KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Holden Heller knows that he and the rest of the Pitt wrestlers are being counted out by many before the first match of the NCAA tournament, which begins Thursday morning.
The senior is seeded 25th out of 33 wrestlers at 165 pounds. His younger brother Reece is the highest-seeded Panther at No. 15 in the 184-pound bracket. Cole Matthews, who was an All-American in 2022 and started last season ranked No. 1 nationally is 18th at 141. Redshirt freshmen Mac Stout (21st at 197), Dayton Pitzer (21st at 285) and Finn Solomon (31st 149) also aren’t getting any respect. Neither is redshirt sophomore Luca Augustine, who is No. 23 at 174.
None of those things matter to Holden Heller.
“I’ve watched this tournament practically since I could walk,” he said Wednesday on a mat inside the T-Mobile Center. “Every year, you see the craziest upsets. You just can’t count yourself out of that. You could be that guy. That’s the way I’m thinking.”
The Heller brothers are known for their wide-open style, and that won’t change now that they’re on the national stage.
“I’m going into this with no fear,” said Holden, who is 13-7 this season and received an at-large bid after placing fourth at the ACC tournament. “I’m not worried about a single thing. I’m definitely going to have fun. I’m going to wrestle hard – harder than I ever have, obviously, and just leave it all out there, for sure.”
Heller will be wrestling in his third NCAA tournament – he went 0-2 with Hofstra in 2021 and 2-2 last year as a Panther – and is looking to put his experience to use this time around.
“It’s easy to doubt yourself when it’s your first time there and it’s a new experience,” he said. “I feel like I had a lot of doubt going in and nerves. Last year I did a lot better job of just taking all that weight off of my shoulders and letting it rip. And I had a much better tournament last year. I’m going into this with a similar mindset: Nothing to lose; let it rip.”
Holden will face eighth-seeded Antrell Taylor of Nebraska in the first round on Thursday, and he’s painfully aware that at best he’s three days – and at worst two losses – from the end of his career.
“It’s definitely bittersweet,” he said. “It’s rare that you know for a fact that it’s the last time that you’re going to do something. It’s my last college tournament, which is definitely bitter, but I’m here and it’s a gift. I’m trying to soak it all in. I’m super excited.”
So is Matthews, Pitt’s other senior captain.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I was talking with (assistant coach Luke Pletcher) yesterday. I feel more appreciation this year for some reason. Probably because it’s the last one.”
Matthews struggled throughout the early part of the season but rounded into form in 2024. He has beaten No. 1 Jesse Mendez of Ohio State, No. 4 Ryan Jack of N.C. State and No. 6 Lachlan McNeil of North Carolina this season. He topped No. 3 Real Woods of Iowa in 2022, when Woods wrestled for Stanford.
“He’s going to be right there with everybody,” Pitt coach Keith Gavin said of Matthews. “He’s just got to be ready to go.”
On Thursday morning, Matthews will face No. 15 Mitch Moore of Rutgers. Moore beat him in a dual meet in 2020, when Moore was with Virginia Tech. Matthews isn’t worried about that result.
“I got a lot better since four years ago,” he said.
A victory over Moore would likely bring a rematch with second-seeded Beau Bartlett of Penn State in the second round. In last year’s quarterfinal, Bartlett scored a takedown in the tiebreaker period to beat Matthews when all the Pitt wrestler needed to do was avoid him for eight seconds.
“I’ve thought about the Bartlett match a lot,” Matthews admitted. “I was over it a couple of months after it happened but if I do get to wrestle him again, I’ll be excited.”
Pitzer will have a chance to avenge a loss, as he faces Oklahoma State’s Konner Doucet, the No. 12 seed at heavyweight. Doucet used a reversal and locking-hands call to beat Pitzer 3-0 on Jan. 12. Nine days later, Pitzer dislocated his shoulder in a loss to Arizona State’s Cohlton Schultz. He sat out the remainder of the regular season before returning to place third at the ACC tournament two weeks ago. Gavin said the shoulder isn’t improving but that Pitzer is figuring out how to deal with the injury.
“It’s the same,” the coach said. “That doesn’t get healthier. He’ll get surgery after this. It’s more about learning what he can do and how to wrestle with it. You saw at ACCs, he figured out how to beat three people. Just kind of learning what he can and can’t do. Those two weeks helped him refine that a little bit.”
