This dual scares me. I was looking past it because UNC has struggled this year and we were better than them last year but we do not match up well against them and we may take them too lightly. They got beat bad by NCST last week, but we also got beat up on by NCST so this is not a gimme dual at all.
Preview:
125: NR Camacho vs #29 Moore
This is a toss up to start the dual. Moore is a 3rd year wrestler who redshirted last season. He is 3-12 against shared opponents while Camacho is 9-11. Both wrestlers lost to Jarrett Trombley recently. Camacho has had a season of streaks, he started 2-4, then went 5-1 in his next 6 and has now lost 4 straight. Hopefully he can get back on track and pick up a winnable match. Moore has one really good win on the year over former AA Brandon Kaylor, but other than that all his ranked opponents have been matches he loses. So despite the fact that he is 10-4 on the year Moore is not a definite favorite in this one. TOSS UP
133: #23 Santaniello vs NR Palmer
Palmer is 8-7 on the year and has no real notable wins. Him and Santaniello both have no wins over their common opponents. Palmer has been teched in 2 of his last three matches (to returning AA's Orine and Latona) and lost 4 of his last 6. Santaniello should, in my opinion, by able to win this one pretty comfortably and establish himself as a level above Palmer. PITT FAVORED
141: #22 Matthews vs #5 McNeil
This is the one I am excited for. Matthews is 1-0 against the returning 4th place finisher in his career. He beat him 3-2 lasts season. 2 out of 4 of McNeil's losses this season have come to Ryan Jack, who Matthews beat 15-10 in one of the matches of the season a few weeks ago. If we see that aggressive Cole who is looking to put points on the board, then I think we could see another big upset. McNeil is another guy who likes to scramble so it will likely be very fun to watch. If Cole can pull this one off that will mean he has beat the 3rd, 4th, and 5th ranked guys in the country this season, he needs to get a run going together but 141 at ACC's is going to be an absolute warzone between the top 4 guys and Cole can be the guy coming out of the ACC again. TOSS UP
149: #28 Solomon vs NR Scott
Scott is 12-11 on the year but not someone to overlook, he has solid wins over Cody Bond and Corbyn Munson from earlier this year and keeps most losses within striking distance. However he recently appears to be on a tough run where has lost to many unranked guys. Solomon appears to be the better wrestler and I expect him to build off his big pin against Duke and have a good performance here against Scott. PITT FAVORED.
157: NR Keslar vs #33 Santiago
Santiago was having a decent year, and I likely would have considered this match a tossup until Santiago took out Ed Scott last week. That win plus his win over Jonathon Ley the week before (who also beat Keslar) makes me think that Santiago should be favored going into this match. Keslar winning would be huge for him looking ahead to ACC's, as this weight has a clear top 2 in the returning AA's (assuming Andonian returns)but the rest of the field is up for grabs. I am unable to call this a toss up due to the recent success Santiago has had, but Keslar's early season win against Joey Blaze tells me that if he can put it together in this match he has a real shot. UNC FAVORED
First Half: 2 Pitt Favored, 2 Toss Up, 1 UNC Favored.
This first half should really get people excited, every match should be interesting and I expect all of them to be relatively close. I am very interested in 141 in particular but this should be a entertaining start to a very close dual.
165: #14 Heller vs NR Estrada
Estrada is 6-14 on the season with no real good wins, this is someone I would totally expect Holden to beat and hopefully put up bonus points. They have had similar results against common opponents this season, but overall Holden's results are much better and he has beaten guys Estrada lost to. I expect Holden to look like his old self in this one. PITT FAVORED
174: #18 Augustine vs #27 Eischens
This is another one that can definitely go either way and shows how contested the ACC will be at 174, it is Mekhi then everyone else, but UVA, NCST and UNC all have ranked guys at 174 to look out for. Eishcens has picked up 2 notable wins in his last 2 matches, both in sudden victory. 1 over Faison (who Luca is 0-3 against in his career) and 1 against Wask (who Luca is 1-1 against in his career). Eischens has wrestled a shortened schedule this year after transferring from Stanford where he was a 3x NQ. He is 6-5 on the year and lost to more ranked guys than he has beat. Luca winning this is huge for him, because being seeded 2nd or 3rd at ACC's means you don't see Mekhi until the finals and he has a real shot at the 2 seed if he wins vs UNC and Virginia. TOSS UP
184: #9 Heller vs #24 Kane
Kane is a returning AA who beat Heller in the dual last year. He has struggled this year as he is 10-6 with a good number of losses against unranked guys. He just got majored by Fishback who Heller has a big win over this season. Heller is very up and down as we know, and considering the history I am not able to give him the win based on the ranking disparity. Heller winning this would be a huge sign for him starting to put everything together and would help him out a fair bit with his ACC seed. TOSS UP
197: #14 Stout vs #26 Shaw
Shaw is a 2x AA who is 14-4 this year with all of his losses coming to other nationally ranked wrestlers. His best win on the year is Ohio State's Geog. Stout's record is not as good but his wins on the season are of a higher quality, but I am leaving this one a toss up because I feel as if Shaw can keep it close and match momentum at this point in the dual can be a big factor. TOSS UP
285: NR Magin vs NR Lautt
Lautt is also a first year heavyweight who previously had been at 197, he is 10-10 on the year. He has a nice win over John Stout from UPENN and Peter Ming from Stanford, these wins plus the fact he has been the starter all year give me the feeling he will pull it out. UNC FAVORED
2nd Half: 1 PITT FAVORED, 3 TOSS UP, 1 UNC FAVORED
174-197 is a really solid 3 match run with major implications for ACC's. A lead at intermission will make this second half a lot less nerve-racking.
OVERALL: 3 PITT FAVORED, 5 TOSS UP, 2 UNC FAVORED
Anytime half the matches in a dual are swing matches you know it is going to be a damn good one. I really do believe this could go either way and I am very interested in seeing how it plays out. I believe the Panthers get it done, but if someone gets pinned or we don't look our best it could be an unfortunate loss pretty quickly.
Preview:
125: NR Camacho vs #29 Moore
This is a toss up to start the dual. Moore is a 3rd year wrestler who redshirted last season. He is 3-12 against shared opponents while Camacho is 9-11. Both wrestlers lost to Jarrett Trombley recently. Camacho has had a season of streaks, he started 2-4, then went 5-1 in his next 6 and has now lost 4 straight. Hopefully he can get back on track and pick up a winnable match. Moore has one really good win on the year over former AA Brandon Kaylor, but other than that all his ranked opponents have been matches he loses. So despite the fact that he is 10-4 on the year Moore is not a definite favorite in this one. TOSS UP
133: #23 Santaniello vs NR Palmer
Palmer is 8-7 on the year and has no real notable wins. Him and Santaniello both have no wins over their common opponents. Palmer has been teched in 2 of his last three matches (to returning AA's Orine and Latona) and lost 4 of his last 6. Santaniello should, in my opinion, by able to win this one pretty comfortably and establish himself as a level above Palmer. PITT FAVORED
141: #22 Matthews vs #5 McNeil
This is the one I am excited for. Matthews is 1-0 against the returning 4th place finisher in his career. He beat him 3-2 lasts season. 2 out of 4 of McNeil's losses this season have come to Ryan Jack, who Matthews beat 15-10 in one of the matches of the season a few weeks ago. If we see that aggressive Cole who is looking to put points on the board, then I think we could see another big upset. McNeil is another guy who likes to scramble so it will likely be very fun to watch. If Cole can pull this one off that will mean he has beat the 3rd, 4th, and 5th ranked guys in the country this season, he needs to get a run going together but 141 at ACC's is going to be an absolute warzone between the top 4 guys and Cole can be the guy coming out of the ACC again. TOSS UP
149: #28 Solomon vs NR Scott
Scott is 12-11 on the year but not someone to overlook, he has solid wins over Cody Bond and Corbyn Munson from earlier this year and keeps most losses within striking distance. However he recently appears to be on a tough run where has lost to many unranked guys. Solomon appears to be the better wrestler and I expect him to build off his big pin against Duke and have a good performance here against Scott. PITT FAVORED.
157: NR Keslar vs #33 Santiago
Santiago was having a decent year, and I likely would have considered this match a tossup until Santiago took out Ed Scott last week. That win plus his win over Jonathon Ley the week before (who also beat Keslar) makes me think that Santiago should be favored going into this match. Keslar winning would be huge for him looking ahead to ACC's, as this weight has a clear top 2 in the returning AA's (assuming Andonian returns)but the rest of the field is up for grabs. I am unable to call this a toss up due to the recent success Santiago has had, but Keslar's early season win against Joey Blaze tells me that if he can put it together in this match he has a real shot. UNC FAVORED
First Half: 2 Pitt Favored, 2 Toss Up, 1 UNC Favored.
This first half should really get people excited, every match should be interesting and I expect all of them to be relatively close. I am very interested in 141 in particular but this should be a entertaining start to a very close dual.
165: #14 Heller vs NR Estrada
Estrada is 6-14 on the season with no real good wins, this is someone I would totally expect Holden to beat and hopefully put up bonus points. They have had similar results against common opponents this season, but overall Holden's results are much better and he has beaten guys Estrada lost to. I expect Holden to look like his old self in this one. PITT FAVORED
174: #18 Augustine vs #27 Eischens
This is another one that can definitely go either way and shows how contested the ACC will be at 174, it is Mekhi then everyone else, but UVA, NCST and UNC all have ranked guys at 174 to look out for. Eishcens has picked up 2 notable wins in his last 2 matches, both in sudden victory. 1 over Faison (who Luca is 0-3 against in his career) and 1 against Wask (who Luca is 1-1 against in his career). Eischens has wrestled a shortened schedule this year after transferring from Stanford where he was a 3x NQ. He is 6-5 on the year and lost to more ranked guys than he has beat. Luca winning this is huge for him, because being seeded 2nd or 3rd at ACC's means you don't see Mekhi until the finals and he has a real shot at the 2 seed if he wins vs UNC and Virginia. TOSS UP
184: #9 Heller vs #24 Kane
Kane is a returning AA who beat Heller in the dual last year. He has struggled this year as he is 10-6 with a good number of losses against unranked guys. He just got majored by Fishback who Heller has a big win over this season. Heller is very up and down as we know, and considering the history I am not able to give him the win based on the ranking disparity. Heller winning this would be a huge sign for him starting to put everything together and would help him out a fair bit with his ACC seed. TOSS UP
197: #14 Stout vs #26 Shaw
Shaw is a 2x AA who is 14-4 this year with all of his losses coming to other nationally ranked wrestlers. His best win on the year is Ohio State's Geog. Stout's record is not as good but his wins on the season are of a higher quality, but I am leaving this one a toss up because I feel as if Shaw can keep it close and match momentum at this point in the dual can be a big factor. TOSS UP
285: NR Magin vs NR Lautt
Lautt is also a first year heavyweight who previously had been at 197, he is 10-10 on the year. He has a nice win over John Stout from UPENN and Peter Ming from Stanford, these wins plus the fact he has been the starter all year give me the feeling he will pull it out. UNC FAVORED
2nd Half: 1 PITT FAVORED, 3 TOSS UP, 1 UNC FAVORED
174-197 is a really solid 3 match run with major implications for ACC's. A lead at intermission will make this second half a lot less nerve-racking.
OVERALL: 3 PITT FAVORED, 5 TOSS UP, 2 UNC FAVORED
Anytime half the matches in a dual are swing matches you know it is going to be a damn good one. I really do believe this could go either way and I am very interested in seeing how it plays out. I believe the Panthers get it done, but if someone gets pinned or we don't look our best it could be an unfortunate loss pretty quickly.
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