Pitt draws national attention with UNC, Iowa State performances
This might have been the weekend that changes the national perspective of Pitt wrestling.
The record books will show that coach Keith Gavin’s squad went 1-1, with a win over North Carolina and a loss to Iowa State, but the two duals were much more than that.
Friday’s 21-11 victory over North Carolina gave No. 18 Pitt the top spot in the ACC standings, with a chance to all but clinch the title at No. 8 North Carolina State.
The win over the Tar Heels was shown live on the ACC Network. Barstool’s Jersey Jerry attended, bought pizzas for students and brought Pitt to a new audience with his tweets reaching his 200,000+ followers - most of whom probably haven’t previously been wrestling fans.
There was much to celebrate, but years from now, it won’t be nearly as memorable as Saturday night’s loss to Iowa State. In what might have been the NCAA’s best dual of the season, the No. 3 Cyclones edge Pitt 16-15 on criteria. In front of a raucous crowd, the dual came down to the final seconds of the last bout, where No. 10 Sam Schuyler’s takedown gave him a 4-3 victory over No. 5 Dayton Pitzer. That tied the dual at 15, but Iowa State won on virtue of their 51 points scored in individual bouts, compared to 44 for Pitt.
A day later, social media was still buzzing about the dual. Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser and Gavin knew that it was an instant classic.
“We said we definitely excited the fans tonight,” Gavin said. “It was a good show. They have an awesome team, and it was just a great battle. Ten bouts that were good battles. This was good for wrestling.”
Cole Matthews and Nino Bonaccorsi got ranked wins. Holden and Reece Heller again thrilled the fans with their funkiness and ability to hang with some of the best wrestlers in the country. True freshmen Jared Keslar and Pitzer wrestled well in losses, and Augustine delivered another big victory.
“It was a good opportunity for us,” Bonaccorsi said. “They’re No. 3 in the country. I think all it did was prove to our guys that we’re right there with any team. They’re a very good team, obviously, and we were one match away from winning. It shows what we’re doing is working.”
No. 33 Colton Camacho, No. 6 Micky Phillippi and No. 3 Cole Matthews got Pitt off to a 9-0 lead after three bouts. Iowa State’s wins from No. 10 Paniro Johnson, No. 27 Jason Kraisser and No. 2 David Carr tied it at 9.
Freshman Luca Augustine’s takedown of MJ Gaitan in the final 30 seconds gave him a 6-4 victory and put Pitt in position to pull off the upset.
“Pitt - those guys wrestle hard,” Dresser said. “They’re stingy. Keith’s doing a great job.”
Reece Heller fell behind 6-1 to No. 4 Marcus Coleman in the first period, putting Iowa State in a position to pick up at least one bonus point, but Heller battled the rest of the way - briefly catching Coleman on his back - in a 10-5 Coleman win that tied the dual.
In the match of the night, No. 2 Bonaccorsi scored a takedown and two backpoints in the third period for a 6-4 victory that ignited the crowd and put Pitt back in front with one bout to go.
Pitzer, the freshman who grabbed national attention with a second-place finish at the Midlands, gave up the opening takedown to Schuyler but scored a reversal and accumulated 1:02 of riding time going to the second. Schuyler wisely chose to stay on his feet in the second but couldn’t score a takedown.
Gavin considered putting Pitzer on top for the third – a rideout would have won it – but instead had him choose bottom. Pitzer escaped quickly for a one-point lead, but Schuyler converted a single-leg attack with about 10 seconds remaining for the 4-3 victory.
Pitzer had his knee wrapped in his victory against North Carolina’s Brandon Whitman on Friday night and against Schuyler.
“It was one of those scenarios where if it didn’t come down to him, he wasn’t going to wrestle, but obviously we did,” Gavin said. “He gave a great effort and was about 10 seconds from sealing the deal for us. I’m proud of him.”
Pitt probably didn’t wrestle as well on Friday, but the result was more important because it keeps the Panthers in line for an ACC title.
Gavin’s squad won seven of 10 bouts to give him his first victory over the Tar Heels. It was a workmanlike effort - the Panthers missed out on some bonus-point opportunities but won the matches that they were supposed to - highlighted by Augustine’s upset of Lautt.
“I think we’re getting better as the season goes on,” Gavin said. “That’s what you want to see. Now is a good time to be wrestling your best. Obviously, we have another tough test coming up next week (at N.C. State). We’ve just got to keep building off of it. Like I told them, we can always get better. Hopefully we’ll get a little bit better next week and get a win next Friday.”