Pitt Wrestling Announces 2023-24 Schedule
9/12/2023 1:00:00 PM | Wrestling
PITTSBURGH—Pitt wrestling head coach Keith Gavin unveiled the Panthers' 2023-24 schedule today ahead of his seventh season at the helm of the program.
Coming off a season that featured the Panthers earning a share of the ACC dual title and winning an individual NCAA championship, Pitt looks for more success this campaign with a roster that features nine wrestlers recently ranked in InterMat's preseason individual rankings.
Pitt's 2023-24 schedule is sure to be one of the most challenging and exciting in all of college wrestling.
The Panthers will host seven home duals this upcoming season, with Illinois (Dec. 8), Oklahoma State (Jan. 12), Arizona State (Jan. 21) and Rider (Feb. 22) all coming to Pittsburgh for nonconference contests.
In the ACC, Pitt will host NC State (Jan. 26), Virginia Tech (Feb. 16) and finally Virginia (Feb. 23) for Senior Day.
The road schedule will also be difficult, with visits to Lehigh (Nov. 19) and Maryland (Nov. 20) followed by Ohio State (Dec. 10) and Iowa State (Jan. 14) out of conference and ACC duals at Duke (Feb. 2) and North Carolina (Feb. 9) towards the end of the regular season.
The Panthers will also head to Nashville from Dec. 18-19 for the National Collegiate Duals, with guaranteed matchups set against Cornell, Iowa State and Arkansas Little Rock. Ohio State, NC State, Northern Iowa and Lock Haven will also vie for dual supremacy at one of the nation's premier winter tournaments.
In total, Pitt will wrestle 10 duals against teams that finished in the top-25 overall at the 2023 NCAA Championships, including three home matches with programs that finished in the top-10 last season.
"We tried to put together a tough schedule," Gavin said. "We're always looking to wrestle the best competition possible to help our guys prepare for the national tournament. This year specifically, it was important to help a younger team become battle tested by facing quality competition. We worked hard on building this schedule, and everyone is excited and ready to go for this season."
Additionally, the Panthers will host a Blue-Gold Dual (Oct. 30) and travel to the Clarion Open (Nov. 5) and the Navy Duals (Nov. 12 against Navy, Morgan State and VMI) to start the season. A trip to the Franking & Marshall Open (Jan. 5) after the New Year is also on the schedule, which will conclude with the 2024 ACC Championships (March 10) held at North Carolina and the 2024 NCAA Championships (March 21-23) in Kansas City.
Pitt's most experienced returner is past NCAA All-American No. 8 Cole Matthews at 141 pounds, with the two-time ACC champion primed for his last season with the Panthers.
No. 12 Reece Heller at 184 pounds, No. 13 Holden Heller at 165 pounds, No. 24 Luca Augustine at 174 pounds and No. 33 Colton Camacho at 125 pounds are also returning starters for Coach Gavin's squad.
Four of Pitt's redshirt freshmen also appear in the preseason rankings released by Intermat, with No. 9 Dayton Pitzer at heavyweight, No. 18 Mac Stout at 197 pounds, No. 28 Jared Keslar at 157 pounds and No. 33 Vinnie Santaniello at 133 pounds all looking for strong debut seasons fully in the lineup.
Details regarding season tickets, dual times and broadcast information about the 2023-24 Pitt wrestling season will be announced in the near future.
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