Pitt Wrestling Announces 2022-23 Schedule
8/26/2022 9:00:00 AM | Wrestling
PITTSBURGH—Coming off consecutive Top-25 finishes, the University of Pittsburgh wrestling program has finalized its 2022-23 dual and tournament schedule, head coach Keith Gavin announced Friday.
The Panthers will face 14 dual opponents – seven at home and seven away – while also competing at two early season open tournaments to prepare Pitt's roster for the 2023 postseason.
"We're happy with the quality schedule we have this upcoming season," Coach Gavin said. "It has a little bit of everything. We think fans will be excited about some of the matchups and we're looking forward to challenging our guys with good opponents throughout the season."
"It's definitely good to have the Backyard Brawl against West Virginia back on the schedule," Gavin added. "It just makes sense for us to wrestle against them every year, so now that we're back to normal scheduling that is something we would like to continue. Iowa State will also be a great nonconference home dual for our fans."
After the team's Blue-Gold Dual on Friday, Oct. 28, Pitt's wrestlers will begin the season by heading to the Clarion Open for individual open tournament matches. Then the Panthers start their dual season with a Friday night matchup at Cleveland State on Nov. 11.
Pitt's home slate begins with a weekend doubleheader against Maryland (Nov. 18) and Lehigh (Nov. 19) before a December calendar of road trips to Illinois (Dec. 3), Brown (Dec. 9) and Columbia (Dec. 11) before the prestigious Midlands Championships near Chicago ahead of the New Year. The dual at Brown will mark a match between Coach Gavin and new Bears' head coach Jordan Leen, who served as Gavin's top assistant at Pitt each of the past five seasons.
After the New Year, Pitt and West Virginia renew the Backyard Brawl on the mat on Sunday, Jan. 8. The Panthers then welcome Buffalo to Pittsburgh on Friday, Jan. 13.
The Panthers enter Atlantic Coast Conference action with consecutive Friday trips to Virginia, facing the Cavaliers in Charlottesville on Jan. 20 and the Hokies in Blacksburg on Jan. 27.
The first weekend of February, Pitt hosts an exciting doubleheader with ACC rival North Carolina (Feb. 3) and traditional national powerhouse Iowa State (Feb. 4) visiting on back-to-back days.
Pitt concludes its regular season with ACC matchups at NC State on Friday, Feb. 10 and against Duke on Saturday, Feb. 18 for Senior Day at the Fitzgerald Field House.
The 2023 ACC Championships will be held at NC State on Sunday, March 5 in Raleigh, N.C. before the 2023 NCAA Championships take place in Tulsa, Okla., from March 16-18.
The Pitt wrestling program returns three past All-Americans and ACC champions – Nino Bonaccorsi (197), Cole Matthews (141) and Micky Phillippi (133) – and also added two transfers with NCAA experience and conference title honors at their previous schools – Dazjon Casto (157) and Holden Heller (165).
The rest of Pitt's lineup will include up-and-coming talent developed in Coach Gavin's wrestling room, including 2022 USA U20 freestyle national champion Luca Augustine, who could start at 174 pounds.
Pitt also brings in its most accomplished freshman class in years, with Mac Stout, Dayton Pitzer, Jared Keslar, Briar Priest, Jack Pletcher, Vincent Santaniello, Codie Cuerbo and Kelin Laffey providing outstanding prep pedigrees to the Panthers' roster for 2023 and beyond.
Dual match start times and ticket information will be announced by the Pitt wrestling program at a later date.
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The Panthers will face 14 dual opponents – seven at home and seven away – while also competing at two early season open tournaments to prepare Pitt's roster for the 2023 postseason.
"We're happy with the quality schedule we have this upcoming season," Coach Gavin said. "It has a little bit of everything. We think fans will be excited about some of the matchups and we're looking forward to challenging our guys with good opponents throughout the season."
"It's definitely good to have the Backyard Brawl against West Virginia back on the schedule," Gavin added. "It just makes sense for us to wrestle against them every year, so now that we're back to normal scheduling that is something we would like to continue. Iowa State will also be a great nonconference home dual for our fans."
After the team's Blue-Gold Dual on Friday, Oct. 28, Pitt's wrestlers will begin the season by heading to the Clarion Open for individual open tournament matches. Then the Panthers start their dual season with a Friday night matchup at Cleveland State on Nov. 11.
Pitt's home slate begins with a weekend doubleheader against Maryland (Nov. 18) and Lehigh (Nov. 19) before a December calendar of road trips to Illinois (Dec. 3), Brown (Dec. 9) and Columbia (Dec. 11) before the prestigious Midlands Championships near Chicago ahead of the New Year. The dual at Brown will mark a match between Coach Gavin and new Bears' head coach Jordan Leen, who served as Gavin's top assistant at Pitt each of the past five seasons.
After the New Year, Pitt and West Virginia renew the Backyard Brawl on the mat on Sunday, Jan. 8. The Panthers then welcome Buffalo to Pittsburgh on Friday, Jan. 13.
The Panthers enter Atlantic Coast Conference action with consecutive Friday trips to Virginia, facing the Cavaliers in Charlottesville on Jan. 20 and the Hokies in Blacksburg on Jan. 27.
The first weekend of February, Pitt hosts an exciting doubleheader with ACC rival North Carolina (Feb. 3) and traditional national powerhouse Iowa State (Feb. 4) visiting on back-to-back days.
Pitt concludes its regular season with ACC matchups at NC State on Friday, Feb. 10 and against Duke on Saturday, Feb. 18 for Senior Day at the Fitzgerald Field House.
The 2023 ACC Championships will be held at NC State on Sunday, March 5 in Raleigh, N.C. before the 2023 NCAA Championships take place in Tulsa, Okla., from March 16-18.
The Pitt wrestling program returns three past All-Americans and ACC champions – Nino Bonaccorsi (197), Cole Matthews (141) and Micky Phillippi (133) – and also added two transfers with NCAA experience and conference title honors at their previous schools – Dazjon Casto (157) and Holden Heller (165).
The rest of Pitt's lineup will include up-and-coming talent developed in Coach Gavin's wrestling room, including 2022 USA U20 freestyle national champion Luca Augustine, who could start at 174 pounds.
Pitt also brings in its most accomplished freshman class in years, with Mac Stout, Dayton Pitzer, Jared Keslar, Briar Priest, Jack Pletcher, Vincent Santaniello, Codie Cuerbo and Kelin Laffey providing outstanding prep pedigrees to the Panthers' roster for 2023 and beyond.
Dual match start times and ticket information will be announced by the Pitt wrestling program at a later date.
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