University of Pittsburgh Athletics
No. 12 Pitt, No. 5 Penn State Continue Rivalry
11/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
| #12 PITT (3-1, 0-0 ACC) vs. #5 PENN STATE (1-0, 0-0 BIG TEN) | |||
| Date | Friday, November 21 at 7:00 p.m. (ET) | ||
| Location | Petersen Events Center / Pittsburgh, Pa. | ||
| Television | ESPN3 | ||
| Radio | N/A | ||
| Online | ESPN3 | ||
| Game Notes / Stats | Pitt Match Notes | Penn State Match Notes | ||
| Promotions | N/A | ||
| Social Media | @Pitt_wrestling - Twitter / Instagram | ||
PITTSBURGH - When the nationally-ranked No. 12 Pitt wrestling team takes the mat against four-time defending national champion Penn State, on Friday, Nov. 21, it is believed the duo will wrestle in front of the largest crowd in school history to attend a home Pitt duel.
To accommodate the increased interest, the match was moved to the Petersen Events Center, home of the Pitt basketball teams. This will mark just the fourth time the Panthers have wrestled in the venue, with the last time coming against Lehigh in 2008. The Panthers also went head-to-head with Iowa State on Jan. 4, 2003 in the first-ever match at the Petersen Events Center and hosted Missouri in 2005. Overall, Pitt is 0-3 in the arena.
Friday's duel will be the 70th all-time meeting between the two schools, which makes it Pitt's most frequent and longest standing rival. The Nittany Lions were the Panthers' first recorded opponent in school history back in 1916-17, when they schools squared off twice that season.
Last year when the two school's met in Happy Valley, they competed in front of an NCAA dual match record of 15,996 fans. The last meeting in Pittsburgh during the 2012-13 season was for a sellout crowd of 3,247 fans at the Fitzgerald Field House.
PACK THE PETE:
The University of Pittsburgh Athletic Department has once again teamed up with 100.7 Star and Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for its `Pack the Pete' Food Drive. Any fan that donates a nonperishable food item will be signed up to win tickets to 100.7's O'Starry Night 2 concert on Dec. 9, at the Petersen Events Center featuring O.A.R., Train and Daughtry, among others.
LAST TIME OUT:
Going up against 15th-ranked Lehigh, 11th-ranked Pitt suffered its first dual defeat of the season, losing to the Mountain Hawks 19-12, despite victories in three of four bouts down the stretch. Four Panthers stayed undefeated on the season in the process with Max Thomusseit, Nick Bonaccorsi and Mikey Racciato all going to 4-0, while Cody Wiercioch improved to 3-0.
BONACCORSI, THOMUSSEIT RISE IN RANKINGS:
This week, Pitt features a total of nine ranked wrestlers across five polls. But for redshirt senior Max Thomusseit and redshirt junior Nick Bonaccorsi, the two saw a boost in their national rankings following wins against ranked opponents from Lehigh. Thomusseit is now no lower than fifth and was bumped up to fourth in three polls. His highest is third by Flowrestling. Bonaccorsi improved in three polls as well and ranks anywhere between seventh and 11th.
PITT RANKED 12TH BY NWCA:
Following a perfect 3-0 start to the season, which included an upset victory over then-ranked No. 10 Edinboro, the Pitt wrestling team jumped from 14th to 11th in the USA Today/National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, which was released on Tuesday, Nov. 11. In the most recent NWCA rendition, Pitt fell to 12th after its loss to now No. 11 Lehigh.
MAXED OUT:
With four bouts in the books, redshirt senior Max Thomusseit leads the squad with 16 dual points. Twice he has wrestled in bonus point matches, winning both. The first came via a fall in 4:45 versus Bloomsburg and most recently Thomusseit recorded a major decision against Bucknell. Thomusseit is also 2-0 against ranked opponents this season, with close decisions against Edinboro's No. 10 Vic Avery and No. 6 Nathaniel Brown from Lehigh.
WILPS, BRIGHT SET TO WEIGHT IN:
When Pitt takes the mat against Penn State on Friday, fans will have the opportunity to see national qualifiers redshirt senior Tyler Wilps and sophomore Edgar Bright both weigh in together for the first time all season. Wilps, who also weighed in against Lehigh, and Bright have been hampered by nagging injuries this season and are anticipating their comebacks to be right around the corner.
SCOUTING PENN STATE
Four-time defending National Champion Penn State comes into the match ranked fifth in the country, behind six wrestlers ranked in the top-20 by TheOpenMat, with four of them in the top-10. All six wrestlers have competed just once this season and are all 1-0 with wins in the dual against Lehigh.
Matt Brown, at 174 pounds, is the highest rated wrestler at number three from TheOpenMat. Following Brown is No. 5 Morgan McIntosh (197 pounds), No. 6 Jimmy Gulibon (133), No. 8 Jon Gingrich (285), No. 12 Jordan Conaway and No. 14 Zack Beitz. All but Beitz are national qualifiers within the past two years, with Brown and McIntosh collecting All-American honors. Dylan Alton, another All-American at 157 pounds, and Jimmy Lawson are both national qualifiers that have yet to wrestle this season.
LAST MEETING:
Pitt and Penn State split the first four bouts, and with a fall by Mikey Racciato the Panthers held a 9-6 lead, but Penn State went on to win the final six matches and finished off Pitt, 28-9.
SERIES HISTORY
When Pitt and Penn State meet on Friday, it will mark the 70th all-time meeting between the two schools, Pitt's most frequent and longest opponent in school history. The Nittany Lions were the Panthers' first recorded opponent back in 1916-17 when they schools faced off twice that season.
In 1949-50 when Pitt restarted the wrestling program, the two schools met every year for 50 straight seasons all the way to 1998-99. After a break in 1999-2000, the two teams played just three times during a nine year span, but have become yearly opponents once again since the 2009-10 season.
The last time PSU failed to win was in 2009-10 when the two teams tied 19-19. Pitt's last win came in 2001-02, which was the second of two straight wins. It's last win at Pitt was in 2000-01. The overall series is 54-13-3 in favor of PSU.
UP NEXT...
Pitt wastes no time, turning right around after the Penn State match to travel to Philadelphia for the Keystone Classic, which takes place all day on Sunday, Nov. 23. This will be the first time the entire Pitt lineup suits up for an open tournament.
Tickets for the Pitt wrestling season are now on sale. Fans are able to purchase season and single dual tickets by going online , calling 800-643-PITT (7488), or visiting the Panthers Ticket Office located in the lobby of the Petersen Events Center. Group rates are available to all matches for 15 or more people and are available by calling the Panthers Ticket Office. Individual match tickets will also be available at the Ticket Office the day of the match, subject to availability. Group rates are not available at the door.
