University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt Places Five in Monday’s Semifinals at Midlands Championships
12/29/2024 10:15:00 PM | Wrestling
Panthers Rank Fourth in Team Standings
CHICAGO – Pitt Wrestling had an outstanding day at the 2024 Midlands Championship as five Panthers posted 3-0 records to advance to Monday's semifinal matches in their respective weight classes. No. 11 Reece Heller (184) and No. 15 Mac Stout (197) cruised to undefeated days, while Kade Brown (149) grabbed a ranked win en route to spot in the semifinals.
No. 31 Dylan Evans and No. 19 Luca Augustine qualified for the semifinals in dramatic fashion. Evans overcame a late deficit in the third period and scored an 11-8 sudden victory over No. 21 Grigor Cholakyan (Stanford), while Augustine posted an 8-5 sudden victory against No. 22 Jackson Turley (Rutgers) in their quarterfinal matches.
Pitt posted the best winning percentage of the day going 34-11 (.757) across all bouts. The Panthers are fourth overall in the team standings after earning 65.0 points on the opening day of the Midlands Championship.
Heller's dominating day one accounted for 14.5 points as he earned a tech fall, injury fall, and major decision in his three matches. Stout, Brown, and Augustine each accounted for 11.5 points in their runs to the semifinals.
Rutgers (87.5), Stanford (76.5), Penn (71.5), Pitt (65.0) and Indiana (62.0) comprise the top five team at the event.
Pitt closed the first session of competition in fourth place with 31.0 points as all 12 participants recorded at least one and 10 wrestlers advancing to the evening session. The Panthers had seven wrestlers reach the quarterfinals with three additional wrestlers working their way through wrestlebacks.
Pitt posted the best winning percentage (.800) of the opening session with a 27-8 record, including seven wins by pin or tech fall.
Monday's action opens at 11:30 a.m. (ET) with semifinals, consolation, and the women's division competitions. Place matches are slated to begin at 4 p.m. (ET) with the awards ceremony capping off the 60th Midlands Championships at 7 p.m. (ET).
Monday's full schedule can be found HERE.
2024 Midlands Championships – Day 1 Results / Day 2 Schedule
125 – Colyn Limbert (1-2)
First Round
Bye
Second Round
Ayden Smith (Rutgers) dec. Colyn Limbert, 4-2
Consolation
3rd Round - Colyn Limbert dec. Ashton Jackson (Purdue), 3-2
4th Round - Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton) tech fall Colyn Limbert, 21-2
141 - Briar Priest (2-1), Anthony Santaniello (2-1)
First Round
Briar Priest maj. Dec. Joseph Fongaro (Rutgers), 8-0
Eligh Rivera (Princeton) dec. No. 31 Anthony Santaniello, 7-3
Second Round
Briar Priest dec. Dante Frinzi (Harvard), 6-4
Quarterfinals
(1) No. 14 CJ Composto (Penn) dec. Briar Priest, 5-2
Consolation
2nd Round – No. 31 Anthony Santaniello tech fall Kole Brower (Illinois), 15-0
3rd Round - No. 31 Anthony Santaniello dec. Elijah Griffin (California Baptist), 8-5
4th Round – No. 31 Anthony Santaniello vs. Evan Mougalian (Penn)
4th Round - Briar Priest vs. Ben Lunn (SIU Edwardsville)
149 – Kade Brown (3-0), Finn Solomon (2-1)
First Round
Bye
Second Round
Kade Brown tech fall Anthony Bahl (Indiana), 18-2
(3) No. 23 Finn Solomon tech fall Clayton Jones (Michigan State), 18-2
Third Round
Kade Brown dec. No. 31 Malyke Hines (Lehigh), 5-4
(3) No. 23 Finn Solomon fall Wyatt Krejsa (Purdue), 6:13
Quarterfinals
Kade Brown dec. Dylan Gilcher (Michigan), 14-8
(6) Andrew Clark (Rutgers) dec. (3) No. 23 Finn Solomon, 5-3
Semifinals
Kade Brown vs. (1) No. 9 Jaden Abas (Stanford)
Consolation
6th Round - (3) No. 23 Finn Solomon vs. August Hibler (Northwestern)
157 – Dylan Evans (3-0); Jack Pletcher (1-2)
First Round
(6) No. 31 Dylan Evans maj. dec. Jacob Bostelman (Northwestern), 9-1
Jack Pletcher dec. Kade Law (Purdue), 5-1
Second Round
(6) No. 31 Dylan Evans dec. Landen Johnson (Northern Illinois), 7-3
(1) No. 15 Jude Swisher (Penn) maj. dec. Jack Pletcher, 11-0
Quarterfinals
(6) No. 31 Dylan Evans dec. (3) No. 21 Grigor Cholakyan (Stanford), SV-1 11-8
Semifinals
(6) No. 31 Dylan Evans vs. (2) No. 19 Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan)
Consolation
2nd Round - Griffin Gonzalez (Lehigh) fall Jack Pletcher, 1:07
165 – Jared Keslar (2-2)
First Round
(4) No. 27 Anthony White (Rutgers) dec. Jared Keslar, 4-2
Consolation
1st Round – Jared Keslar maj. dec. Adam Thomson (Penn), 8-0
2nd Round - Jared Keslar dec. Ryan Ford (Rutgers), 7-1
3rd Round – Tyler Swiderski (Central Michigan) fall Jared Keslar, 5:00
174 – Luca Augustine (3-0)
First Round
(4) No. 19 Luca Augustine tech fall Ceasar Garza (Michigan State), 19-4
Second Round
(4) No. 19 Luca Augustine maj. dec. Logan Messer (George Mason), 12-2
Quarterfinals
(4) No. 19 Luca Augustine dec. (5) No. 22 Jackson Turley (Rutgers), SV-1 8-5
Semfinals
(4) No. 19 Luca Augustine vs. (1) No. 5 Nick Incontrera (Penn)
184 – Reece Heller (3-0); Chase Kranitz (2-2)
First Round
Bye
Second Round
(1) No. 11 Reece Heller tech fall Nathan Taylor (Penn), 22-6
Chase Kranitz maj. dec. Luke Vanadia (Michigan State), 11-2
Third Round
(1) No. 11 Reece Heller inj. dec. Jared McGill (Edinboro), 3:24
(2) No. 20 Donnell Washington (Indiana) dec. Chase Kranitz, 8-3
Quarterfinals
(1) No. 11 Reece Heller maj. dec. Sam Goin (Indiana), 15-2
Semifinals
(1) No. 11 Reece Heller vs. (5) No. 19 Brian Soldano (Rutgers)
Consolation
4th Round – Chase Kranitz dec. Logan Deacetis (Bucknell), 13-7
5th Round – Adrien Cramer (Central Michigan) dec. Chase Kranitz, 4-3
197 – Mac Stout (3-0)
First Round
(2) No. 15 Mac Stout tech fall Hudson Skove (Harvard), 20-4
Second Round
(2) No. 15 Mac Stout maj. dec. Pj Casale (Rutgers), 14-6
Quarterfinals
(2) No. 15 Mac Stout dec. Luke Cochran (Central Michigan), 15-8
Semifinals
(2) No. 15 Mac Stout vs. (6) Dillon Bechtold (Bucknell)
Players Mentioned
