Pitt Wins at Virginia, Gets Perfect Start to ACC Season

Friday, January 20

Charlottesville, VA

7 PM

Pitt

Virginia

Pitt Wins at Virginia, Gets Perfect Start to ACC Season

1/20/2023 9:00:00 PM | Wrestling

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—Two months away from the 2023 NCAA Championships, and the Pitt wrestling team looked like a squad hitting its stride at the right time of the season on Friday night at Virginia.

The Panthers (7-2, 1-0 ACC) walked into Memorial Gym and emerged with a resounding 25-6 victory against the hosting Cavaliers (6-3, 0-1 ACC) in the conference-opening dual for both teams.

Pitt won eight of the 10 bouts and improved to 9-2 in the all-time series with Virginia.

"Our effort was really good tonight," Pitt head coach Keith Gavin said. "That was the start we wanted to the ACC dual meet season. Winning eight matches was big, and even the two we lost were close. It's exciting to see guys like Colton (Camacho) earning a strong win and scoring points and entertaining. We had a lot of encouraging performances and we need to continue to be consistent moving forward."

Action started at 157 pounds, with Dazjon Casto knocking off No. 33 Jake Keating by 14-8 decision largely thanks to a huge six-point move at the end of the second period.

"That was a big match for him," Gavin said of Casto. "Personally, for him to get a strong win against a pretty good opponent should be a great confidence boost. He's been struggling some, but we know how good of a wrestler he is. He fought for it tonight and gave our team a huge boost tonight."

That sparked the Panthers, and momentum carried over into the 165-pound bout, where No. 31 Holden Heller also used nearfall points to defeat No. 15 Justin McCoy by 9-3 decision. Luca Augustine followed that up with a decision over Vic Marcelli, giving the Panthers an early 9-0 lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Also winning for Pitt, No. 2 Nino Bonaccorsi remained undefeated with another ranked win over No. 24 Michael Battista at 197 pounds, Jake Slinger shut out Jessie Knight at heavyweight and Colton Camacho worked a 14-1 major decision over Patrick McCormick at 125.

No. 7 Micky Phillippi won against his former school, defeating Marlon Yarbrough II at 133 pounds. Following that, No. 3 Cole Matthews beat No. 29 Brian Courtney at 141.

The Panthers return to the Old Dominion commonwealth next Friday for an enticing dual at No. 8 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Pitt's 7 p.m. contest against the Hokies will air on the ACC Network.

Pitt 25, Virginia 6
157: Dazjon Casto (Pitt) dec. No. 33 Jake Keating (Virginia), 14-8 (Pitt leads, 3-0)
165: No. 31 Holden Heller (Pitt) dec. No. 15 Justin McCoy (Virginia), 9-3 (Pitt leads, 6-0)
174: Luca Augustine (Pitt) dec. Vic Marcelli (Virginia), 4-1 (Pitt leads, 9-0)
184: No. 20 Neil Antrassian (Virginia) dec. No. 17 Reece Heller (Pitt), 7-3 (Pitt leads, 9-3)
197: No. 2 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) dec. No. 24 Michael Battista (Virginia), 7-4 (Pitt leads, 12-3)
HWT: Jake Slinger (Pitt) dec. Jessie Knight (Virginia), 4-0 (Pitt leads, 15-3)
125: Colton Camacho (Pitt) maj. dec. Patrick McCormick (Virginia), 14-1 (Pitt leads, 19-3)
133: No. 7 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) dec. Marlon Yarbrough II (Virginia), 7-3 (Pitt leads, 22-3)
141: No. 3 Cole Matthews (Pitt) dec. No. 29 Brian Courtney (Virginia), 4-1 (Pitt leads, 25-3)
149: No. 30 Jarod Verkleeren (Virginia) dec. No. 29 Tyler Badgett (Pitt), 5-3 (Pitt wins, 25-6)

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