Pitt coach Keith Gavin saw some things that he liked in the Panthers’ 21-12 victory over No. 22 Lehigh on Sunday at Fitzgerald Field House, but there were also plenty of things for his wrestlers to work on over the next several weeks.

“It feels weird,” Gavin said after his team improved to 2-0 on the season. “I’m happy that we won, but I feel like we could have done better in some spots.”

Lehigh (1-1) was without Ryan Crookham, the nation’s top-ranked 133-pounder, and Nathan Taylor, who is No. 11 at 285 pounds. Crookham was out with an illness while Taylor is expected to miss the season. Lehigh found a nice replacement in Owen Trephan, the two-time ACC champion who transferred from North Carolina State, but he won’t be eligible until the second semester.

What went right for Pitt

No. 29 Finn Solomon delivered the biggest result as he scored a 19-4 technical fall over No. 20 Kelvin Griffin at 149 pounds during a stretch when Pitt won five of six bouts.

“Finn lighting up the scoreboard helped us out a ton,” Gavin said. “On paper, I think that’s a close match. … Finn, what we love about him is he does compete with a lot of guts. He goes for the kill if he has the chance. Sometimes he ends up in crazy matches because of that.”

Freshman Anthony Santaniello got the Panthers going with a 4-1 victory over No. 19 Malyke Hines at 141.

“That guy has a lot of experience, has some big wins in his career,” Gavin said. “That was nice to see Anthony do it, and he did it on his terms. There were some things that he was working on in the room for the last two weeks, and he went out there and implemented it. They were just small things. That’s really good to see.”

With Lehigh leading the dual 6-0, Santaniello locked up a Sasso cradle off a Hines shot to score with 15 seconds remaining. That did more than just get his team on the board.

“Anthony getting that last-second takedown boosted me to go into that match,” Solomon said. “Any win, you start to feel a rhythm.”

Solomon found a rhythm quickly, as he took Griffin down to his back and nearly pinned him. The Mountain Hawk eventually escaped, but Solomon took him down again for a 10-1 lead in the first period.

“I just need to keep putting up points and look at it as trying to better myself for the season, get the best I can in March,” said Solomon, who added three more takedowns in the second period for the technical fall. “That’s something Keith’s been on us about, not wrestling for a win or a loss, to get your hand raised, but wrestling to get better for March, and for you to put as many points on the board as you can.”

Dylan Evans controlled the action with his Russian ties, but needed a point off a technical violation to beat No. 31 Logan Rozynski 2-1 at 157.

“The guy’s on the edge most of the match, so it’s hard for him to attack Dylan, but when Dylan has his chances, you can’t settle for stalemates,” Gavin said. “You have to put the nail in the coffin and go get your takedown. But he’s a freshman. He’s 5-0 now, so he’s off to a good start.”

Luca Augustine scored a late takedown to beat Ryland Rogers 4-1 at 174 pounds, and Reece Heller wrestled what Gavin called a “mature” match in his 8-0 major decision of Jack Wilt at 184.

Where Pitt can improve

The Panthers dropped the first two bouts and showed almost no attacking ability. No. 16 Nick Babin is a monster from the top position – as he showed by riding No. 15 Sheldon Seymour for the entire third period at 125 pounds – but he didn’t look dangerous from neutral.

No. 31 Vinnie Santaniello lost to Crookham’s backup, Matty Lopes, at 133. Lopes scored a takedown with 27 seconds remaining in the third period for a 3-2 victory.

“You’ve got to score,” Gavin said of his 133-pounder. “He had an opportunity in the first period. It’s not like he gets to legs all the time, so when you do, you have to score. Yeah, that was disappointing. You’ve got to put people out there to score points, or at least try to. It’s unrealistic to think that everyone’s going to get a ton of points, but if you’re not trying to, then something needs to change.”

Lehigh’s Thayne Lawrence controlled Kellin Laffey in a 9-4 victory at 165 pounds, and No. 6 Michael Beard pushed No. 14 Mac Stout around the mat in a 9-2 win at 197.

Gavin acknowledged that Beard, who graduated high school seven years ago, is very good but said Stout needs to improve his handfighting to reach an elite level.

Dayton Pitzer won the final bout of the day but wasn’t impressive in a 1-0 victory against J.T. Davis, Lehigh’s backup 197-pounder. Davis was in on several shot attempts, including one at the final buzzer, but couldn’t finish.

Pitzer is still working his way back from offseason shoulder surgery.

“We’ve got to get him back in good shape,” Gavin said. “Dayton’s a guy you’ve got to manage a lot in the training room because he’s had the injury stuff and his health issues. He didn’t really train this week but went out to wrestle. This is good for him. ... I told him after the match, ‘This is part of your training, a hard go on Sunday.’ ”

What’s next

The Panthers won’t compete again for almost three weeks, wen No. 6 Ohio State visits for a dual on Dec. 13.

Gavin’s wrestlers will be able to return home for Thanksgiving, then get back in the room to work to improve.

“It's a good time to just try to get better,” Gavin said. “We’ve got some good matches in early in the season, with Navy, Journeyman and this, so each guy has a little feedback to work from. It’s November. We’re just trying to get better.”