Wrestling recap: What went right, what went wrong and what's ahead - Pt. 2
Our look back at Pitt's season continues today with the second part of a weight-by-weight review of the Panthers.
MORE WRESTLING RECAPS: What went right, what went wrong and what's ahead - pt. 1 | Top 5 individual matches | Top 5 dual meets
157 pounds
Duals - 8-6 (Elijah Cleary 8-6)
Bonus points: 2-0
Total +/-: +10 (Fifth on team)
Postseason
ACC: Cleary went 1-2 – splitting a pair of bouts with Duke’s Wade Unger and falling to Virginia’s Jake Keating – on his way to a fifth-place finish that was good enough for an NCAA Tournament berth.
NCAA: Cleary beat Buffalo’s Michael Petite 3-2 but fell to Oklahoma’s Justin Thomas and Keating for a 1-2 finish.
Overall: A grad transfer from Ohio State, Cleary was solid if not flashy in his one season as a Panther. The Florida native went 14-10 and did not give up bonus points in any match. He recorded one fall and two major decisions. Amazingly, 17 of his 24 matches were decided by two or fewer points in regulation, including three that required overtime.
Tyler Badgett, who struggled when thrust into the starting lineup as a true freshman in 2020-21, went 10-6 in open tournaments during his redshirt season.
Redshirt freshman Antonio Petrucelli went 9-5 in open tournaments while true freshman Cooper Warshel was 4-3, and classmate Collin McCorkle went 8-9.
2022-23 outlook: This weight will be one of the biggest question marks. Mancini is moving up from 149, where he had limited success. Badgett is expected to compete for the starting spot after getting another year of experience under his belt. No matter who takes over, it will be difficult to match the consistency that Cleary brought to the spot.
Three recruits out of the WPIAL could be around this weight class next year.
Connellsville’s Jared Keslar, who is ranked 14th nationally among high school 160-pounders according to Mat Scouts, could be at the weight, although he could bulk up to 165 with time in the weight room.
165 pounds
Duals - 10-4 (Wentzel 10-4)
Bonus points: 3-0
Total +/-: +23 (Third on team)
Postseason
ACC: Wentzel did not allow a point in becoming Pitt’s first three-time ACC champion. The super senior beat Virginia Tech’s Clayton Ulrey 3-0 in the semifinals, then dispatched Virginia’s Justin McCoy by a 7-0 score.
NCAA: After finishing as the NCAA runner-up in 2021, Wentzel went into the tournament with high hopes. The 10th seed started well, pinning Lock Haven’s Ashton Eyler in the opening round, but fell 7-1 to Ohio State’s Carson Karchla. Wentzel then avenged a regular-season loss, beating returning All-American Anthony Valencia of Arizona State 13-2. His dreams of a second trip to the podium were dashed with an 8-0 loss to Wisconsin’s Dean Hamiti.
Overall: Wentzel matched Matthews as the only Pitt wrestlers to go 5-0 in ACC duals, and his 19 victories were second only to Matthews. A dominant force from the top position, Wentzel recorded four major decisions and a fall on the season.
Redshirt freshman Tye Weathersby went 13-13 in open tournaments with a pair of falls.
2022-23 outlook: It will be nearly impossible to fill Wentzel’s shoes. In addition to the tangible results – the three ACC titles, the NCAA finals appearance, the 75 career victories – Pitt will also miss the intangibles he brought to the team. Wentzel bought into Gavin’s philosophy after the coaching change five years ago, and he progressed from a .500 wrestler to one of the best Panthers of the 21st century.
Pitt should have an experienced wrestler to turn to next season, as grad transfer Holden Heller arrives from Hofstra. Heller took a redshirt this season but faced Wentzel at the Illinois Matmen Open, where the Panther won 5-2. Heller has 77 career matches under his belt, including wins over two-time NCAA qualifier Danny Braunagel of Illinois and Eyler. He wrestled 149 pounds in his freshman season and 157 as a sophomore and junior. He bumped up again this season and even wrestled 174 at the Nassau Open.
174 pounds
Duals - 4-10 (Hunter Kernan 3-8, James Lledo 1-2)
Bonus points: 2-7=
Total +/-: -27 (Ninth on team)
Postseason
ACC: Kernan went 0-2, losing 16-4 to Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Lewis and by fall to Duke’s Matt Finesilver.
NCAA: N/A
Overall: Jared McGill likely would have been the starter, but he was removed from the team before the start of the season and eventually transferred to Edinboro, and this ended up being a problem weight in dual meets.
Kernan, a redshirt junior, went 9-12 on the season while Lledo, a redshirt freshman, was 15-10. Kernan won his first seven bouts – including a fall over Hofstra’s Reece Heller, who is transferring to Pitt for next season, and a 3-2 victory over teammate Luca Augustine, who was redshirting this season. Kernan struggled once Pitt hit the meat of its schedule, however, losing seven consecutive bouts, giving up bonus points in four of those. His final four matches were all losses – two by tech fall, one by fall and one by major decision.
Lledo has been all over the place weight-wise. A 160-pounder as a senior in high school in 2020, he started his Pitt career at 197 pounds – going 3-0 with two falls and a major decision in extra matches – then wrestled three bouts at 184 pounds. He started this season at 184 before dropping to 174, where he went 4-4, including a fall that helped the Panthers beat No. 6 Arizona State in a dual. He finished the season with a 15-10 mark overall and a team-leading seven falls.
Despite the early season loss to Kernan, Augustine put together a solid freshman season while redshirting. He went 12-5 and posted two victories over opponents ranked in the top 60 by WrestleStat.com.
Redshirt freshman Kolby Flank is listed as a 197-pounder on the Pitt website but competed at 174 pounds, where he went 1-6.
2022-23 outlook: Kernan took part in Pitt’s senior day activities and Lledo is expected to move back up to 184 pounds, opening this spot for Augustine, who ended his senior year of high school ranked seventh nationally.
At this point, Flank would appear to be the most likely backup.
184 pounds
Duals - 5-9 (Gregg Harvey 4-6, James Lledo 1-2, Nicholas Meglino 0-1)
Bonus points: 2-5
Total +/-: -24
Postseason
ACC: Harvey went 2-2 and qualified for the NCAA tournament with a fourth-place finish. He avenged a regular-season loss by beating Virginia’s Michael Battista 7-2 in the quarterfinals before dropping a major decision to eventual conference champion Trent Hidlay of N.C. State. A 5-3 victory over Duke’s Vincent Baker moved him to the consolation final, where he was pinned by Virginia Tech’s Hunter Bolen.
NCAA: Harvey went 0-2 in Detroit, dropping a 1-0 decision to Cal Poly’s Bernie Truax and a 17-3 major decision to Northern Illinois’ Britt Wilson.
Overall: Harvey played a key role in Pitt’s most memorable dual meet victory, as he pushed the pace enough to stall out Arizona State’s Josh Nummer, and concluded his career with a 59-52 mark in a Pitt singlet.
Lledo dropped down to 174 pounds late in the season, and Meglino went 3-8 as a redshirt freshman, including his first dual meet appearance for the Panthers.
Cole Hivnor took a redshirt, going 7-9.
2022-23 outlook: Lledo is expected to be back at 184 pounds next season. He’ll face competition for the spot from Hofstra transfer Reece Holden.
The younger brother of Holden Heller, who is joining the Panthers as a graduate transfer, Reece Heller will be entering his fourth year. He redshirted last season and put together a 12-4 mark between 174 and 184. His most impressive result was a 5-2 victory over Purdue’s Gerrit Nijenhuis at the Illinois Matmen Open. Reece Heller won 19 matches as a true freshman 149-pounder for the Pride before jumping up to 165 and 174 as a sophomore.
Meglino and Hivnor should provide depth.
197 pounds
Duals - 10-4 (Nino Bonaccorsi 10-2, Geoff Magin 0-2)
Bonus points: 3-1
Total +/-: +22 (Fourth on team)
Postseason
ACC: Bonaccorsi captured his second ACC title with a pair of 5-2 victories. The second seed, Bonaccorsi beat No. 3 Jay Aiello of Virginia in the semifinals, then avenged a regular-season loss to N.C. State’s Isaac Trumble.
NCAA: A 3-2 performance in Detroit wasn’t enough to put Bonaccorsi back on the podium. An NCAA finalist in 2021, Bonaccorsi started strong with a 9-0 major decision of Northwestern’s Andrew Davison, but he was stunned in the second round by Ohio State’s Gavin Hoffman. Bonaccorsi beat Hoffman 10-4 earlier in the season and 10-5 last season. A victory there would have put him opposite North Allegheny grad Jake Woodley of Oklahoma, who Bonaccorsi beat last year. Instead, he fell into the wrestlebacks, where he beat North Dakota State’s Owen Pentz (3-2) and avenged a regular-season loss to Michigan’s Patrick Brucki (3-1) before a 6-1 loss to Missouri’s Rocky Elam ended his season.
Overall: Bonaccorsi turned in another very good season with an 18-5 record but a second loss in the blood round – he also fell there as a redshirt freshman in 2019 – has to sting, especially when he was undoubtedly good enough to be in the semifinals against Penn State’s Max Dean. His 10 dual meet victories were tied for second on the team despite missing the first two duals upon his return from the U23 World Championships in Serbia.
Magin went 5-7 as a redshirt freshman, including the two dual meets.
True freshman Ethan Finch took a redshirt year, going 6-8 in open tournaments.
2022-23 outlook: Bonaccorsi is expected to return for a sixth season and can cement his legacy as one of the best Panthers of the past 20 years.
His return would allow Gavin to redshirt incoming freshman Mac Stout, who is ranked seventh nationally by Mat Scouts among high school 195-pounders.
Magin and Finch should add depth.
285 pounds
Duals - 8-6 (Jake Slinger 8-6)
Bonus points: 2-5
Total +/-: -5
Postseason
ACC: Slinger went 0-2 as the No. 3 seed, falling 3-2 to North Carolina’s Brandon Whitman and 12-4 to Virginia’s Quinn Miller.
NCAA: N/A
Overall: For the second consecutive season, Slinger started well but struggled down the stretch. After winning six of his first eight bouts – including dual-clinching pins against Buffalo and Edinboro – he lost five of seven. He also ended the season by losing six of his final seven, including the major decision loss to Miller, whom he had beaten in the dual meet win over the Cavaliers. He was 11-15 on the season with seven of those losses coming by major decision.
Slinger was the only heavyweight on the Panthers’ roster.
2022-23 outlook: Slinger will be expected to start again, allowing the Panthers to redshirt Mount Pleasant’s Dayton Pitzer, the fifth-ranked 220-pounder in the country. A three-time state champ, Pitzer is very talented but could certainly use another year to grow into the heavyweight class, as he’s never competed against the big boys.