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How Nino and Micky helped change Pitt's culture

This week will mark the end of an era for Pitt wrestling.

Nino Bonaccorsi and Micky Phillippi, who had as much of an impact on the program’s turnaround under Keith Gavin as any wrestlers, will be competing in a Pitt singlet for the last time at the NCAA Division I Championships.

They are two of six Panthers who will be wrestling in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and could elevate the program even more with strong performances.

Bonaccorsi, of course, is the top seed at 197 pounds. He’s unbeaten at 16-0 and will be looking for Pitt’s first national title since Gavin won the 174-pound crown 15 years ago.

Phillippi is the ninth seed at 133, meaning he’s projected to lose in the blood round for a fourth time. That would be heartbreaking, but even if he falls short of making the podium, his role in reshaping the Pitt program should not be overlooked.

Forging a bond

Bonaccorsi and Phillippi arrived together at Pitt in 2017. Bonaccorsi had just finished up a Bethel Park career that saw him finish second in the state twice. Phillippi, a three-time PIAA champion at Derry Area, transferred in after one season at Virginia. They hit it off immediately.

“I remember being at the first team cookout,” Phillippi recalled. “His mom said to (Phillippi’s then girlfriend and now wife) Marissa, ‘Nino doesn’t really go out.’ I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, neither do I.’ ”

They bonded over bars – but not the kind that appeal to most college kids. The highly motivated Pitt newcomers would do bar hang exercises together, encouraging each other the whole time.

“You’ve got 30 seconds left,” one would say. “You’re in the semis at nationals. You’ve got to kick out to win. If you hang on long enough, you win.”

That was the beginning of their relationship, and it only grew stronger over the past six years.

“We did create a really strong bond,” Phillippi said after the Panthers won a share of the ACC dual meet title. “We’re like brothers now.”

Culture shock

They might not have known it then, but they were the start of a cultural shift at Pitt.

By the end of Jason Peters’ tumultuous tenure the program had developed a reputation for harboring some wrestlers who were more interested in parties than pins. Not all, of course, but enough that some top recruits were scared off and signed elsewhere.

When Gavin took over the program that started to change, and it’s evident that Pitt wrestlers have a different mindset now.

“It’s definitely true,” Bonaccorsi said. “We came into a team where it wasn’t a priority to win. It was like you have to try to be cool. Doing extra workouts? No one did that. It was a little bit of a culture shock. Now, you’re the outcast for not getting extra workouts. We’re committed to this. Not just lifting, but 3 o’clock practice. It’s a lifestyle. We started to build on that. You come to wrestle and live the right lifestyle.

“It's a complete 180 from what it used to be.”

Buying in

A dozen underclassmen left the program from Peters’ final year to Gavin’s first. The new coach sought out more recruits who thought like Bonaccorsi and Phillippi. He wanted good student-athletes on and off the mat.

“I think it goes together,” Gavin said. “It’s hard to win consistently if you don’t have a group of good character guys. I think we have that. That’s important.”

It wasn’t just those two, of course. Jake Wentzel was here when Gavin arrived and bought into the system. He progressed from a .500 wrestler to a national finalist and helped change expectations for the program along the way. Cole Matthews, who came the year after Bonaccorsi and Phillippi, also jumped levels.

The concept of being a team also appears to have changed. Gavin noticed it in the North Carolina State dual. Colton Camacho knew his team needed him to score bonus points to have a chance to win. Instead of trying to eke out a victory against a very good Jarrett Trombley, Camacho was looking for a big move to lift his teammates.

“He was wrestling a guy ranked ahead of him, but he was thinking about the team,” Gavin said. “Wrestling’s a very individual sport, but it has the team component. Our guys have really bought into that. This might be the first time that they’ve bought into that.”

‘Making Pitt a powerhouse’

Bonaccorsi and Phillippi don’t expect a cultural backslide any time soon. Matthews and Holden Heller will be back to lead the way next season while NCAA qualifiers Reece Heller – a redshirt sophomore – and Luca Augustine – a redshirt freshman – should be joined in the lineup by standout freshmen Mac Stout and Dayton Pitzer.

“I think the difference between these young guys and a lot of young guys is their mentality toward the sport,” Phillippi said. “There’s just something about the work ethic and love for the sport and wanting to be good people. They want to be good people. They love the sport. They absolutely love it.”

Bonaccorsi is proud of what he sees from the current crop of Panthers and what he expects them to accomplish in the future.

“I think that comes from the culture that we’ve built. That’s attractive to recruits. It pays dividends. We’ve implemented this culture,” he said. “When we do finally leave college, we can be confident that there are good guys to keep the ball rolling and making Pitt a powerhouse every year.”

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