Pitt wrestlers set to face Jordan Leen’s Brown squad, Columbia
It didn’t take long for a Pitt reunion with former associate head coach Jordan Leen. The Panthers will visit Brown, where Leen is now the head coach, on Friday night.
“It will be fun,” Panthers coach Keith Gavin said of facing Leen and the Bears.
Pitt will wrestle at Columbia at noon on Sunday. Both duals will be streaming on ESPN+.
The dual meet wasn’t originally on Pitt’s schedule, but when a competition organized by FloWrestling fell through, Leen was able to help the Panthers fill a date.
“We reached out to Jordan kind of late and he squeezed us in,” Gavin said.
Pitt (3-1) is coming off a 30-6 rout of Illinois that was arguably the program’s best performance in years. Because Sunday was a travel day, the Panthers were off Monday, practicing Tuesday and Wednesday and were leaving for Providence, R.I., on Thursday.
“It’s been a short week,” Gavin said. “It’s been good. We look at competition as the best form of training because you’re constantly testing yourself.”
The Panthers passed with flying colors last weekend, winning eight of 10 bouts – including falls from Colton Camacho (125) and Dazjon Casto (157).
Strong starters
Camacho moved into Intermat’s rankings for the first time, at No. 30 after his pin of Maximo Renteria, which raised his record to 7-2.
“That was great,” Gavin said. “I think Colton is gaining a lot of confidence, especially in his top game. He wears people out. He felt that and was able to get the pin in the third period.”
Micky Phillippi notched a big win, beating Lucas Byrd after two previous losses. Phillippi, who is now ranked ninth at 133, did exactly what Gavin told PantherLair was necessary against Byrd. Gavin said that assistant coach Luke Pletcher has been instrumental in helping Phillippi get off the bottom.
“Pletcher has been working with him on nonstop,” Gavin said. (Micky) executed that match pretty well.”
Cole Matthews remains No. 1 in Intermat’s 141-pound rankings. He isn’t expected to wrestle against Brown – Emory Taylor probably will get the call there – but could face a difficult test at Columbia. Matthews pinned Matt Kazimir in last year’s dual, which Pitt won 30-5, but needed to go to tiebreaker 1 to beat him at the NCAA tournament.
Tyler Badgett improved to 6-3 with a 4-2 victory over Keyon Davenport at Illinois that was largely the result of a second-period rideout.
Casto, who is ranked 21st, rebounded from back-to-back losses by pinning Luke Odom at Illinois. The Citadel transfer didn’t come out with the frenetic pace that he did against Maryland, might have benefited from the fact that the Panthers weighed in several hours earlier and had time to hydrate, as Illinois wrestled Chattanooga first.
Lineup changes
Holden Heller, who gave up the final three takedowns in a sudden-victory loss to Danny Braunagel, dropped three spots to 17. He could face No. 12 Josh Ogunsanya at Columbia, Gavin said Heller has been sick and freshman Jared Keslar, who is off to a 7-2 start, is expected to wrestle one of the duals and retain his redshirt.
Redshirt freshman Luca Augustine holds steady at No. 33 in the rankings despite his sudden-victory loss to Edmond Ruth at 184.
Like his brother, Reece Heller has been sick and likely will be replaced at Brown by James Lledo, who was named ACC Wrestler of the Week on Nov. 29. In a perplexing move, Reece Heller dropped seven spots to No. 28 despite having won four consecutive bouts.
Shooting up
Nino Bonaccorsi moved up five spots to No. 3 in the 197 rankings. He’s 4-0 with three wins over ranked wrestlers, including a very impressive 10-4 victory over Lehigh’s Michael Beard, who just beat defending NCAA champ Max Dean of Penn State. The Nittany Lion also lost to Rider’s Ethan Laird last weekend and fell to fifth in the rankings.
Against Illinois, Bonaccorsi scored a takedown in sudden victory to beat Zach Braunagel 3-1 in his most difficult match this season.
“He’s doing a great job,” Gavin said. “He’s wrestled three pretty good guys right off the bat and three different styles. He’s been wrestling really well and very mature. The Illinois match could have been frustrating because he kept getting in on shots but couldn’t finish, because time ran out or they went out of bounds, but he stayed the course and did the job.”
Heavyweight Jake Slinger has quietly been doing a nice job in the lineup even as the Dayton Pitzer watch continues. Slinger beat the Illini’s Matt Wroblewski 2-0 thanks to an escape and a riding-time point. He also came close to a takedown before Wroblewski slipped away just before points were awarded.
“He’s doing a better job of staying in his lane and using what he’s good at,” Gavin said. “A little bit of maturity and he’s in a great training situation, with Pitzer, who’s obviously very good, and Meech in the RTC.”
Scouting Brown, Columbia
If the Panthers wrestle anywhere close to the level that they did at Illinois, neither of these duals should be close, even with backups sprinkled throughout the lineup.
Brown is wrestling its first dual meet under Leen. WrestleStat’s projected starters for the Bears don’t include any of the WPIAL guys on the roster – Franklin Regional’s Mason Spears and Burrell’s A.J. Corrado and Ian Oswalt – although the Panthers could see PIAA products Keegan Rothrock (St. Joseph’s Catholic) and Drew Clearie (Nazareth). Harrison Trahan, who is from York County but wrestled at the McDonogh School in Maryland, should get the start at 165. Brown’s highest-ranked starter, according to WrestleStat, is 149-pounder Blake Saito at No. 70.
Columbia should be a tougher dual, with solid wrestlers throughout the lineup. Ogunsanya and Kazimir lead the way, but 157-pounder Cesar Alvin and 174-pounder Lenox Wolak could also provide competitive matchups.
WPIAL products Kenny Duschek (Blackhawk) and Billy McChesney (Greensburg-Salem) are on the Lions’ roster but not expected to start