Boosting the Panthers to victory were redshirt freshman Taleb Rahmani at 165 pounds and sophomore TeShan Campbell at 165 pounds, who recorded back-to-back falls in less than three minutes, respectively.
With the win, Pitt finishes the regular season 11-5 overall and 2-3 against conference opponents.
In his final home dual as a Panther, senior Mikey Racciato started things off for Pitt at 149 pounds. Racciato gave the Panthers a 3-0 lead in the dual after a strong third period, resulting in a 11-9 decision over Duke's Xaviel Ramos.
At 157 pounds, Rahmani recorded his 10th fall of the season over Jake Faust in 2:34. Rahmani led 4-1 after two takedowns before pinning Faust.
Campbell carried Rahmani's momentum to 165 pounds as he also pinned his Duke opponent, this time in 1:40 over Michael Wright.
The Blue Devils claimed the following two bouts at 174 and 184 pounds.
At 197 pounds, senior John Rizzo picked up a win in a 5-0 decision with all of his points coming in the third period.
In one of the most anticipated matches of the night, No. 19 Ryan Solomon topped No. 3 Jacob Kasper in a 4-3 decision at 285 pounds, snapping Kasper's 20-match win streak. Solomon struck first, taking down Kasper in the opening frame but the Blue Devil quickly escaped. Kasper opened the second starting in the bottom position and escaped again to tie it 2-2 for the lone point of the period. Solomon started final period on bottom and reversed Kasper to take a 4-2 lead. Kasper eventually escaped, but it wouldn't be enough.
Sophomore LJ Bentley returned to the win column after a 3-1 decision over Thayer Atkins. Bentley's points came in the form of an escape, misconduct point and tacked on the final point with riding time.
With the dual in favor of Pitt 24-6, junior Dom Forys improved to 17-1 on the year after picking up a 14-3 major decision over Cole Baumgartner. Forys used six takedowns to secure the win with one escape and riding time.
The Blue Devils claimed the final bout of the night as redshirt junior Nick Zanetta dropped a 6-1 decision to Zach Finesilver at 141 pounds.
The Panthers head to the 2017 ACC Championships Saturday, March 4, on the campus of NC State in Reynolds Coliseum.
Results:
149: Mikey Racciato (UP) dec. Xaviel Ramos (DUKE), 11-9 – Pitt leads 3-0
157: #32 Taleb Rahmani (UP) pins Jake Faust (DUKE), 2:34 – Pitt leads 9-0
165: #9 TeShan Campbell (UP) pins Michael Wright (DUKE), 1:40 – Pitt leads 15-0
174: #23 Connor Bass (DUKE) dec. Donovan McAfee (UP), 4-1 – Pitt leads 15-3
184: Alec Schenk (DUKE) dec. Zach Bruce (UP), SV-1, 3-1 – Pitt leads 15-6
197: John Rizzo (UP) dec. Luke Farinaro (DUKE), 5-0 – Pitt leads 18-6
285: #18 Ryan Solomon (UP) dec. #3 Jacob Kasper (DUKE), 4-3 – Pitt leads 21-6
125: #32 LJ Bentley (UP) dec. Thayer Atkins (DUKE), 3-2 – Pitt leads 24-6
133: #8 Dom Forys (UP) maj. dec. Cole Baumgartner (DUKE), 14-3 – Pitt leads 28-6
141: Zach Finesilver (DUKE) dec. #30 Nick Zanetta (UP), 6-1 – Pitt wins 28-9
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