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Pitt is coming off of the most successful year they have had since the return of head coach Keith Gavin to his alma mater. The Panthers won a share of the ACC dual title and crowned their first NCAA champion since Gavin, with Nino Bonaccorsi earning the title in his second appearance in the NCAA finals. Five other Panthers qualified for the NCAA tournament with Micky Phillippi and Cole Matthews both falling in the bloodround, while Holden Heller made the round of 16; Reece Heller went 1-2 and Luca Augustine went 0-2 in his first trip to the big show. The Panthers have intensified their focus on recruiting western PA and have locked in several solid recruiting classes in a row; their current roster skews 60% for Pennsylvania natives. The classes they have put together are stepping into the lineup and will immediately be dangerous. They will enter this season with nine wrestlers ranked in the preseason and a tenth on the cusp of rankings. It was widely known that Pitt had the potential to be a power program both in the conference and nationally with its location in the middle of the wrestling hotbed; they have had great individual results since Gavin took the helm, and now we are starting to see the team success and depth being built in the lineup. The Panthers will be a solid team this year and have the potential up and down the lineup to have several on the podium in Kansas City. TOP RETURNERS Cole Matthews is looking to return to the podium after a disappointing performance in Tulsa. He added a second ACC title last year and entered the NCAA tournament at 19-1 and in position for a second All-American finish to add to his fifth-place finish in Detroit. He made the quarterfinals in Tulsa before dropping two heartbreakers; 3-1 (TB1) to Beau Bartlett (PSU) in the quarters and 2-1 (TB1) to Dylan D’Emilio (OSU) in the blood round. Matthews has spoken candidly about what he needs to improve and has a great focus coming into this season. Expect to see a more aggressive and offensive Cole Matthews this year. Holden Heller ran through the ACC dual season undefeated but wasn’t able to keep that momentum going into the postseason. He took third in his first ACC Championships and went 2-2 in Tulsa, picking up impressive wins over Alex Facundo (PSU) and past All-American Peyton Hall (WVU). Heller provides a solid anchor in the middle of the lineup and will be in the fight for an ACC title. Reece Heller started the season on an absolute tear going 14-2 and picking up a Midlands title before entering ACC competition in arguably the deepest weight in the conference. He went 19-10 on the season, with six of those losses to All-Americans. Heller has shown that he can go with anyone in the country and should be in the All-American conversation. KEY DEPARTURES Nino Bonaccorsi: 2023 NCAA Champion - 2021 NCAA Runner-Up - 5x NCAA Qualifier - 3x ACC Champion - 2x Scholar All-American - 2023 ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Micky Phillippi: 5x NCAA Qualifier - 4x Round of 12 - 2x ACC Champion - 4x ACC Finalist - 3x Scholar All-American It will be hard to quantify the impact that Micky and Nino made on the Panther program during their time at Pitt. They both bought in fully to the vision that Coach Gavin had and were central to the rebuild of the program to the state that it is in today. The picture of Micky hugging Nino after he won the title encapsulates so much about the culture of the program and the friendships they built through their time as the leaders of this team, both on and off the mat. They set a high bar for current and future Panthers and the program is better from the impact that they left. Bonaccorsi will stay in Pittsburgh; he was brought on staff as the Student-Athlete Development Coordinator. Phillippi will also step into a similar role as the Operations Coordinator at Brown under former Pitt Associate Head Coach Jordan Leen. They both have a bright future in coaching and I’m excited to watch their journey. NEWCOMERS Finn Solomon transferred from NC State and will make an immediate impact at 149 fighting for the starting spot with Tyler Badgett. Vinny Santaniello originally signed with Navy and attended Navy Prep for a year before transferring to Pitt. He was on an injury redshirt last year but has an incredibly high ceiling. His little brother, Anthony was a highly touted recruit and will be joining Vinny as a Panther. Mac Stout is another local recruit who has a crazy amount of potential. He had a year of training with Nino as a redshirt and that impact can’t be understated. WRESTLER TO WATCH Dayton Pitzer Pitzer announced his presence on the NCAA scene last year at Midlands by knocking off former NCAA finalist Cohlton Schultz and All-American Trent Hilger on his way to an appearance in the Midlands finals. Coach Gavin considered naming Pitzer the starter and he utilized his five dates in duals, picking up critical team points; ultimately Gavin wanted to preserve his full eligibility and Pitzer didn’t wrestle in the postseason. He will immediately be an ACC title and All-American contender. REDSHIRT REPORT Briar Priest 8-4 Finn Solomon 16-3 (NC State) Jared Keslar 11-4 Mac Stout 8-4 Dayton Pitzer 7-3 2-1 ACC Duals TOP OUT-OF-CONFERENCE DUAL I am incredibly impressed by the schedule the Panthers have put together this season; it is shaping up to be one of the tougher schedules in the country. Their non-conference slate includes #18 Illinois, #12 Oklahoma State, and #11 Arizona State at home and trips to #22 Maryland, #24 Lehigh, #7 Ohio State and #10 Iowa State. They will also be competing in the National Collegiate Duals over winter break and will face #10 Iowa State, #2 Cornell and Little Rock. It is hard to pick one out-of-conference dual to highlight but I am very excited to see a rematch of the dual with Iowa State that last year went down to criteria. Selfishly, I wish they weren’t pooled with ISU at the Collegiate Duals and had the chance to face another top-10 team, but getting two chances to see that lineup will be great for the Panther squad. This team will be battle-tested going into ACC competition. POTENTIAL LINEUP #17 Tournament #15 Dual 125: #32 Colton Camacho:18-9; 3-2 ACC duals 133: #33 Vinny Santaniello: Did not compete in his redshirt year 141: #8 Cole Matthews: 21-3 5-0 ACC Duals - 2x ACC Champ - 4x NCAA Qualifier All-American (5th in 2022) - R12 2023 149: Finn Solomon: 16-3 (RS at NC State) Tyler Badgett: 16-12 2-3 ACC duals 157: #28 Jared Keslar: 11-4 (RS) Brock McMillen: 3-6 (149) 165: #13 Holden Heller: 16-8 5-0 ACC Duals - 2x NCAA Qualifier (R16 2023) 174: #24 Luca Augustine: 15-11 3-2 ACC Duals - NCAA Qualifier 184: #12 Reece Heller: 19-10 2-3 ACC Duals - NCAA Qualifier 197: #18 Mac Stout: 8-4 (RS) 285: #9 Dayton Pitzer: 7-3 2-1 ACC Duals (RS) - Midlands Runner-Up