A pair of overtime bouts fell the way of the Panthers late, providing a boost in a tight dual match on Sunday (Feb. 12) as No. 23 Virginia (1-6, 2-3 ACC) fell to No. 24 Pittsburgh (10-5, 1-3 ACC) by a score of 19-14.
Virginia got wins from freshman Jack Mueller (Dallas, Texas), redshirt senior George DiCamillo (Highland Heights, Ohio), Garrett Peppelman (Harrisburg, Pa.) and Chance McClure (Commerce, Ga.). Freshman Sam Krivus (Greensburg, Pa.) and redshirt junior Andrew Atkinson (Lynchburg, Va.) came out on the short end of the two overtime decisions as the Panthers grabbed the dual match victory.
In addition to the two bouts that went to extra time, three other weight classes featured matches that were decided by fewer than two points. The ranked wrestler won in each of the five bouts featuring a wrestler that appears in the latest national rankings.
“We came into today expecting a tough, dog-fight of a match and that’s exactly what we got – some darn tough wrestling from start to finish,” said Virginia head coach Steve Garland. “What hurts is we lost the two overtime matches. If either of those falls our way, we win the dual. I’m proud of our guys for sending it to overtime and taking their shots, we just got taken down both times off our shots in overtime. I’m proud of our team and their effort today. It was outstanding.”
After Pitt grabbed a major decision at heavyweight to take the early lead on the Cavaliers, Virginia then got a tech fall at 125 pounds from eighth-ranked Mueller over L.J. Bentley to put the Cavaliers into the lead as the competitive tone of the match was set.
Pittsburgh then moved back into the lead with a two-point decision at 133 pounds only for the Cavaliers to again answer as sixth-ranked DiCamillo posted a 9-3 decision over Nick Zanetta at 141 pounds.
Pittsburgh then grabbed three consecutive victories, including the pair of overtime wins at 149 pounds and 157 pounds to move out to an eight-point lead in the overall match score.
Virginia’s Peppelman to a 6-3 decision over Donovan McAfee at 174 pounds, but the Panthers secured the match at 184 pounds when Zach Bruce scored late to pick up a 2-1 decision. McClure then closed out the dual with his 3-2 decision at 197 pounds over John Rizzo for the final 19-14 score.
No. 24 Pittsburgh 19, No. 23 Virginia 14
- 285: No. 20 Ryan Solomon major dec. Tyler Love, 11-1; Pitt 4, UVA 0
- 125: No. 8 Jack Mueller tech fall L.J. Bentley, 16-1 (7:00); UVA 5, Pitt 4
- 133: No. 8 Dom Forys dec., Will Mason, 10-8; Pitt 7, UVA 5
- 141: No. 6 George DiCamillo dec. Nick Zanetta, 9-3; UVA 8, Pitt 7
- 149: Mikey Racciato dec., Sam Krivus, 6-4 (sv-1); Pitt 10, UVA 8
- 157: Taleb Rahmani dec. Andrew Atkinson, 10-8 (sv-1); Pitt 13, UVA 8
- 165: No. 15 TeShan Campbell dec. Ray Bethea, 9-2; Pitt 16, UVA 8
- 174: Garrett Peppelman dec., Donovan McAfee, 6-3; Pitt 16, UVA 11
- 184: Zach Bruce dec. Will Schany, 2-1; Pitt 19, UVA 11
- 197: Chance McClure dec. John Rizzo, 3-2; Pitt 19, UVA 14
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