Wrestlers edge out Edinboro in final matches, 20-16

The No. 22 Pitt wrestling team faced its toughest test of the season against the Edinboro Fighting Scots, but came away unscathed to return home undefeated.

The Panthers (3-0) used back-to-back victories by redshirt sophomore Zach Bruce and redshirt junior Ryan Solomon to cap off a 20-16 comeback victory over the Fighting Scots (0-2) in Edinboro, Pennsylvania.

“It was a great team win today,” Pitt head coach Jason Peters said in a press release. “I thought Zach did a good job giving us a chance to win in the end. We still have some areas we need to work on, but to get a higher-level dual meet win in the second week of the season is definitely good for us.”

Edinboro may be winless, but the Fighting Scots are stronger than their record indicates. They started the season with a respectable 24-13 defeat against No. 6 Virginia Tech and boast four wrestlers ranked in the top 20 out of 10 weight classes according to wrestling ranking website InterMat’s individual rankings.

One of those four, No. 18 Sean Russell, gave Edinboro the early lead with a 4-1 decision over Pitt sophomore LJ Bentley at 125 pounds. Bentley –– one of only two Panthers to win a match at last year’s NCAA tournament –– fell to 0-3 on the season after one-point losses in each of the team’s first two meets.

Despite falling behind early for the third time in a row, Pitt’s highest-ranked wrestler gave them the lead right back. No. 8 Dom Forys rolled to a 10-2 major decision over Korbin Myers at 133 pounds to move to 3-0 on the season, giving the Panthers a 4-3 lead.

Pitt redshirt junior Nick Zanetta dropped a 4-3 decision in the tiebreaker overtime period at 141 pounds, and No. 12 Patricio Lugo dominated Panthers senior Mikey Racciato for a 14-2 major decision at 149 pounds. Just like that, the Fighting Scots were back in control, 10-4.

True freshman Jake Wentzel brought Pitt back within two with a 10-0 major decision at 157 pounds. Wentzel remains undefeated after picking up his second bonus-points win in his first three college matches.

Panthers sophomore TeShan Campbell, ranked No. 19 in the country at 165 pounds, then took the mat against No. 11 Austin Matthews. He battled his way to a 9-6 decision to advance to 3-0 on the season and give Pitt an 11-10 lead.

Panthers freshman Christian Dietrich and sophomore Mat Carr dropped decisions at 174 and 184 pounds, respectively, forcing Pitt to trail, 16-11. They would need to win the final two matches to win the meet.

Bruce used a late escape to eke out a 2-0 decision over Dylan Reynolds at 197 pounds, keeping the Panthers alive and setting the stage for a heavyweight matchup to decide the dual meet victor.

Solomon, the No. 14 heavyweight in the country, just needed to win a decision against No. 16 Billy Miller to give Pitt the win. Instead, Solomon went for the fall, pinning Miller with just two seconds left in the first period to close out a dramatic 20-16 victory for the Panthers.

Pitt will host No. 12 Lehigh in its home opener at the Fitzgerald Field House at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18.