Pitt
Illinois
No. 19 Pitt Pulls Away from Illinois, 22-9
12/3/2023 8:00:00 PM | Wrestling
PITTSBURGH—The No. 19 Pitt wrestling program hosted its home opener on Sunday evening at the Fitzgerald Field House and surged past Big Ten opponent Illinois with a 22-9 dual victory.
The Panthers (5-1) won seven bouts against the Illini (3-2) to defeat Illinois by a wide margin for the second consecutive season. Pitt had won 30-6 last year in Champaign.
The teams split the four ranked matchups, with Pitt redshirt freshmen No. 17 Vinnie Santaniello at 133 pounds and No. 11 Dayton Pitzer at heavyweight each earning big wins over highly touted opponents.
The marquee match of the night went Pitt's way when Pitzer scored a flurry of late points to send the Pitt crowd into a frenzy and upend No. 8 Luke Luffman at heavyweight, 10-3.
"That was a good dual win with a lot of close matches," Pitt head coach Keith Gavin said. "We picked up several gritty wins, including some comebacks. It was good to be back home in front of our fans too."
Also winning bouts for the Panthers, No. 9 Holden Heller at 165 pounds and No. 23 Finn Solomon at 149 pounds each recovered from 7-1 deficits to earn impressive fightback victories in the final minute.
"That's a very difficult thing to do, coming back in a match after being on your back," Gavin added. "Really proud of those guys for fighting through that adversity, scoring points and giving us momentum. That's the type of effort that can make a huge difference at the end of the season."
Colton Camacho at 125 pounds, No. 15 Reece Heller at 184 pounds and No. 19 Mac Stout at 197 pounds also picked up wins for Pitt against the Illini, with the heavier Heller earning the only bonus points of the dual with a major decision in his bout.
See below for full results from Sunday evening's Pitt-Illinois dual at Fitzgerald Field House.
The Panthers are back in action next Sunday with another Big Ten challenge. Pitt will head to Columbus to face No. 5 Ohio State in a top-20 dual live on Big Ten Network at 2 p.m. from the Covelli Center.
No. 19 Pitt 22, Illinois 9
157: Joe Roberts (Illinois) dec. Jared Keslar (Pitt), 6-3 (Illinois leads, 3-0)
165: No. 9 Holden Heller (Pitt) dec. Chris Moore (Illinois), 11-10 (Tied, 3-3)
174: No. 4 Edmond Ruth (Illinois) dec. No. 20 Luca Augustine (Pitt), 11-5 (Illinois leads, 6-3)
184: No. 15 Reece Heller (Pitt) maj. dec. Caden Ernd (Illinois), 11-3 (Pitt leads, 7-6)
197: No. 19 Mac Stout (Pitt) dec. Isiah Pettigrew (Illinois), 7-4 (Pitt leads, 10-6)
285: No. 11 Dayton Pitzer (Pitt) dec. No. 8 Luke Luffman (Illinois), 10-3 (Pitt leads, 13-6)
125: Colton Camacho (Pitt) dec. Justin Cardani (Illinois), 4-0 (Pitt leads, 16-6)
133: No. 17 Vinnie Santaniello (Pitt) dec. No. 24 Tony Madrigal (Illinois), 5-4 (Pitt leads, 19-6)
141: No. 27 Danny Pucino (Illinois) dec. No. 13 Cole Matthews (Pitt), 6-3 SV (Pitt leads, 19-9)
149: No. 23 Finn Solomon (Pitt) dec. Jake Harrier (Illinois), 12-11 (Pitt wins, 22-9)
Attendance: 745
#pinzburgh | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Players Mentioned
