Go big or go home is more than just a cliched phrase for the Pitt wrestling team.

Coach Keith Gavin’s squad turned to its upper weights twice in three days to rally past ranked teams in key dual meets.

Wrestlers in the four heaviest weight classes went a combined 7-1 in victories over No. 12 Stanford (24-15) and No. 20 West Virginia (25-17).

“Pretty solid performance there,” Gavin said after Sunday’s win in Morgantown. “Both duals, I guess, our upper weights carried us through. (Sunday) was a little more of a wild one than the Stanford one.”

Pitt, which is No. 27 in InterMat’s dual meet rankings, won the final three bouts on Friday and the final four on Sunday.

The Panthers (7-2, 1-0 in ACC) spoiled Stanford’s first Atlantic Coast Conference dual meet despite trailing 15-14 with three bouts to go after fourth-ranked Lorenzo Norman edged No. 18 Luca Augustine 8-6 at 174 pounds.

No. 18 Reece Heller beat Abraham Wojcikiewicz 8-4 at 184, and No. 12 Mac Stout followed with an impressive 10-1 major decision over No. 24 Nick Stemmet at 197.

“Mac looked really good,” Gavin said. “It was nice to see him major somebody that good. That guy’s ranked every year.”

No. 14 Dayton Pitzer cemented the victory with a 13-6 decision of Peter Ming at 285.

The Panthers also got a technical fall from No. 26 Finn Solomon – 15-0 over E.J. Parco at 149 – and a 4-1, sudden-victory decision from No. 22 Dylan Evans over No. 28 Grigor Cholakyan at 157.

Nick Babin picked up a forfeit victory at 125.

In Morgantown, less than 48 hours later, the Panthers fell into an even deeper hole. West Virginia won the first three weight classes, including a pair by major decision, to take an 11-0 lead.

At 149 pounds, Gavin turned to the true freshman Brown, who like Matt Marlow at 133 pounds, was inserted into the lineup but is expected to redshirt this season. Brown did not disappoint, as the Ohio product beat two-time PIAA champion Sam Hillegas 21-11.

The decision to go with Brown instead of Solomon, who is ranked nationally after all, shows how much faith Gavin has in the youngster.

“You’re away and everyone is cheering against you,” the coach said. “You’ve lost three in a row and your true freshman goes out there and puts up 21 points. That makes you feel pretty good.”

That feeling lasted through the 157-pound bout, where No. 22 Dylan Evans teched Sasha Gavronsky to bring Pitt within two points at 11-9.

“Dylan’s wrestling really well right now,” Gavin said. “Friday was a good, smart match for him. He kept getting to his attacks and finished in overtime. (On Sunday), the second takedown cracked open his offense.”

West Virginia’s Peyton Hall, who is ranked third at 165, pinned Jared Keslar to make it 17-9.

Augustine got the Panthers rolling with a 4-2 victory over No. 29 Brody Conley, and Heller followed with an 11-4 victory over No. 16 Dennis Robin.

“We have a lot of confidence in Luca and Reece, but that’s a lot of pressure on them,” Gavin said. “We were in a hostile environment. They had a good crowd with it being the Backyard Brawl. Those guys handled that pressure. We had to win out.”

Stout gave Pitt its first lead of the dual with a 13-3 victory over Ian Bush, and Pitzer pinned two-time national qualifier Michael Wolfgram to set the final.

“Dayton wrestled really well,” Gavin said. “He got a takedown right away, got a ton of riding time. That guy took a shot, Dayton scores and puts him to his back. I thought that was one of the better matches of the year that he’s wrestled so far.”

The Panthers were without 133-pounder Vinnie Santaniello, and will be for the foreseeable future.

“Vinnie is out for a while, maybe the remainder of the year,” Gavin said. “We’re trying to prepare for that.”

Marlow, a 125-pounder who moved up for the duals, lost both his matches, which only count as one date against his redshirt.

After redshirting last season, Tyler Chappell is another 125-pounder who could move up to 133 in Santaniello’s absence.

At 141 pounds, No. 31 Anthony Santaniello lost 3-1 to No. 29 Jordan Titus of Stanford, and Jason Miranda beat Briar Priest 11-8 in sudden victory against WVU. The weekend did little to resolve the uncertainty at the weight.

“They both have some things they’re good at,” Gavin said. “Brier was wrestling really well and shut down and tried to protect the lead. If he kept wrestling, he wins. Anthony was wrestling well. He rode the guy out the whole second period. You get your escape and it’s tied, but he couldn’t get off the bottom.

“Both didn’t finish their matches as strong as their capability. We’ll talk with the rest of the staff about what to do there.”

Santaniello looks to have a slight edge to be the starter on Friday night when the Panthers travel to Bucknell.

No. 18 Pitt 25, No. 22 West Virginia 17

125: Jett Strickenberger (WVU) maj. dec. No. 17 Nick Babin (Pitt), 9-0 (WVU leads 4-0)

133: Mason Kernan (WVU) maj. dec. Matt Marlow (Pitt), 12-1 (WVU leads 8-0)

141: No. 29 Jordan Titus (WVU) dec. No. 31 Anthony Santaniello (Pitt), 3-1 (WVU leads 11-0)

149: Kade Brown (Pitt) maj. dec. Sam Hillegas (WVU), 21-11 (WVU leads 11-4)

157: No. 22 Dylan Evans (Pitt) tech. fall Sasha Gavronsky (WVU), 21-6 (4:59) (WVU leads 11-9)

165: No. 3 Peyton Hall (WVU) fall Jared Keslar (Pitt), 2:46 (WVU leads 17-9)

174: No. 18 Luca Augustine (Pitt) dec. No. 29 Brody Conley (WVU), 4-2 (WVU leads 17-12)

184: No. 18 Reece Heller (Pitt) dec. No. 16 Dennis Robin (WVU), 11-4 (WVU leads 17-15)

197: No. 12 Mac Stout (Pitt) maj. dec. Ian Bush (WVU), 13-3 (Pitt leads 19-17)

285: No. 14 Dayton Pitzer (Pitt) fall Michael Wolfgram (WVU), (5:33) (Pitt wins 25-17)

No. 18 Pitt 24, No. 15 Stanford 15

125: No. 17 Nick Babin (Pitt) forfeit Nico Provo (Stanford) (Pitt leads 6-0)

133: No. 10 Tyler Knox (Stanford) tech. fall Matt Marlow (Pitt), 17-1 (4:23) (Pitt leads 6-5)

141: Jason Miranda (Stanford) dec. Briar Priest (Pitt), 11-8 SV (Stanford leads 8-6)

149: No. 26 Finn Solomon (Pitt) tech. fall EJ Parco (Stanford), 15-0 (4:03) (Pitt leads 11-8)

157: No. 22 Dylan Evans (Pitt) dec. No. 28 Grigor Cholakyan (Stanford), 4-1 SV (Pitt leads 14-8)

165: No. 14 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) maj. dec. Jared Keslar (Pitt), 15-6 (Pitt leads 14-12)

174: No. 4 Lorenzo Norman (Stanford) dec. No. 18 Luca Augustine (Pitt) 8-6 (Stanford lead 15-14)

184: No. 18 Reece Heller (Pitt) dec. Abraham Wojcikiewicz (Stanford), 8-4 (Pitt leads 17-15)

197: No. 12 Mac Stout (Pitt) maj. dec. No. 24 Nick Stemmet (Stanford), 10-1 (Pitt leads 21-15)

285: No. 14 Dayton Pitzer (Pitt) dec. Peter Ming (Stanford), 13-6 (Pitt wins 24-15)

Attendance: 724