Early Pin Proves Crucial, Maryland Beats No. 17 Pitt

Friday, November 18

Pittsburgh, PA

7 PM

Pitt

Maryland

Early Pin Proves Crucial, Maryland Beats No. 17 Pitt

11/18/2022 9:00:00 PM | Wrestling

PITTSBURGH—Pitt super senior Nino Bonaccorsi earned the 100th victory of his remarkable college career on Friday night at the Fitzgerald Field House, earning a standing ovation from the crowd.

Ranked No. 9 by InterMat at 197 pounds, Bonaccorsi beat No. 13 Jaxon Smith by 8-2 decision with a trademark attacking performance with mat control throughout. Bonaccorsi's improved his career record in college wrestling matches to 100-25.

However, the No. 17 Pitt wrestling team dropped an 18-16 decision to visiting Maryland. The Terrapins (4-0) earned the win thanks to a pin by No. 26 Braxton Brown at 125 pounds and secured victory in come-from-behind fashion by taking the heavyweight bout thanks to No. 28 Jaron Smith.

Also winning matches for the Panthers were No. 8 Micky Phillippi at 133 pounds, No. 1 Cole Matthews at 141, No. 14 Holden Heller by major decision at 165 and No. 24 Reece Heller at 184.

Close defeats at 157 and 174 pounds were also vital in the dual, including a takedown by Pitt's Luca Augustine at 174 that was controversially overturned upon review before No. 32 Dominic Solis won the match in sudden-victory overtime.

"It was a disappointing night," Pitt head coach Keith Gavin said. "To start out with a pin for them at 125, that was a huge swing. I told Colton after he looked really good, but he has to be ready for that roll. Hopefully he stays positive because he was wrestling very well before that moment. But that was huge. The match at 157 was a big one too."

"There we some good performances, too," Gavin added. "The Heller brothers both looked great. Nino, too. But overall, we need to see a little more offense and scoring across the 10 weight classes."

Full results from Friday's dual are available below.

Pitt has a chance to respond immediately tomorrow with a 7 p.m. home dual with No. 13 Lehigh.

Saturday's dual with Lehigh – the 67th all-time wrestling matchup between the Panthers and Mountain Hawks – will serve as Pitt's Hall of Fame Recognition Night. Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro, a national champion during his career wrestling for the Panthers, and late great Pitt head coach Rande Stottlemyer will be honored as Class of 2022 inductees into the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame.

Fans coming from Pitt's home football game on Saturday against Duke can also attain free admission to Saturday's wrestling match with Lehigh by showing their ticket from Acrisure Stadium.

Maryland 18, No. 17 Pitt 16
125 | #26 Braxton Brown (Maryland) pins Colton Camacho (Pitt), 4:55 (Maryland leads, 6-0)
133 | #8 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) dec. Jackson Cockrell (Maryland), 5-1 (Maryland leads, 6-3)
141 | #1 Cole Matthews (Pitt) dec. #33 Kal Miller (Maryland), 5-1 (Tied, 6-6)
149 | #24 Ethen Miller (Maryland) dec. Tyler Badgett (Pitt), 9-4 (Maryland leads, 9-6)
157 | Michael North (Maryland) dec. #11 Dazjon Casto (Pitt), 10-8 SV (Maryland leads, 12-6)
165 | #14 Holden Heller (Pitt) maj. dec. Lucas Cordio (Maryland), 12-4 (Maryland leads, 12-10)
174 | #32 Dominic Solis (Maryland) dec. Luca Augustine (Pitt), 3-1 SV (Maryland leads, 15-10)
184 | #24 Reece Heller (Pitt) dec. Chase Mielnik (Maryland), 10-4 (Maryland leads, 15-13)
197 | #9 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) dec. #13 Jaxon Smith (Maryland), 8-2 (Pitt leads, 16-15)
HWT | #28 Jaron Smith (Maryland) dec. Jake Slinger (Pitt), 6-1 (Maryland wins, 18-16)

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