Pitt Wrestling Downs West Virginia in Backyard Brawl

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- No. 18 Pitt Panthers wrestling came back and downed rival West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl in front of a raucous crowd at WVU Coliseum.

Pitt improves to 7-2 on the season in duals, with home wins over Navy in the season opener on Nov. 2, 35-3, vs. then ranked No. 18 Lehigh, 21-12 on Nov. 24, Division II foe Pitt-Johnstown on Jan. 3, 32-8 and No. 15 Stanford on Jan. 10, 24-15. Their sole home loss came vs. No. 5 Ohio State, 20-17 on Dec. 13.

They also finished 2-1 at the Rider Quad Meet in Lawrenceville, N.J. on Dec. 20. Pitt defeated both then ranked No. 24 Maryland, 25-12, and Rider, 28-12, while losing to No. 14 South Dakota State, 18-15.

Pitt had a poor start, as No. 17 graduate student Nick Babin (5-3) suffered a 9-0 major decision defeat to WVU senior Jett Strickenberger (8-5) at 125 pounds. Freshman Matt Marlow (6-5) then lost a 12-1 major decision to WVU freshman Mason Kernan (6-2) at 133 pounds, giving the home team an 8-0 lead.

Panthers No. 31 Anthony Santaniello (7-7) put up a much better fight against Mountaineers No. 29 redshirt junior Jordan Titus (7-7) at 141 pounds.

Titus got a first period takedown, but Santaniello made an escape and rode Titus the entire second period. Santaniello struggled in the third period, as Titus rode him out for the 3-1 decision, giving the Mountaineers a 11-0 advantage.

Pitt freshman Kade Brown (10-2) dominated West Virginia fifth year Sam Hillegas (2-5) at 149 pounds for a 21-11 major decision. Brown used six takedowns and a reversal to get his victory.

Panthers head coach Keith Gavin praised Brown for his performance. He also said that they're trying to preserve his redshirt and will have him go in one more dual before the end of the season, allowing No. 26 redshirt sophomore Finn Solomon to stay as the starter at 149 pounds.

"We really are impressed with his development," Gavin said on Brown. "He just keeps getting better and better and he's a really good competitor, just loves it. He's going to have a really bright future...

"He's coming along really nicely and not only for him, but that's huge for our team, right. That's tough to do as a true freshman when you don't have a lot to cheer about when he goes out there and then he gives you something to cheer about and then bled right into Dylan [Evans] at [157 pounds]."

Panthers No. 22 redshirt freshman Dylan Evans (13-4) put on an even better performance in a 21-6 (4:59) technical fall victory over Mountaineers redshirt freshman Sasha Gavronsky (10-6) at 157 pounds.

West Virginia got some momentum back, as No. 3 fifth year Peyton Hall (20-0) pinned Pitt redshirt sophomore Jared Keslar (5-7) at 165 pounds at 2:46 in the first period, keeping them in the lead at 17-9.

Hall with the fall... pic.twitter.com/pV0VQlt0WE
— WVU Wrestling (@WVUWrestling) January 12, 2025

Pitt No. 18 redshirt junior Luca Augustine (11-4) took a 4-1 lead against WVU No. 28 redshirt sophomore Brody Conley (8-4) at 174 pounds.

Conley then passed out in the second period as Augustine almost completed the takedown. Conley came back out and wreslted Augustine, who stood strong and held on for a 4-2 decision.

Gavin wanted Augustine to keep his focus during the match, as wrestlers passing out is not a common occurrence, to get the win, which he ended up doing so in a good performance.

"...That kid passed out in that situation and I was like, "Just keep your focus," because that's not something that usually happens," Gavin said. "That was wild and the kid's tough to score on. I thought Luca just did a nice job of wrestling his match the entire time."

Panthers No. 18 graduate student Reece Heller (13-3) had a wild match with Mountaineers No. 16 redshirt senior Dennis Robin (12-6) at 184 pounds.

Both wrestlers completed multiple moves that resulted in both coaches throwing challenge bricks.

Heller originally had a takedown, but then the referees called it off. Robin would lead Heller 3-2 at the end of the first period, as he made a takedown, but Heller got a late reversal.

The referees awarded a point to Heller after they called an illegal headlock on Robin giving him a 4-3 lead after he made an escape earlier in the second period.

Robin made an early escape in the third period, but Heller would make a takedown and earned four back points, en route to an 11-4 decision.

Pitt No. 12 redshirt sophomore Mac Stout (14-2) controlled his match vs. WVU redshirt sophomore Ian Bush (6-5) at 197 pounds, winning a 13-3 major decision and giving his team a 19-17 lead in the dual.

Panthers No. 14 Dayton Pitzer (7-1) had a close match through two periods with Mountaineers fifth year Michael Wolfgram (9-5).

He held a 3-2 lead after the referees chose not to call a takedown for Wolfgram. Pitzer would then dominate in the third period, with a takedown and four near fall points and then pinning Wolfgram at 5:33, winning the dual for Pitt, 25-17.

Gavin, who wrestled at Pitt, loves the Backyard Brawl and said that it was great training for his team, as they get to perform in a tough environment, with more than two thousand fans in attendnace

He also credited Mountaineers head coach Tim Flynn for making it a great dual and that this benefits both programs.

"It was fun to do this," Gavin said. "They had a great crowd, obviously, so that's super cool for the area, but it's good for our guys. I was just telling them in the locker room that, "This is part of your training."

"There's nothing that you can do in practice that can simulate what they did tonight. You come into an environment where the crowd's telling you, "To eat shit," and you just have to go out there and beat somebody and it's great. Those are the environments that you want to wrestle in because it's going to prepare you more than anything that we can do in a practice.

"I love it. Coach Flynn is doing an awesome job and it's great for both programs."

Pitt will battle in-state foe Bucknell on the road in Lewisburg, Pa. on Jan. 17 in their next dual.

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