Opening Atlantic Coast Conference action, Pitt (7-2, 2-0 ACC) knocked off both North Carolina, 21-15, and Duke, 20-15, to move to 2-0 in the league, then closed out the day with a resounding 27-12 victory over Drexel. Pitt, which is on a four-match win streak, is now 8-0 all time in the ACC and hasn't lost a conference match in its last 10 tries dating back to its EWL days back in 2012-13.
"I think it was good (to get three wins)," said head coach Jason Peters. "Anytime you can start the conference 2-0 and finish the day with a non-conference win it's really good. I'm disappointed we had to wrestle with nine guys, but the circumstances played out that way and that's what we decided to do. You're always caught in the middle -- should you pull guys out of a redshirt, what should you do -- and we were able to find a win today with the team that we had. So we're thankful."
Freshman Dom Forys (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) provided a spark to begin each of the three matches as one of three Pitt wrestlers to go a perfect 3-0 on the day. All three of his wins came via bonus point, with the first by fall and the next two by major decision. Forys, who now leads the squad with six major decisions and nine bonus point victories, accounted for 14 of Pitt's 68 points.
Peters said of Forys' performance "I liked how Dom (Forys) went out and got us bonus points in all three of his matches."
Although Forys ignited each of Pitt's wins, it was redshirt freshman Ryan Solomon (Milton, Pa./Milton) who made his Pitt dual debut and secured both of the Panthers' ACC wins. Competing up at class at heavyweight, Solomon won his first bout by taking down UNC's Frank Abbondanza in sudden victory with Pitt ahead by three, then was able to escape from Duke's Brendan Walsh in the tiebreaker to give Pitt a five-point win.
"(Ryan) Solomon's been fighting a little bit of an injury," said Peters. "He went out there and did a stand up job when the match was on the line. We were in the situation where we could have lost our first ACC dual at home. He sucked it up and found a way to get it done. He didn't worry about if his knee hurt or if he was tired or if the guy was 250 (pounds). He just found a way to keep us in the win and that effort is great. Anytime you can get an effort like that you're excited as a coach. So we're thankful for what he did for us."
Redshirt seniors Tyler Wilps (Oakdale, Pa./Chartiers Valley) and Max Thomusseit (St. Paris, Ohio/St. Paris Graham) were the other two grapplers to go 3-0, both recording bonus point victories in their final matches of the day. In his final bout against Drexel, Wilps registered a fall in 4:18 for his third fall in only nine matches on the year. His three falls is tied for a team-high. Thomusseit notched his first tech fall of the year in a 22-7 win over Alex DeCiantis of Drexel.
Both redshirt freshman Nick Zanetta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Keystone Oaks) and sophomore Mikey Racciato (Pen Argyl, Pa./Pen Argyl) went 2-1 on the day and picked up wins against ranked opponents. Zanetta, whose only loss came in the opener to UNC's in the tiebreaker, upset Drexel's 12th-ranked Kevin Devoy, 4-2 in the sudden victory for his first ranked victory of the campaign. Raccito scored a 12-4 major decision against No. 18 Marcus Cain from Duke in his second matchup of the day.
Pitt has a week off until its next match at No. 8 Oklahoma State on Sunday, Jan. 18.
"We just need to get back in the room and get some fundamentals a little bit tighter," said Peters. "We know Oklahoma State is good and they're going to want to beat us. We're going to have to take our best foot forward if we're going to come out with a win. We will work on some skills this week. But the travel will be long. There are some things you can't control, so you just have to keep focused on the things you can control and hopefully we will make some improvements over this week and be out there an position ourselves to win."
The bout at Oklahoma State marks the first of three straight road battles against top-20 opponents.
Below, find a breakdown of each match.
Pitt vs. UNC
Pitt's first ACC match of the season and opening match of the Pitt Duals against North Carolina went down to the final bout in a tight affair that featured two ties and a three-point margin for most of the match. It all came down to the 285-pound battle between Pitt Solomon, who was making his dual debut, and Abbondanza. In the end, Solomon survived 4-2 in sudden victory to secure a 21-15 win for Pitt.
To begin the match, the Panthers jumped out to an early lead following a fall by Forys of Cody Karns in 4:22, but a tiebreaking win at 133 and a win by forfeit at 141 pounds for the Tar Heels put them in front 9-6.
The Panthers picked up wins in four of the next five bouts, but couldn't grow its lead to more than three until Thomusseit's 7-3 decision over Scott Marmoll at 184 pounds gave Pitt a six-point advantage and some breathing room. Along the way Racciato picked up a 10-3 decision over Christian Barber at 149 pounds, Ronnie Garbinsky (Tyrone, Pa./Tyrone) prevailed 4-3 versus Chris Mears at 157 pounds and Wilps, making his home and dual debut of his final season, won 2-1 over John Michael Staudenmayer in a tiebreaker.
A decision for UNC at 197 made it a three-point margin with the final bout to go, however Solomon's thrilling last-second takedown put an end to any controversy.
125: Dom Forys (P) fall Cody Karns (N), 4:22; Pitt leads 6-0
133: Troy Heilmann (N) dec. Nick Zanetta (P), 3-2 (TB); Pitt leads 6-3
141: #15 Joey Ward (N) wins by forfeit; UNC leads 9-6
149: Mikey Racciato (P) dec. Christian Barber (N) 10-3; Tied 9-9
157: Ronnie Garbinsky (P) dec. Chris Mears (N) ; Pitt leads 12-9
165: Ethan Ramos (N) dec. Cody Wiercioch (P), 5-1; Tied 12-12
174: #8 Tyler Wilps (P) dec. John Michael Staudenmayer (N), 2-1 (TB); Pitt leads 15-12
184: #2 Max Thomusseit (P) dec. Scott Marmoll (N), 7-3; Pitt leads 18-12
197: Chip Ness (N) dec. #14 Nick Bonaccorsi (N), 8-5; Pitt leads 18-15
285: Ryan Solomon (P) dec. Frank Abbondanza (N), 4-2 (SV); Pitt wins 21-15.
Pitt vs. Duke
For the second time today, Pitt's match came down to Solomon and his opponent in extra time. And once again, Solomon took it down to the wire, clinching the 20-15 win for Pitt with his 2-1 tiebreaking-triumph. The only points accounted for in the final bout were escapes, with Solomon recording the last.
Forys and Zanetta opened the match with back-to-back wins, giving Pitt a 7-0 advantage early on. Forys collected four points in a 14-4 major decision over Thayer Atkins and Zanetta had a 5-3 decision against Mitch Finesilver.
After Pitt forfeited 141, allowing Duke to pull within 7-6, Racciato recorded three reversals and five nearfall points to notch a 12-4 major decision is his bout with 18th-ranked Marcus Cain.
Duke won the next two bouts, including a critical battle in the 165-pound match as Jake Faust beat the buzzer with a takedown and registered another one in the sudden victory to turn what looked to be a Pitt 14-9 lead in the match to a 12-11 Duke advantage after six bouts.
Wilps and Thomusseit responded with decisions putting Pitt back in front at 17-12 with two bouts remaining. Wilps won 7-5 against Trey Adamson while Thomusseit prevailed 5-2 against Jacob Kasper.
In the only match between ranked foes on the day, No. 14 redshirt junior Nick Bonaccorsi (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) scored an early takedown on fifth-ranked Conner Hartmann, but Hartmann tallied the last five points for a 5-2 victory and bring Duke within 17-15 with one match left.
After a scoreless first in the 285-pound matchup, Walsh escaped in the second and Solomon escaped in the third to bring the score to 1-1. Solomon was able to hold down Walsh for the entire 30 seconds in the first tiebreaker and broke out of Walsh's grip with 15 seconds to go for the individual and team win.
125: Dom Forys (P) m. dec. Thayer Atkins (D), 14-4; Pitt leads 4-0
133: Nick Zanetta (P) dec. Mitch Finesilver (D), 5-3; Pitt leads 7-0
141: Evan Botwin (D) wins by forfeit; Pitt leads 7-6
149: Mikey Racciato (P) m. dec. #18 Marcus Cain (D), 12-4; Pitt leads 11-6
157: Immanuel Kerr-Brown (D) dec. Ronnie Garbinsky (P), 8-2; Pitt leads 11-9
165: Jake Faust (D) dec. Cody Wiercioch (P), 11-9 (SV); Duke leads 12-11
174: #8 Tyler Wilps (P) dec. Trey Adamson (D), 7-5; Pitt leads 14-12
184: #2 Max Thomusseit (P) dec. Jacob Kasper (D), 5-2; Pitt leads 17-12
197: #5 Conner Hartmann (D) dec. #14 Nick Bonaccorsi (P), 5-2; Pitt leads 17-15
285: Ryan Solomon (P) dec. Brendan Walsh (D), 2-1 (TB); Pitt wins 20-15
Pitt vs. Drexel
Trailing 12-7 midway through the match, Pitt won its final five bouts, including two by bonus point victories and eased its way to a 27-12 win.
Forys and Zanetta led off the match against Drexel with consecutive wins once again to give Pitt a 7-0 edge following Forys' 10-2 major decision over Tanner Shoap and Zanetta's upset of No. 12 Kevin Devoy by a score of 4-2 in sudden victory.
With no one available at 141, the Panthers forfeited again and Racciato lost for the first time all day at 149 pounds as the Dragons went ahead 9-7. Drexel added another decision at 157 and led 12-7 with five matches to go.
Then, the Panthers took over, redshirt senior Troy Reaghard (Oakdale, Pa./West Allegheny), in his only match of the day, took down Nick Elmer 3-2 thanks to ride time to bring Pitt within 12-10. Wilps followed with a fall of Connor Moran in 4:18, giving Pitt the lead for good at 16-12. Not to be outdone, Thomusseit had a 22-7 technical fall in 5:46 over Alex Deciantis and Bonaccorsi scored an 8-3 decision against Brandon Litten. Sophomore John Rizzo (Johnstown, Pa./Temple) closed out the day with a 7-4 decision versus Alex Foley.
125: Dom Forys (P) m. dec. Tanner Shoap (D), 10-2; Pitt leads 4-0
133: Nick Zanetta (P) dec. #12 Kevin Devoy (D), 4-2 (SV); Pitt leads 7-0
141: David Pearce (D) wins by forfeit; Pitt leads 7-6
149: Matt Cimato (D) dec. Mikey Racciato (P), 7-4; Drexel leads 9-7
157: Noel Blanco (D) dec. Ronnie Garbinsky (P), 3-1; Drexel leads 12-7
165: Troy Reaghard (P) dec. Nick Elmer (D), 3-2; Drexel leads 12-10
174: #8 Tyler Wilps (P) fall Connor Moran (D), 4:18; Pitt leads 16-12
184: #2 Max Thomusseit (P) tech. fall Alex DeCiantis (D), 22-7 (5:46); Pitt leads 21-12
197: #14 Nick Bonaccorsi (P) dec. Brandon Litten (D), 8-3; Pitt leads 24-12
285: John Rizzo (P) dec. Alex Foley (D), 7-4; Pitt wins 27-12
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