Last year we lost this dual 21-12 in a match with a series of upsets. This year we are looking to flip the tide and get the victory.
Pitt hosts Navy 2pm Saturday @ the Fitz
- Thread starter wrestlingfan22
- Start date
This is the first dual so it will be hard to preview but I will give it my best shot:
Pitt
125: Babin should be the starter as it sounds like Tallamadge is yet to return from a smaller injury.
133: Vinnie is our guy
141: Ant has an incredibly tough matchup with Koderhandt, this could be a real measuring stick for him
149: Solomon/Brown: I don't know who will get the start, with the Clarion Open being the next day I could see Brown getting the start if my vague understanding of the redshirt rules are correct and those two competitions will only count as 1. If not I would expect Solomon to start and the Clarion Open to be a big decider for future lineup decisions
157: Evans is the only option as of right now
165: Sounds like MacKay is out for a little while, Think it's a coin flip between Laffey and Keslar. Would guess we see Laffey vs Navy and that whoever does better at Clarion/Journeyman will be the main guy after that (until MacKay gets back)
174: Luca if hes back from sickness, otherwise one of Laffey or Keslar moves up
184: Reece
197: Mac
285: Dayton
Navy:
125: Projected starter Dayton DelViscio was last year post season starter. Babin went 2-0 against him last year
133: Returning Starter Brendan Ferretti was a NQ in 2023 but missed the tournament last year. He beat Vinnie 3-2 last year in this dual. They were both at Navy Prep in 2022 so I have to imagine there is some familiarity there.
141: Josh Koderhandt returns as Navy's best wrestler. He went 25-8 last year and lost in the blood round. Only one of his losses came to a non AA in OKST's Tagen Jamison. He beat Cole 5-2 in the dual. Will be a really big test for Ant.
149: Kaemen Smith, a PA kid, he didn't wrestle in the dual last year. Beat Pletcher 8-1 in an open. Went 20-12 overall.
157: Jonathan Ley, went 9-11 last season but was the starter and beat Keslar in the dual
165: Projected starter Dylan Elmore went 15-3 at Navy prep last year between 174 and 165. Not many high level opponents faced
174: Wask is a really good wrestler. Him and Luca are 1-1 against each other in career. He has similar, but slightly better results against common opponents to Luca
184: Projected starter Zyan Hall went 9-9 in opens last year. Major result of note was beating Mizzous Colton Hawks.
197: Cael Crebs is a returning starter. Mac beat him 4-1 last year
285: New starter Jamier Ferere went 22-7 mainly in opens as a backup last year. Had some solid wins and could be a tough opponent.
Pitt
125: Babin should be the starter as it sounds like Tallamadge is yet to return from a smaller injury.
133: Vinnie is our guy
141: Ant has an incredibly tough matchup with Koderhandt, this could be a real measuring stick for him
149: Solomon/Brown: I don't know who will get the start, with the Clarion Open being the next day I could see Brown getting the start if my vague understanding of the redshirt rules are correct and those two competitions will only count as 1. If not I would expect Solomon to start and the Clarion Open to be a big decider for future lineup decisions
157: Evans is the only option as of right now
165: Sounds like MacKay is out for a little while, Think it's a coin flip between Laffey and Keslar. Would guess we see Laffey vs Navy and that whoever does better at Clarion/Journeyman will be the main guy after that (until MacKay gets back)
174: Luca if hes back from sickness, otherwise one of Laffey or Keslar moves up
184: Reece
197: Mac
285: Dayton
Navy:
125: Projected starter Dayton DelViscio was last year post season starter. Babin went 2-0 against him last year
133: Returning Starter Brendan Ferretti was a NQ in 2023 but missed the tournament last year. He beat Vinnie 3-2 last year in this dual. They were both at Navy Prep in 2022 so I have to imagine there is some familiarity there.
141: Josh Koderhandt returns as Navy's best wrestler. He went 25-8 last year and lost in the blood round. Only one of his losses came to a non AA in OKST's Tagen Jamison. He beat Cole 5-2 in the dual. Will be a really big test for Ant.
149: Kaemen Smith, a PA kid, he didn't wrestle in the dual last year. Beat Pletcher 8-1 in an open. Went 20-12 overall.
157: Jonathan Ley, went 9-11 last season but was the starter and beat Keslar in the dual
165: Projected starter Dylan Elmore went 15-3 at Navy prep last year between 174 and 165. Not many high level opponents faced
174: Wask is a really good wrestler. Him and Luca are 1-1 against each other in career. He has similar, but slightly better results against common opponents to Luca
184: Projected starter Zyan Hall went 9-9 in opens last year. Major result of note was beating Mizzous Colton Hawks.
197: Cael Crebs is a returning starter. Mac beat him 4-1 last year
285: New starter Jamier Ferere went 22-7 mainly in opens as a backup last year. Had some solid wins and could be a tough opponent.
Last edited:
Favor:
125: Babin went 2-0 against him last year and has better career results. Pitt Favored
133: Ferretti won last year but Vinnie did better overall, Pure Toss Up here
141: Has to be Koderhandt favored. Ant does not have nearly enough proven to give him a good chance of winning, however I think he is talented enough to get the upset. Navy Favored
149: This one I am unsure on, especially not knowing who Pitt throws out there. Will have to leave it as a tossup because Brown is unproven and he may get the go. I would expect Solomon to beat Smith but I am hedging this as a toss up since he lost to Brown. Toss Up
157: I think Evans is the better overall wrestler but Ley has more starting experience and took Keslar out next year. Toss Up
First Half: 1 Pitt Favored, 3 Toss Up, 1 Navy Favored
165: Since it looks like this will be either Laffey or Keslar (both moving up to 165) against maybe Elmore, who was at 174 last year. Nobody at this weight for either team is too proven so I am gonna have to call it a Toss Up.
174: Pure toss up, this is the one to watch overall, two ranked guys going at it. This is a win that could give Luca a real good kickstart to the year.
184: Heller should be favored, Hall had a very good win against Hawks last year but his other losses on the year make that seem like a bit of a fluke. Pitt favored.
197: Stout beat Crebs last year and got better as the year went on while Crebs was stagnant. I would say Stout win again and grows the margin this time.
285: Pitzer is too good to not favor against an unproven starter, but Ferere is solid and could keep it closer. Pitt Favored.
2nd Half: 3 Pitt Favored, 2 Toss Up, 0 Navy Favored
Overall: 4, Pitt favored, 5 Toss up, 1 Navy Favored
The match will likely be decided in the 149-174 stretch, a Navy win is definitely possible but I do think Pitt is the better team and I expect them to win.
125: Babin went 2-0 against him last year and has better career results. Pitt Favored
133: Ferretti won last year but Vinnie did better overall, Pure Toss Up here
141: Has to be Koderhandt favored. Ant does not have nearly enough proven to give him a good chance of winning, however I think he is talented enough to get the upset. Navy Favored
149: This one I am unsure on, especially not knowing who Pitt throws out there. Will have to leave it as a tossup because Brown is unproven and he may get the go. I would expect Solomon to beat Smith but I am hedging this as a toss up since he lost to Brown. Toss Up
157: I think Evans is the better overall wrestler but Ley has more starting experience and took Keslar out next year. Toss Up
First Half: 1 Pitt Favored, 3 Toss Up, 1 Navy Favored
165: Since it looks like this will be either Laffey or Keslar (both moving up to 165) against maybe Elmore, who was at 174 last year. Nobody at this weight for either team is too proven so I am gonna have to call it a Toss Up.
174: Pure toss up, this is the one to watch overall, two ranked guys going at it. This is a win that could give Luca a real good kickstart to the year.
184: Heller should be favored, Hall had a very good win against Hawks last year but his other losses on the year make that seem like a bit of a fluke. Pitt favored.
197: Stout beat Crebs last year and got better as the year went on while Crebs was stagnant. I would say Stout win again and grows the margin this time.
285: Pitzer is too good to not favor against an unproven starter, but Ferere is solid and could keep it closer. Pitt Favored.
2nd Half: 3 Pitt Favored, 2 Toss Up, 0 Navy Favored
Overall: 4, Pitt favored, 5 Toss up, 1 Navy Favored
The match will likely be decided in the 149-174 stretch, a Navy win is definitely possible but I do think Pitt is the better team and I expect them to win.
Anthony Santienello v No. 9 Koderhandt. Led 6 of the 7 minutes but lost on a takedown. Koderhandt beat Cole Matthews last year. Good first match. Hopefully Something to build on.
Last edited:
Finn Solomon. Fought off back in first losing 7-4. Losing 9-8 end of second. Wow. Big takedown with 4 BP to win 16-9.
Dylan Evans at 157. No score in first. Escape and TD. 4-1 Evans end second. Starts top begin third. Escape Navy, TD Evans. Pitt wins 7-2. 17-3 Pitt at break.
184. Heller no score end of one. Escape and TD Heller to start second. Another take down for a 7-1 lead end of two. Heller 11-2 win with riding time.
Stout 198. 7-4 end of one. Gave up a TD first 10 seconds of match. Wins 11-5. Late TD. Navy kid very strong. Gave Stout tough match.
Thoughts:
Lightweights: Rosselli seemed to be the primary coach for these lightweights and was very active. It is a nice change to see a coach that is engaged and active while moving around. Just from a fan experience.
125: Babin looked good and his drive for bonus and then the fall was amazing to watch. A 125 having that urgency that late in the match is a great way to start the dual
133: Crushed the backup, and was chirping someone on Navy's bench afterward. Think he wanted a shot at Ferretti
141: Ant looked good in that first period. I didn't love the way he wrestled as the match went on, seemed like he was just trying to hold on and a takedown seemed imminent. Most important to me was that he appeared to gas in the third a little. I felt as if he was running low on gas at the blue-gold match and that could also be seen tonight. Luckily this is an issue that he will be able to work on. After seeing that match I think if he can get his gas tank to a level where he can be the aggressor all three periods he will get a ton of big wins.
149: Finn got put in a 7-0 hole and fought for his life to not get stuck. Then he outscored his opponent 16-2 the rest of the match. Great performance by him he definitely wants to keep that starting spot.
157: Evans looked really good. He was able to get to his offense and defended well.
165: Laffey got the job done, I am interested in how Keslar does tomorrow in the Clarion Open to judge about where he and Laffey stack up.
174: Luca did great and got another win over a solid Wask.
184: Heller looked good and picked up a major. Wasn't too conservative or too passive
197: Stout wasn't as sharp as I would have expected but the Navy wrestler seemed up to the challenge
285: Pitzer demolished the backup HWT
Lightweights: Rosselli seemed to be the primary coach for these lightweights and was very active. It is a nice change to see a coach that is engaged and active while moving around. Just from a fan experience.
125: Babin looked good and his drive for bonus and then the fall was amazing to watch. A 125 having that urgency that late in the match is a great way to start the dual
133: Crushed the backup, and was chirping someone on Navy's bench afterward. Think he wanted a shot at Ferretti
141: Ant looked good in that first period. I didn't love the way he wrestled as the match went on, seemed like he was just trying to hold on and a takedown seemed imminent. Most important to me was that he appeared to gas in the third a little. I felt as if he was running low on gas at the blue-gold match and that could also be seen tonight. Luckily this is an issue that he will be able to work on. After seeing that match I think if he can get his gas tank to a level where he can be the aggressor all three periods he will get a ton of big wins.
149: Finn got put in a 7-0 hole and fought for his life to not get stuck. Then he outscored his opponent 16-2 the rest of the match. Great performance by him he definitely wants to keep that starting spot.
157: Evans looked really good. He was able to get to his offense and defended well.
165: Laffey got the job done, I am interested in how Keslar does tomorrow in the Clarion Open to judge about where he and Laffey stack up.
174: Luca did great and got another win over a solid Wask.
184: Heller looked good and picked up a major. Wasn't too conservative or too passive
197: Stout wasn't as sharp as I would have expected but the Navy wrestler seemed up to the challenge
285: Pitzer demolished the backup HWT
