No. 28 Pitt went 2-1 in duals at the Rider Quad Meet on Friday in Lawrenceville, N.J., but the biggest news to come out of it surrounds the health of some of the Panthers’ top names.

Despite seeing their highest-ranked wrestler – 184-pounder Reece Heller – go 0-3 on the day and suffer and injury that likely will keep him out of next week’s Midlands Tournament in Illinois, Pitt (4-2) sandwiched victories over No. 24 Maryland (25-12) and host Rider (28-12) around an 18-15 loss to No. 17 South Dakota State.

Coach Keith Gavin said Heller will be further examined today.

“It’s not too serious,” Gavin said. “Not sure how long he’ll be out yet.”

Heavyweight Dayton Pitzer, who has been dealing with an injury of his own, wrestled multiple matches in a day for the first time this season, going 2-1. No. 14 Seth Nevills beat No. 13 Pitzer 7-0 in the first dual of the day.

A redshirt sophomore, Pitzer has shown flashes of brilliance – such as his Midlands run in 2022, when he beat Arizona State’s Cohlton Schultz, a 10-time World team member and four-time All-American. But injuries have limited Pitzer to just 35 matches in his college career, and there’s no substitute for mat time.

“He needs more matches,” Gavin said. “You’ve got to be in those situations. He got reversed and tried a roll and (Nevills) stepped over. He gave up a lot of points that he kind of did to himself. I just think he needs more matches.”

Mac Stout put up 30 points on the day and was the lone Panther to go 3-0. The 16th-ranked 197-pounder, Stout beat No. 18 Zach Glazier of South Dakota State 9-0. He also scored a 22-6 tech fall over Maryland’s Chase Mielnik and a 9-3 victory over Rider’s Steyne De Lange.

“Mac wrestled well. I think he dominated two guys and beat Glazier pretty easy, too,” Gavin said.

Dylan Evans wrestled well at 157. The 31st-ranked wrestler beat No. 22 Colton Washleski 18-5 and edged SDSU’s Moses Espinoza-Owens, 8-6. He fell 5-4 to No. 8 Ethen Miller of Maryland.

“I think he could have had that one,” Gavin said of the loss to Miller. “He got taken down off the whistle.”

True freshman Matt Marlow impressed at 125 pounds, where Evan Tallmadge is out for the season and Nick Babin likely will not return until next month. Marlow went 2-1 with his lone loss a 4-0 setback to No. 14 Tanner Jordan of South Dakota State.

“Marlow’s doing a nice job,” Gavin said. “He’s very mature for a true freshman, the way he handles making weight and things like that. I think he’s going to keep getting better.”

No. 17 Luca Augustine went 2-1 at 174 pounds, including a 16-3 major decision over No. 28 Michael Wilson. Augustine lost 3-2 to No. 10 Cade DeVos in tiebreaker.

“That’s one we’d like to get back,” Gavin said. “He lost in double overtime by a couple seconds of rideout. He wrestled that guy well. He had a slow start to the match but was getting to him at the end.”

Gavin thought Finn Solomon could have had a pair of ranked wins on the day as well. Solomon, No. 28 at 149, beat No. 27 Kal Miller of Maryland 4-3 but fell 6-5 to No. 15 Sammy Alvarez of Rider after giving up a penalty point on an illegal cutback.

“He wrestled really good against Alvarez but gave up a penalty point doing something stupid and it cost him the match,” Gavin said. “He was all over his legs. That was good to see.”

True freshman Kade Brown impressed in his performance and is expected to wrestle at Midlands.

Brothers Vinnie and Anthony Santaniello went a combined 2-3 at 133 and 141, with Vinnie losing to a pair of ranked wrestlers. Anthony lost to unranked Caleb Gross of South Dakota State.

“Those are the two weights where we need to get better right now. I think eight out of the 10 weights are trending in the right direction,” Gavin said. “Midlands is going to be important for them to get back on the right track.”

In addition to Heller, Marlow is unlikely to wrestle at Midlands, as Gavin would like to have the ability able to use him in January without burning his redshirt. Pitzer could also sit out the Midlands event, although Gavin does see the value in getting as many of his starters to the event as possible.

“I think it’s important to get a two-day tournament in, to simulate the nationals,” he said. “Our conference is one day. I thought that was something that we were missing from last year. We have a tough second-half schedule, so we need to be ready.”

No. 28 Pitt 25, No. 24 Maryland 12

125: Matt Marlow, Pitt, maj. dec. Tyler Garvin, 11-1 (Pitt leads 4-0)

133: No. 17 Braxton Brown, UMD, dec. No. 32 Vinnie Santaniello, 4-0 (Pitt leads 4-3)

141: No. 31 Anthony Santaniello, Pitt, dec. Dario Lemus, 5-4 (Pitt leads 7-3)

149: No. 28 Finn Solomon, Pitt, dec. No. 27 Kal Miller, 4-3 (Pitt leads 10-3)

157: No. 8 Ethen Miller, UMD, dec. No. 31 Dylan Evans, 5-4 (Pitt leads 10-6)

165: Jared Keslar, Pitt, tech. fall Ryan Money, 18-1 (3:54) (Pitt leads 15-6)

174: No. 17 Luca Augustine, Pitt, tech. fall Branson John, 20-4 (6:26) (Pitt leads 20-6)

184: No. 6 Jaxon Smith, UMD, dec. No. 11 Reece Heller, 2-2 TB-2 (Pitt leads 20-9)

197: No. 16 Mac Stout, Pitt, tech. fall Chase Mielnik, 22-6 (6:07) (Pitt leads 25-9)

285: No. 14 Seth Nevills, UMD, dec. No. 13 Dayton Pitzer, 7-0 (Pitt wins 25-12)

No. 17 South Dakota State 18, No. 28 Pitt 15

125: No. 14 Tanner Jordan, SDSU, dec. Matt Marlow, 4-0 (SDSU leads 3-0)

133: No. 22 Derrick Cardinal, SDSU, dec. No. 32 Vinnie Santaniello, 7-2 (SDSU leads 6-0)

141: Caleb Gross, SDSU, dec. No. 31 Anthony Santaniello, 2-0 (SDSU leads 9-0)

149: Kade Brown, Pitt, maj. dec. Avery Allen, 11-2 (SDSU leads 9-4)

157: No. 31 Dylan Evans, Pitt, dec. Moses Espinoza-Owens, 8-6 (SDSU leads 9-7)

165: No. 12 Drake Rhodes, SDSU, dec. Jared Keslar, 5-0 (SDSU leads 12-7)

174: No. 10 Cade DeVos, SDSU, dec. No. 17 Luca Augustine, 3-2 TB (SDSU leads 15-7)

184: No. 8 Bennett Berge, SDSU, dec. No. 11 Reece Heller, 9-6 (SDSU leads 18-7)

197: No. 16 Mac Stout, Pitt, maj. dec. No. 15 Zach Glazier, 9-0 (SDSU leads 18-11)

285: No. 13 Dayton Pitzer, Pitt, maj. dec. Thomas Dineen, 12-2 (SDSU wins 18-15)

No. 28 Pitt 28, Rider 12

125: Matt Marlow, Pitt, dec. Kaden Naame, 12-5 (Pitt leads 3-0)

133: No. 32 Vinnie Santaniello, Pitt, maj. dec. D'Amani Almodovar, 9-0 (Pitt leads 7-0)

141: Briar Priest, Pitt, tech. fall Nieko Malone, 18-1 (3:58) (Pitt leads 12-0)

149: No. 19 Sammy Alvarez, RI, dec. No. 28 Finn Solomon, 6-5 (Pitt leads 12-3)

157: No. 31 Dylan Evans, Pitt, maj. dec. No. 22 Colton Washleski, 18-5 (Pitt leads 16-3)

165: Enrique Munguia, RI, fall Jared Keslar, (4:16) (Pitt leads 16-9)

174: No. 17 Luca Augustine, Pitt, maj. dec. No. 28 Michael Wilson, 16-3 (Pitt leads 20-9)

184: No. 22 Isaac Dean, RI, dec. No. 11 Reece Heller, 8-4 (Pitt leads 20-12)

197: No. 16 Mac Stout, Pitt, dec. Steyne De Lange, 9-3 (Pitt leads 23-12)

285: No. 13 Dayton Pitzer, Pitt, tech. fall Collin French, 16-0 (5:09) (Pitt wins 28-12)