Six Panthers qualified for the NCAA Wrestling Championships with their performances at the ACC Championships, but No. 10 Pitt fell short of sweeping the ACC regular season and tournament titles.
The Panthers, winners of the dual-meet conference championship, finished in second place as No. 16 Virginia Tech finished first place with 87 points to Pitt’s 67.
“We had a year full of success,” senior Anthony Zanetta said. “That is why I think it hurt so bad when we didn’t get the title.”
While the team didn’t finish in first, one Panther was able to work his way to the top of the podium and he did so with ease. Top-seeded 174-pounder Tyler Wilps cruised to a 15-5 major decision in the semifinals and a 7-2 decision in the finals over Virginia’s Stephen Doty.
“It’s just a stepping stone to the nationals,” Wilps said. “That’s the real goal right there.”
Prior to the season, Pitt set out with the hopes of winning both conference titles in its first season in the new conference. That mentality didn’t change heading into last weekend’s ACC Championships.
“The team thinks about winning the team title non-stop,” senior Shelton Mack said. “It’s not something on my mind before matches though. The more we all win individually, the better the chance the team has to win.”
Due to the nature of the conference championship, several Panthers didn’t even get to matchup against Hokies. Those Panthers needed to focus on their opponents and getting bonus points to help the team.
“I didn’t get a chance to wrestle a Virginia Tech guy,” Zanetta said. “That is something I can’t control. The coaches tell us to focus on the things we can control.”
Mack entered the tournament as the ACC’s No.1 seed in the 133-pound weight class but was upset in the semifinals by a second-period fall to the No. 4 seed, Tyler Goodwin of Maryland. He rebounded for a 11- and six-point wins in the consolation bracket to win third place and an automatic bid to the national tournament.
Mack wasn’t the only Panther that had to wrestle with his back against the wall in the consolation bracket to earn his trip to the NCAA tournament.
Heavyweight P.J. Tasser, the No. 3 seed, lost a 2-1 decision to Maryland’s Spencer Myers in the semifinals. He came back in the consolation bracket with a tight 3-2 victory over Virginia’s Ethan Hayes that sent him to the third place-match.
Although Tasser lost that third place match, the ACC had four automatic bids at the heavyweight weight class.
Pitt’s four other NCAA qualifiers were all in the finals, but unfortunately for them only Wilps came away with the championship.
Top-ranked Zanetta won his semifinal match, but fell 5-3 in the sudden victory period to Nathan Kraisser of North Carolina. Zanetta will be making the trip to nationals for his fourth and final time.
“The loss hurts,” Zanetta said. “The good news is I get another chance where it counts at nationals.”
At 141 and 149 pounds, two freshmen will be making their first trips to the NCAAs.
141-pound Edgar Bright scored a pin in his opening round match and then picked up a 12-6 victory over Evan Henderson of North Carolina. His shot at being an ACC champion as a freshman fell short in the finals against Virginia Tech’s Devin Carter 6-1.
Mikey Racciato won his opening round matchup setting himself up for a high-scoring dual with top-ranked Gus Sako. Racciato won the highly-entertaining matchup 10-8 and advanced to the finals. The freshman ran out of gas in a 3-1 sudden victory loss to Virginia Tech’s Zach Neibert.
The final Panther to lose in the finals also did so in a close match.
In what was one of the tournament’s highest-ranked matchups, the ACC’s top two seeds in Maryland’s Jimmy Sheptock and Pitt’s Max Thomusseit, ranked No. 1 and No. 5 nationally, battled.
Thomusseit came up on the losing end of a 3-1 decision. Pitt’s 184-pounder also lost a two-point match, 4-2, to Sheptock when the Panthers met Maryland in the regular-season dual.
Zanetta’s, Racciato’s and Thomusseit’s matches summed up just how close the Panthers were to winning three more individual titles and the overall tournament.
“Our hats go off to Virginia Tech. They deserved to win after the way they wrestled today,” Pitt head coach Jason Peters said. “It’s disappointing, especially when so many close matches go against you. But you can’t always win in wrestling, and our guys know that.”
The Panthers will have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Championships, which get under way Thursday, Mar. 20 in Oklahoma City.
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