Pitt tops Virginia Tech in dual meet at Va Tech 26-12. Big upset for the panthers over the #7 Hokies.
Pitt tops Virginia Tech in wrestling.
- Thread starter phijo
- Start date
I rewatched the match on ESPN. 2 falls for Pitt were the difference makers. Pitt won 7 matches.
pittsburghpanthers.com
No. 24 Pitt Stuns No. 7 Virginia Tech, 26-12 - Pitt Panthers #H2P
BLACKSBURG, Va.—The Pitt wrestling team didn't just upset No. 7 Virginia Tech on Friday night in Blacksburg in front of a national television audience on the ACC
pittsburghpanthers.com
Summary for those who didn’t watch:
VT hasn’t had anyone establish himself at 125 all season. They put in a guy wrestling his first dual meet and he got pinned in 44 seconds. 6-0.
Tremendous start for Pitt. The next match was a tossup between #5 Latona and #7 Mickey Philippi. Maybe the two tallest 133 pounders in the country. Not much action; no takedowns. Each had an escape so it was 1-1 going to extra time. No scoring. So still 1-1 going to tiebreaker. Each has 30 seconds on top. Mickey escaped in 16 seconds. Kept control of Latona for 25 seconds. Won because tiebreaker is riding time. For anyone without a vested interest it was a boring match. But, for Pitt fans it was vital. 9-0.
Next match was #2 Cole Matthews against a VT wrestler ranked I think around #15. Cole’s problem all 4 years he has wrestled has been a lack of offense. He came to Pitt with a front headlock as his main weapon and 5 years later it still is. So lots of low scoring matches. Opponents try to keep it close and go for a late takedown. He lost to a wrestler ftom WVU wrestling his first dual like that. He was more careful yesterday. 12-0.
VT was very heavy favorites in 4 of the next 5 matches. Down 12-0 they had to go for bonus points. They got major decisions at 149 and 157 but came up just short of tech falls. So 8 points instead of 10. 12-8.
Then came 167 and the first of Pitt’s Heller brothers, transfers ftom Hofstra. Based on the rankings VT was slightly favored at 167, but Heller won it. Got an escape in the second to go up 1-0 and then had a dominating ride out in the third to win 2-0. Two minutes and the VT wrestler never came close to escaping. So it now was 15-8. That spelled trouble for VT because Pitt would be favored at 197 and Hwt was a pretty even match.
Former NCAA champion Mekhi Lewis needed a tech fall or pin at 174 against Pitt freshman Luca Augustine. He got a 4 point major decision but never got close to more. 15-12.
Then came the crusher for VT. Hunter Bolen #5 at 184 vs the other Heller, unranked. He has been up and down all year. Bolen was going for a pin from the getgo. He was on top at the start of the second period and tried to turn Heller with a gut wrench. Stupid, desperate move since he didn’t have a strong hold and he had to expose his own back. Both Hellers are good scramblers and while on the bottom he got Bolden’s left leg hooked, taking away his leverage. Then flipped him and pinned him. Technically, it was a defensive pin because Bolden still had the gut wrench but Heller was a few seconds ftom a reversal and a pin.
Heller threw his helmet into the stands in celebration. One point penalty. So 20-12.
Now Nico could clinch it with a win. Not exciting but a workmanlike win. 23-12.
It didn’t matter for the victory but everyone was looking forward to the Hwt match. Hunter Catca, two time PIAA Champ in 3A vs Pitt’s freshman Dayton Pitzer, 3 time PIAA champ in 2A. The catch is that Pitzer won at lower weights. He weighs less than 220. The Hwt limit is 285 and Catka probably is 265 or 270. Catka got a first period takedown but Pitzer got a reversal. 2-2. Pitzer got an escape and made a freshman mistake letting Catka get an escape with 2 seconds remaining. Overtime. Pitzer got control in OT. I thought he got a takedown but the announcer said he was awarded two penalty points. In any case, he won 5-3 and the final score was 26-12.
VT hasn’t had anyone establish himself at 125 all season. They put in a guy wrestling his first dual meet and he got pinned in 44 seconds. 6-0.
Tremendous start for Pitt. The next match was a tossup between #5 Latona and #7 Mickey Philippi. Maybe the two tallest 133 pounders in the country. Not much action; no takedowns. Each had an escape so it was 1-1 going to extra time. No scoring. So still 1-1 going to tiebreaker. Each has 30 seconds on top. Mickey escaped in 16 seconds. Kept control of Latona for 25 seconds. Won because tiebreaker is riding time. For anyone without a vested interest it was a boring match. But, for Pitt fans it was vital. 9-0.
Next match was #2 Cole Matthews against a VT wrestler ranked I think around #15. Cole’s problem all 4 years he has wrestled has been a lack of offense. He came to Pitt with a front headlock as his main weapon and 5 years later it still is. So lots of low scoring matches. Opponents try to keep it close and go for a late takedown. He lost to a wrestler ftom WVU wrestling his first dual like that. He was more careful yesterday. 12-0.
VT was very heavy favorites in 4 of the next 5 matches. Down 12-0 they had to go for bonus points. They got major decisions at 149 and 157 but came up just short of tech falls. So 8 points instead of 10. 12-8.
Then came 167 and the first of Pitt’s Heller brothers, transfers ftom Hofstra. Based on the rankings VT was slightly favored at 167, but Heller won it. Got an escape in the second to go up 1-0 and then had a dominating ride out in the third to win 2-0. Two minutes and the VT wrestler never came close to escaping. So it now was 15-8. That spelled trouble for VT because Pitt would be favored at 197 and Hwt was a pretty even match.
Former NCAA champion Mekhi Lewis needed a tech fall or pin at 174 against Pitt freshman Luca Augustine. He got a 4 point major decision but never got close to more. 15-12.
Then came the crusher for VT. Hunter Bolen #5 at 184 vs the other Heller, unranked. He has been up and down all year. Bolen was going for a pin from the getgo. He was on top at the start of the second period and tried to turn Heller with a gut wrench. Stupid, desperate move since he didn’t have a strong hold and he had to expose his own back. Both Hellers are good scramblers and while on the bottom he got Bolden’s left leg hooked, taking away his leverage. Then flipped him and pinned him. Technically, it was a defensive pin because Bolden still had the gut wrench but Heller was a few seconds ftom a reversal and a pin.
Heller threw his helmet into the stands in celebration. One point penalty. So 20-12.
Now Nico could clinch it with a win. Not exciting but a workmanlike win. 23-12.
It didn’t matter for the victory but everyone was looking forward to the Hwt match. Hunter Catca, two time PIAA Champ in 3A vs Pitt’s freshman Dayton Pitzer, 3 time PIAA champ in 2A. The catch is that Pitzer won at lower weights. He weighs less than 220. The Hwt limit is 285 and Catka probably is 265 or 270. Catka got a first period takedown but Pitzer got a reversal. 2-2. Pitzer got an escape and made a freshman mistake letting Catka get an escape with 2 seconds remaining. Overtime. Pitzer got control in OT. I thought he got a takedown but the announcer said he was awarded two penalty points. In any case, he won 5-3 and the final score was 26-12.
