Why Matthews missed Columbia dual and how Pitt overcame his absence
Keith Gavin must have felt like Macaulay Culkin in “Home Alone 2” on Sunday, because for much of Pitt’s dual with Columbia, the Panthers looked Lost in New York.
How else to explain the top-ranked wrestler in the country missing weight and an 11-point swing at 157, where Cheez Castro was a finished takedown away from a tech fall and instead got pinned?
Take your pick as to whether Holden Heller, James Lledo or Jake Slinger played the role of the pigeon lady but, in the end, the Panthers were able to “Escape from New York” with a 19-18 victory.
OK, maybe I’m mixing up my Big Apple movies, but it’s understandable after the craziness that Sunday brought.
After dominating Illinois last week and crushing Jordan Leen’s Brown squad 41-3 on Friday night, it looked like the Panthers (5-1) were going to head into the Christmas break on a roll – at least until weigh-ins.
The Cole situation
Emory Taylor wrestled at Brown on Friday night, leaving Cole Matthews rested and ready to face on Matt Kazimir, who took him to overtime at the NCAA Tournament in March. Instead, Matthews stepped onto the scale and found that he was a tenth of a pound over.
“The mistake at ’41, that can’t happen,” Gavin said. “He was good. He was on weight. He was just hanging out. At the weigh-in time, the scale fluctuated a little bit and he was .1 over.
… (In the morning), he worked out, got his weight down and he just needed to check his weight again.”
Since Taylor wasn’t scheduled to weigh in, he wasn’t ready as a backup and the Panthers were forced to forfeit. If Matthews makes weight and beats Kazimir, the dual becomes 22-12. Even if Kazimir upsets him, it’s 19-15.
Casto gets caught
The 157-pound match was even harder to believe. Up 14-1 in the third period, Casto tried a trip that, if successful, would have ended the match. Instead, Ceasar Alvan – who looked like he might be forced to default earlier because of an apparent ankle injury – elevated Casto at the perfect time and rolled through to catch him on his back. The pin might have been a little fast – and someone up by 13 usually gets a little more leeway in that situation – but from the angle shown on ESPN+, I can’t really argue the call.
“He was getting a tech fall and got pinned. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that,” Gavin said of Casto. “Obviously he wrestled well for the majority of that match. He just needs to be more disciplined with that last attack. You have to expect the unexpected a little bit.”
Holden up his end of the bargain
Heller was the only Panther to beat a higher ranked wrestler on Sunday – Luca Augustine and Casto each lost to unranked Lions – and it was critical. As always, No. 17 Heller was extremely difficult to takedown early, and he scrambled through several leg attacks from No. 12 Joshua Ogunsanya. Heller escaped in the second and then used a nice duck under for a takedown. He rode out Ogunsanya for the remainder of the period.
Ogunsanya closed the deficit in the third looked like he was in position to turn Heller, but the Hofstra transfer fought that off then just held off a late takedown attempt from Ogunsanya for the victory.
“That was probably the biggest positive (of the dual),” Gavin said of Heller’s victory.
Strong finish
Lennox Wolak, who has split a pair of matches with Ohio State’s Ethan Smith this season, beat Luca Augustine at 174 to give the Lions an 18-9 lead, meaning Pitt needed to win each of the final three bouts.
Lledo delivered. Getting his second start of the weekend due to Reece Heller’s illness, Lledo scored six points in the third period to gut out a 10-9, come-from-behind victory over Jack Wehmeyer.
“He’s a good competitor,” Gavin said of Lledo. “He doesn’t shy away from challenges. He just kind of outworked the guy. The guy was exhausted, and he got the W.”
After Nino Bonaccorsi’s 15-2 major decision of Javen Jovero at 197, all of the pressure was on Jake Slinger.
Slinger faced Daniel Conley, whom he beat 6-0 in last year’s dual, and built the drama by giving up an early takedown. An escape in the first and a second-period reversal gave Slinger the lead, and as he has done this season, he performed well from the top position. Slinger sealed it with a late takedown and riding time point.
“He did a nice job, especially after giving up that first takedown,” Gavin said. “He did a nice job. Once he got that reversal, he was in control. He has been steady on top. He kind of wore the guy on top.”
In the end, it was just enough.
“I think the message to the team afterward is we have to be more disciplined,” Gavin said. “Our wrestling wasn’t that bad. The thing at ’57 was a huge swing, and we started the dual down six points. I think we just need to keep doing what we we’re doing. Hopefully, it’s a good lesson learned because anybody can beat you.”
#20 Pitt 19, Columbia 18
125: Nick Babin (Columbia) dec. #30 Colton Camacho (Pitt), 4-2 (Columbia leads, 3-0)
133: #9 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) dec. Angelo Rini (Columbia), 2-0 (Tied, 3-3)
141: #27 Matt Kazimir (Columbia) wins by forfeit (Columbia leads, 9-3)
149: Tyler Badgett (Pitt) dec. Danny Fongaro (Columbia), 5-0 (Columbia leads, 9-6)
157: Cesar Alvan (Columbia) pins #21 Dazjon Casto (Pitt), 5:48 (Columbia leads, 15-6)
165: #17 Holden Heller (Pitt) dec. #12 Joshua Ogunsanya (Columbia), 4-2 (Columbia leads, 15-9)
174: Lennox Wolak (Columbia) dec. #33 Luca Augustine (Pitt), 3-2 (Columbia leads, 18-9)
184: James Lledo (Pitt) dec. Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia), 10-9 (Columbia leads, 18-12)
197: #3 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) maj. dec. Javen Jovero (Columbia), 15-2 (Columbia leads, 18-16)
285: Jake Slinger (Pitt) dec. Danny Conley (Columbia), 6-2 (Pitt wins, 19-18)
Brown beatdown
Friday night went closer to plan. Colton Camacho continued his hot streak, pinning Shane Hanson-Ashworth. Tyler Badgett added a big fall over Blake Saito and Casto pinned Keegan Rothrock. Lledo delivered Pitt’s fourth fall of the night, this one over James Araneo.
Micky Phillippi and Bonaccorsi added major decisions.
“I think they wrestled well,” Gavin said. “It’s tough to judge because Brown’s a little down. It was beneficial, like Cheez, he made weight and the weight was easy (on Sunday).”
Freshman Jared Keslar made his dual meet debut and put in a workmanlike performance in a 3-1 victory over Mason Spears.
“He rode him pretty easily,” Gavin said. “He’s a really hard worker and really wants to be good.”
#20 Pitt 41, Brown 3
125: #30 Colton Camacho (Pitt) pins Shane Hanson-Ashworth (Brown), 4:13 (Pitt leads, 6-0)
133: #9 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) maj. dec. Hunter Adrian (Brown), 13-5 (Pitt leads, 10-0)
141: Justin Bierdumpfel (Brown) dec. Emory Taylor (Pitt), 6-4 (Pitt leads, 10-3)
149: Tyler Badgett (Pitt) pins Blake Saito (Brown), 3:41 (Pitt leads, 16-3)
157: #21 Dazjon Casto (Pitt) pins Keegan Rothrock (Brown), 2:59 (Pitt leads, 22-3)
165: Jared Keslar (Pitt) dec. Mason Spears (Brown), 3-1 (Pitt leads, 25-3)
174: #33 Luca Augustine (Pitt) dec. Drew Clearie (Brown), 12-5 (Pitt leads, 28-3)
184: James Lledo (Pitt) pins James Araneo (Brown), 4:10 (Pitt leads, 34-3)
197: #3 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) maj. dec. Aaron Wolk (Brown), 15-3 (Pitt leads, 38-3)
285: Jake Slinger (Pitt) dec. Thomas Mukai (Brown), 7-0 (Pitt wins, 41-3)
Michaels wins Cleveland State title
Ryan Michaels won the 141-pound title at the Cleveland State Open. The redshirt sophomore from Elizabeth Forward beat West Virginia’s Jordan Titus 9-6 for the title.
Michaels improved to 7-0 on the season.
“He’s doing a good job,” Gavin said. “He beat a decent kid in the finals.”
He beat another good one in the semifinals, where Michaels knocked off Bucknell’s Dylan Chappell, who is ranked No. 35 by WrestleStat, 4-2 in sudden victory.
Geoff Magin went 2-2 at 197 pounds.
Up next
Pitt won’t compete again until the Midlands Championships on Dec. 29-30 at Northwestern. Dayton Pitzer will compete at heavyweight, but Gavin hasn’t decided which other backups/redshirts will get their shot at the tournament. Gavin said he thinks Pitt is allowed 13 entries in the tournament.