Pitt Heads East to No. 10 Lehigh, Keystone Classic

Nov. 19, 2015

Match Notes | Lehigh: Watch Live - Listen Live | Keystone Classic: Watch Live ($)

PITTSBURGH - The Pitt wrestling team (3-0) returns to the mat Friday, Nov. 20, as the squad travels to No. 10 Lehigh (2-1) for a 7 p.m. dual at the Leeman-Turner Arena. The Panthers will conclude the weekend trip at the Keystone Classic hosted by Penn Sunday, Nov. 22, at the historic "cathedral of basketball", The Palestra.

Pitt and the Mountain Hawks will meet for the 60th time in program history. The teams first met in the early stages of the programs' existences, 1916. Since then, Lehigh has claimed 40 duals, while Pitt has taken 17 and tied two. The Mountain Hawks and Panthers last met in 2013 in Bethlehem, Pa., where Pitt won the dual 16-15.

On Sunday, the Panthers will compete in the annual Keystone Classic on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Pitt has competed well at the Classic as there have been individual champions in the past two seasons. Recent graduate Max Thomusseit and current sophomore Dom Forys both claimed their weight classes respectively a year ago.

LAST TIME OUT

In their opening weekend at the Terrapin Duals, the Panthers left College Park, Md., with three dual victories under their belt. Pitt dominated its first opponent of the day, defeating Kutztown 46-6 and followed that with a hard-fought 16-15 win over host-team Maryland. The Panthers concluded the Duals with a 41-0 victory over West Liberty.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAIN HAWKS

Ranked No. 10 in the latest USA Today/NWCA Coaches poll, Lehigh owns an overall record of 2-1 after starting the season off with a 23-12 win over Patriot League foe Bucknell. That was followed by splitting with Big East teams No. 16 Minnesota and No. 10 Nebraska. The Mountain Hawks claimed the first dual, 22-12, but fell to the Corn Huskers, 24-6.

Lehigh returns 2015 NCAA runner-up Nathaniel Brown at 184 pounds. Brown is currently ranked No. 8 by InterMat and claims a 7-2 dual record thus far. Six other Mountain Hawks were ranked by InterMat this week, including Mitch Minotti at No. 7 in the 157 weight class.

ZANETTA REMAINS UNDEFEATED

Last weekend, several Panthers competed at the East Stroudsburg Open including redshirt sophomore Nick Zanetta. The Pittsburgh native entered the weekend with two wins from the Terrapin Duals, and continued his winning ways as he battled his way to first place in the 141 weight class, improving his overall record to 7-0. After winning his first two matches by way of technical fall and major decision, respectively, Zanetta pinned this third opponent, Jack Lucie of Army West Point, in 19 seconds. He dominated his final two opponents, winning both matches in a major decision.

JACOBSON PLACES AT ESU OPEN

In addition to redshirt sophomore Nick Zanetta claiming first place in his weight class at the East Stroudsburg Open, freshman Cam Jacobson finished fifth in the 174 weight class. Jacobson owns an overall record of 6-4 after winning his first three matches at ESU. Zanetta and Jacobson's finishes marks the Panthers fourth top-five finish at a tournament this season.

SOLOMON IN THE POLLS

Redshirt sophomore Ryan Solomon (285) continues to find himself among the top 25 in the weekly polls after his 7-5 decision over Maryland's Dawson Peck lifted the Panthers to a 16-15 team victory. This week Solomon comes in at No. 19 by Intermat and TheOpenMat, and moved up in the rankings to 13th by FloWrestling.

SEASON OUTLOOK

The Panthers look to build upon their historical and successful program that has been in existence since 1914. Pitt finished the 2014-15 season 21st at NCAAs was highlighted by a runner-up finish from then-senior Tyler Wilps at 174 pounds. Although losing Wilps to graduation, the Panthers added the decorated Pittsburgh native to the coaching staff this season as the volunteer assistant coach.

Pitt returns three NCAA qualifiers from 2014-15 and two more from the year prior. Headlining the returners is 141 pound ACC Champion Mikey Racciato who enters the season with bountiful experience as the junior claims a 44-25 career record and is a two-time NCAA qualifier. Sophomore Dom Forys is expected to be a major threat on the mat at 133 pounds after a successful freshman campaign. Rounding out last year's national qualifiers is redshirt sophomore Ryan Solomon who will compete in the 197/285 classes. In his first full season as a Panther, Solomon earned an automatic bid to nationals after a runner-up finish at ACC's. Redshirt seniors Nick Bonaccorsi and Ronnie Garbinsky headline the upperclassmen returners as both wrestlers qualified for NCAA's in 2014.

2015-16 SLATE AT A GLANCE

Pitt is set to face eight teams ranked in the top-25 USA Today/NWCA Coaches preseason poll. As announced on Oct. 27, Oklahoma State came in at the No. 1 spot and will visit Pittsburgh on Jan. 17. The Panthers next opponent, Lehigh, ranks seventh after finishing 13th at nationals last year. Three ACC schools were represented in the top-25 (Virginia Tech [6], NC State [12], and North Carolina [14]) while two other conference teams received votes, including Pitt and Virginia.

SEASON AND MATCH TICKETS NOW ON SALE

Watch the Panthers as they begin the long road to Madison Square Garden. Pitt will compete at the Fitzgerald Field House seven times throughout the 2015-16 campaign and will host some of the top teams in the country. Fans can purchase season and single match tickets online or by calling 800-643-PITT(7488).

UP NEXT

Following their trip to the eastern side of the state, the Panthers will return to Pittsburgh on Thursday, Dec. 10, for the home opener against Edinboro. The dual is set to begin at 7 p.m. at the Fitzgerald Field House.

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Pitt Heads East to No. 10 Lehigh, Keystone Classic

Players Mentioned

Nick Bonaccorsi

Dom Forys

Ronnie Garbinsky

Cam Jacobson

Mikey Racciato

Ryan Solomon

Max Thomusseit

Nick Zanetta

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