saw he was doing great things.”
Laurel’s Grant MacKay, a two-time state finalist and one-time champ, has also committed to Pitt for 2023, which is more good news for Evans.
“I’m happy that one of my future teammates, Grant MacKay, we used to wrestle around when we were little. I’m going to share dorms and housing plans with people that I’ve known for years.”
Evans said that his decision came down to Pitt and Cornell, a program that has been landing some big-name recruits – including Wyoming Seminary’s Meyer Shapiro and Bishop McCort Catholic brothers Erik and Mason Gibson – in addition to offering an Ivy League education, but Evans didn’t feel like he was giving up anything in choosing Pitt.
“They give you a lot of great opportunities as well. Pitt is a phenomenal academic school,” Evans said. “Getting a Pitt degree is very impressive.”
He pointed to three Chartiers Valley graduates – brothers Matt, Tyler and Noah Wilps – who went on to wrestle at Pitt and found success on and off the mat.
“I’ve seen kids like the Wilpses – one’s a doctor, one’s a NASCAR crew member and one is working for SpaceX,” Evans said.
Evans expects to wrestle 152 pounds at Fargo next month and could be at that weight – or 160 – for his senior season. In college, he could be a 157-pounder and, since he loves hitting the weight room, he might grow into a 165-pounder.
He’s a devotee of freestyle and Greco-Roman, which have played a key role in his folkstyle growth.
“I think those are important. They’ve helped me to develop my style,” he said. “My wrestling isn’t exposing my back a whole heck of a lot, but I can still scramble. Freestyle and Greco helped me be the way that I am.”
Evans is also looking forward to learning from a coaching staff that includes 2008 NCAA champion Keith Gavin and 2021 runner-up Jake Wentzel, who wrestled 165.
“I’m going to do everything to listen to Wentzel, to listen to Gavin,” he said. “I want to be the best that I can possibly be. At Pitt, all of the national champs have a banner in the room. That’s what I want. ‘2025 NCAA champ Dylan Evans.’ It’s not going to be easy. Seeing all of the guys that won it this year, all of them have things that make them good but they’re super consistent throughout.”
That’s what Evans is looking to do. And he won’t have to go far to do it.