Virginia has not lost a home dual at Mem Gym since Jan. 16, 2011, against Penn.
Nick Herrmann (Jr., Amarillo, Texas), George DiCamillo (R-So., Highland Heights, Ohio), Andrew Atkinson (R-Fr., Lynchburg, Va.), Nick Sulzer (R-Sr., Cleveland, Ohio) and Zach Nye (R-Jr., Enola, Pa.) each scored wins for the Cavaliers. Both teams won five bouts.
"It certainly was not the way we drew it up - that was about as crazy as a dual meet gets," Virginia head coach Steve Garland said. "We knew it was going to be a fight because they are such a tough, hard-nosed group of guys. For the last 364 days, we have been training for that type of match. They embarrassed us last year and it stuck with us. I don't think we wrestled well, but I'm happy that our guys were able to fight through and grit out grimy, crazy, awesome wins like that. At the end of the day, in the blood round at nationals, those wins are what they look like. I'm proud of the fight. The heart and togetherness right now is where we need to be."
The Cavaliers did not trail in the dual after jumping out to a 7-0 lead after two weights. At 125, Herrmann (11-5) trailed 5-3 early in the third period before reversing Dom Forys and then tilting him to get three back points and bring the crowd to its feet. He maintained the advantage the rest of the period, picking up the riding-time point for the 9-5 win.
Ranked 13th nationally at 133, DiCamillo (21-6) dominated from start to finish in a 22-10 major decision over Ben Ress. He pounced quickly in the first period with a takedown and then three back points as he narrowly missed a pin. He went on to pile up takedowns and 2:14 of riding time to get UVa a bonus point.
Pitt earned its first win at 141 as Nick Zanetta won 5-4 over Justin Van Hoose (Jr., Kirksville, Mo.). Zanetta finished with 1:15 in riding time to earn the bonus point and break the 4-4 deadlock at the end of the third period.
The Panthers pulled within 7-6 when No. 20 Mikey Racciato downed TJ Miller (R-Fr., Medford, N.J.), 10-4, at 149. A battered Miller fended off Racciato's late push in the third period for another takedown, which would have given him the major decision and a team bonus point.
Virginia got a key win at 157 when Atkinson (14-9) took down Ronnie Garbinsky in sudden-victory time for a 5-3 win. The hotly-contested bout almost did not go to overtime as Garbinsky was awarded a takedown just before the final buzzer of the third period. Garland challenged the call and after the official looked at the video replay, it was overturned as Garbinsky did not have full control, thus sending the match to sudden-victory time.
UVa stretched its lead to 14-6 when Sulzer, ranked second nationally at 165, used a big third period to nab a 14-5 major decision over Troy Reaghard. Sulzer (21-1) led 5-2 early in the third period before wearing Reaghard down and piling up a trio of takedowns as well as a pair of penalty points following Reaghard stall warnings.
In the featured match of the day, seventh-ranked Tyler Wilps of Pitt outlasted fifth-ranked Blaise Butler (R-Jr., Belvidere, Ill.), 6-2, at 174. Wilps held a 3-2 lead early in the third period before taking Butler (14-2) down and building his riding time to 1:16 to pick up the extra point.
The Panthers cut their team deficit to a point, 14-13, at 184 as second-ranked Max Thomusseit dominated in a 21-6 technical fall over Tyler Askey (R-Fr., Newnan, Ga.). Thomusseit did not record any back points, so the Panthers earned just four points for the tech fall.
In another battle of ranked foes, Nye (13-5) earned a 2-1 win in the first tiebreaker period over No. 17 Nick Bonaccorsi. Ranked 19th nationally, Nye maintained control for the full 30 seconds in the first portion of the tiebreaker, and then escaped in 12 seconds in the second portion. He held off Bonaccorsi's late takedown attempt to finish off the key win.
Pitt took the heavyweight bout as Ryan Solomon downed Patrick Gillen (R-Jr., Shelton, Conn.), 4-3.
Virginia hits the road for its next three duals before concluding the regular season on Feb. 19 at home against NC State. The Cavaliers travel to No. 9 Virginia Tech next Sunday for a 1 p.m. dual, then visit North Carolina on Feb. 7 for a 7 p.m. match. UVa visits No. 1 Iowa on Feb. 15 in the NWCA National Duals.
Results:
125: Nick Herrmann (Virginia) dec. Dom Forys (Pittsburgh), 9-5; UVa 3-0
133: No. 13 George DiCamillo (Virginia) major dec. Ben Ross (Pittsburgh), 22-10; UVa 7-0
141: Nick Zanetta (Pittsburgh) dec. Justin Van Hoose (Virginia), 5-4; UVa 7-3
149: Mikey Racciato (Pittsburgh) dec. TJ Miller (Virginia), 10-4; UVa 7-6
157: Andrew Atkinson (Virginia) dec. Ronnie Garbinsky (Pittsburgh), 5-3; UVa 10-6
165: No. 2 Nick Sulzer (Virginia) major dec. Troy Reaghard (Pittsburgh), 14-5; UVa 14-6
174: No. 7 Tyler Wilps (Pittsburgh) dec. No. 5 Blaise Butler (Virginia), 6-2; UVa 14-9
184: No. 2 Max Thomusseit (Pittsburgh) tech fall-4 Tyler Askey (Virginia), 21-6; UVa 14-13
197: No. 19 Zach Nye (Virginia) dec. No. 17 Nick Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh), 2-1; UVa 17-13
285: Ryan Solomon (Pittsburgh) dec. Patrick Gillen (Virginia), 4-3; UVa 17-16
**Rankings according to InterMat
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