Winter sports in full swing with upcoming matchups for Pitt swim & dive, wrestling and gymnastics

After finishing up the first week of classes, Pitt student-athletes take to the pool and the mat for competition throughout the weekend.

Swimming & diving

The Panthers will host their second meet of the season with rival West Virginia and George Washington University. 

In the December edition of the CSCCA swim and dive rankings, the women’s team was the first team out of the top 25, receiving 9 votes. The recognition comes after Pitt’s victories over Carnegie Mellon, Penn State and Georgia Tech in the fall.

The team’s last meet took place Nov. 22 at the Texas Invitational in Austin, where Pitt set six school records and the women’s 200 medley relay made A-Cut to qualify for NCAAS — the first Panthers to do so in 19 years. 

Both the Mountaineers and Revolutionaries are led by first year head coaches Brent MacDonald and Chigo Rego, respectively. They will take on the Panthers’ third-year coach Chase Kreitler.

The Mountaineers have a strong pair of men’s divers in junior Christian Torres and sophomore Owen Recker, both honored as the Big12 men’s diver of the week this season. 

George Washington comes to Pittsburgh with talented junior freestyle swimmer Ava Topolewski, a two-time Atlantic 10 performer of the week this season. In the Revolutionaries’ last meet, Topolewski took first place in all four of her events and looks to continue her success against a strong Pitt women’s team. 

The meet takes place Jan. 10 at 5 p.m. and Jan. 11 at 9 a.m. in Trees Pool.

Wrestling

No. 18 Pitt wrestling (5-2, 0-0 ACC) takes on its first ACC opponent this weekend as conference newcomer No. 15 Stanford (4-1, 0-0 ACC) enters the Fitzgerald Field House on Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. 

The Panthers are coming off a two-match win streak and a dominating 32-8 victory over Pitt-Johnstown last Friday. Now, they turn to their fifth ranked opponent of the season. 

Matchups to keep an eye on include the 149 lb. match between Pitt redshirt sophomore Finn Solomon and Stanford senior Jaden Abas, ranked No. 26 and No. 8, respectively, in last week’s edition of the Intermat rankings.

The 157 lb. match sets No. 22 Pitt first-year Dylan Evans against No. 28 Stanford first-year Grigor Cholakyan, while the 174 lb. match has No. 18 Pitt junior Luca Augustine taking on No. 4 Stanford first-year Lorenzo Norman. In one of the final matches, 197 lb. Pitt sophomore Mac Stout, ranked No. 12, duels No. 24 Stanford senior Nick Stemmet. 

Sunday afternoon, Pitt then heads to No. 22 West Virginia (7-2, 1-2 Big 12) to take on the Mountaineers at 1 p.m. in the WVU Coliseum. The talented West Virginia team includes No. 29 141 lb. Jordan Titus, No. 3 165 lb. Peyton Hall, No. 28 174 lb. Brody Conley and No. 16 184 lb. Dennis Robin. 

A challenging weekend is ahead for the Panthers with two ranked matchups on deck, but ample opportunity to prove their position in the national rankings. 

Gymnastics

The Panthers open their season on Jan. 11 at the Next Level Podium Challenge in Michigan, competing against George Washington, Illinois State and Western Michigan. 

This will be the debut of Pitt first-year Meika Lee, recently recognized as a member of the ACC 2025 newcomer watch list. 

She is joined by NCAA regional championship participant senior Jordyn Ewing and graduate student Jah’Liyah Bedminster, as well as a regional championship qualifier senior Hallie Copperwheat. Both Bedminster and Copperwheat were named to the ACC Gymnastics 2025 preseason watch list. 

The Panthers were ranked last in the ACC gymnastics preseason coaches poll, and begin their quest to prove it wrong in Michigan this weekend.