Pitt
Pitt Blue-Gold Dual
Heller Brothers Record Pins in Pitt’s Blue-Gold Dual
10/30/2023 8:30:00 PM | Wrestling
PITTSBURGH—Several hundred Pitt wrestling fans got a first glimpse at the 2023-24 Panthers on Monday night at Fitzgerald Field House for the team's annual Blue-Gold Dual of exhibition bouts.
The nice crowd saw preseason action in nine matches across seven weight classes, highlighted by pins by Holden Heller at 165 pounds and his brother Reece Heller at 184 pounds.
Full results from Pitt's Blue-Gold Dual are available below.
"It was a good evening of wrestling in front of a really nice crowd for an exhibition," Pitt wrestling head coach Keith Gavin said. "We do this as a trial run to get ready for the season. It can be a bit weird to wrestle your own teammates in competitive matches, but I thought our guys handled it well tonight."
"We want to take it one match at a time this season," Gavin said. "We have some young guys we are excited for that we expect to make an impact, but we just need to focus on development and improvement throughout the year."
Also winning for the Panthers, NC State transfer Finn Solomon made his case for Pitt's starting job at 149 pounds by claiming narrow victories in both of his bouts.
Colton Camacho and Vinnie Santaniello showed Pitt will have guys at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively, who are capable of scoring points at the lightweights. Both scored technical fall wins.
Cole Matthews won his bout at 141 pounds and should be an All-America contender once again for the Panthers during his super senior season.
And at 157 pounds, Jared Keslar edged his contest with Dylan Evans in a battle of young Panthers. Keslar held on in the most competitive match of the evening, 4-3, thanks to a takedown in the second.
Members of Pitt's team will be in action for the first time next Sunday, Nov. 5 at the Clarion Open.
The Panthers opening duals will be at the Navy Duals on Sunday, Nov. 12 against the hosting Midshipmen as well as Morgan State and VMI.
Results from Pitt's Blue-Gold Dual (Blue 20, Gold 17)
149: Finn Solomon (Gold) dec. Jack Pletcher (Blue), 2-0
149: Kelin Laffey (Blue) dec. Tyler Badgett (Gold), 3-0
125: Colton Camacho (Gold) tech. fall Tyler Chappell (Blue), 18-3 (7:00)
133: Vinnie Santaniello (Blue) tech. fall Jordan Villareal (Gold), 17-2 (3:29)
141: Cole Matthews (Blue) dec. Briar Priest (Gold), 8-4
157: Jared Keslar (Blue) dec. Dylan Evans (Gold, 4-3
165: Holden Heller (Gold) pins Grant MacKay (Blue), 4:54
184: Reece Heller (Blue) pins Carson A. Miller (Gold), 0:56
149: Finn Solomon (Gold) dec. Kelin Laffey (Blue), 5-2 SV
Attendance: 510
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