University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
ACC Championships
Three Pitt Wrestlers Win ACC Titles, Wilps Wins MVP
3/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Results
Finals Photo Gallery | Podium Gallery | Consolation Finals Gallery | Consolation Semifinals Gallery | Semifinals Gallery | First Round Gallery
PITTSBURGH - Three Pitt wrestlers won individual titles on Sunday night as nationally-ranked No. 25 Pitt placed second at the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships at the Petersen Events Center on March 8.
"Down the stretch we struggled this year in dual meets, we just couldn't find a way to win," said head coach Jason Peters following Pitt's performance at the event. "Then to come here and finish second, I think it's a testament of how these guys performed today and I'm happy for them."
All seeded No. 1, redshirt seniors Max Thomusseit and Tyler Wilps, and sophomore Mikey Racciato each won their respective weight classes giving the Panthers three champions this season - two more than last year. They all qualified for the NCAA Championships as well and the three champions from Pitt were tied for the most by a team during the day.
For his efforts, Wilps was named the ACC Most Valuable Wrestler, coming out on top in the deepest weight class. To win the award, Wilps had to defeat sixth-ranked Blaise Butler (Virginia), 4-1 in the finals and finish above Virginia Tech's Zach Epperly, who entered the tournament ranked seventh in the country. Wilps will be making his third NCAA Championship appearance.
Thomusseit won both his matches by major decision, topping Tyler Askey (Virginia), 19-8, in the semifinals and Jacob Kasper, 14-6, in the title bout to secure his fourth tournament bid of his career..
After winning his semifinal matchup against Duke's Marcus Cain in a shootout, 16-9, Racciato emerged victorious 12 seconds into sudden victory against Christian Barber (UNC) by a final score of 3-1. Racciato is set to make back-to-back trips to the NCAA Championship now.
As a team, it was the second year in a row Pitt finished in second place, this time with 71.0 points - four more than last year. Nationally-ranked No. 18 Virginia won the event with 85.5 points and 10th-ranked Virginia Tech was third with 59.5 points. No. 17 NC State was sixth with 31.0 points.
In addition to Pitt's three champions, who all earned automatic bids to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis from March 19-21, three more wrestlers punched their tickets to the tournament while two more finished on the podium.
Redshirt freshman Ryan Solomon won two matches wrestling up at 285 pounds, including a surprising upset of eighth-ranked and second seeded Ty Walz (Virginia Tech) to clinch a spot in the finals, where he lost to defending ACC and NCAA Champion Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State), who won his 50th match in a row on Sunday. Despite dropping the final match, Solomon will take momentum to into his first NCAA Championship.
Freshman Dom Forys and redshirt senior Troy Reaghard both placed third and grabbed their first NCAA Championship spots in the process.
Forys, the fourth seed at 125 pounds, won his first match against Thayer Atkins (Duke) in a 14-4 major decision, before falling to third-ranked Joey Dance (Virginia Tech) in the semifinals. He battled back to win two more in the consolation rounds, including a fall in 2:55 of Cody Karns (UNC) and a thrilling 11-7 sudden victory decision over the second seed Joe Deangelo (NC State) to clinch his spot on the podium and in the NCAA Championships.
On what would have been his final collegiate wrestling event, the sixth-seeded Reaghard was one of two bottom seeds to make his way onto the podium. After dropping his first match, Reaghard scored a 4-3 decision against Max Rohskopf (NC State), 4-3, and defeated Jake Faust, 6-2, to extend his wrestling career and place third.
"A lot of what they (Solomon and Reaghard) did helped us get where we are," said Peters. "Unfortunately we didn't get those kind of performances out of them all year, nut it's the right time of year to be doing those things."
Redshirt juniors Ronnie Garbinsky and Nick Bonaccorsi joined Forys and Reaghard in earning third place finishes, but will have to await Tuesday's at-large bid announcement by the NCAA to see if they will continue with their seasons.
"We will continue to work on the things we're good at and fix some things we're not very good at and just keep having the fight, the passion to compete" said Peters in regards to the upcoming NCAA Championships. "That was the goal this weekend, we just compete. And guys did that, they competed. It wasn't enough to win the tournament, but it put us in the hunt. So I'm happy for them."
Pitt will close out the season in St. Louis between March 19-21 at the 2015 NCAA Championships.
125 Pounds - Dom Forys, 3rd place
First Round: Dom Forys (Pitt) m. dec. Thayer Atkins (Duke), 14-4
Semifinals: #3 Joey Dance (VT) fall Dom Forys (Pitt), 5:56
Consolation Semifinals: Dom Forys (Pitt) fall Cody Karns (UNC), 2:55
Consolation Finals: Dom Forys (Pitt) dec. Joe DeAngelo (NC State), 11-7 (SV)
133 Pounds - Nick Zanetta
First Round: Bryce Meredith (NC State) dec. Nick Zanetta (Pitt), 6-2
Consolation Semifinals: Troy Heilmann (UNC) dec. Nick Zanetta (Pitt), 5-3 SV
141 Pounds - Ben Ross
First Round: No. 15 Kevin Jack (NC State) fall Ben Ross (Pitt), 3:26
Consolation Semifinals: Joe Spisak (UVA) fall Ben Ross (Pitt), 4:21
149 Pounds - Mikey Racciato, ACC Champion
Semifinals: #19 Mikey Racciato (Pitt) dec. Marcus Cain (Duke), 16-9
Finals: #19 Mikey Racciato (Pitt) dec. Christian Barber (UNC), 3-1
157 Pounds - Ronnie Garbinsky, 3rd place
First Round: Ronnie Garbinsky (Pitt) dec. Chris Mears (UNC), 5-2
Semifinals: #6 Nick Brascetta (VT) dec. Ronnie Garbinsky, 7-2
Consolation Semifinals: Ronnie Garbinsky (Pitt) dec. Chad Pyke (NC State), 2-1
Consolation Finals: Ronnie Garbinsky (Pitt) dec. Immanuel Kerr-Brown (Duke), 5-1
165 Pounds - Troy Reaghard, 3rd place
First Round: Chad Strube (VT) dec. Troy Reaghard (Pitt), 5-3
Consolation Semifinals: Troy Reaghard (Pitt) dec. Max Rohskopf (NC State), 4-3
Consolation Finals: Troy Reaghard (Pitt) dec. Jake Faust (Duke), 6-2
174 Pounds - Tyler Wilps, ACC Champion
Semifinals: #8 Tyler Wilps (Pitt) dec. John Michael Staudenmayer (UNC), 6-2
Finals: #8 Tyler Wilps (Pitt) dec. #6 Blaise Butler (UVA), 4-1
184 Pounds - Max Thomusseit, ACC Champion
Semifinals: #2 Max Thomusseit (Pitt) m. dec. Tyler Askey (UVA), 19-8
Finals: #2 Max Thomusseit (Pitt) m. dec. Jacob Kasper (Duke), 14-6
197 Pounds - Nick Bonaccorsi, 3rd place
First Round: Jared Haught (VT) dec. Nick Bonaccorsi (Pitt), 4-2
Consolation Semifinals: Nick Bonaccorsi (Pitt) dec. Michael Boykin (NC State), 4-1
Consolation Finals: Nick Bonaccorsi (Pitt) dec. Jared Haught (VT), 3-2 (TB4)
285 Pounds - Ryan Solomon, Runner-up
First Round: Ryan Solomon (Pitt) dec. Brendan Walsh (Duke), 6-4
Semifinals: Ryan Solomon (Pitt) dec. #8 Ty Walz (VT), 3-2
Finals: #1 Nick Gwiazdowski (NCSU) m. dec. Ryan Solomon (Pitt), 14-3
