Pitt Wrestling
Pitt Ties for Second at the Midlands Championships
Pitt tied for second at Midlands Championships in Hoffman Estates, Ill. on Friday, with some great performances throughout the two days.
They finished in second place as a team with Penn at 115.0 points. Northwestern, who hosted the Championships, finished in first place with 122.0 points.
Pitt Features Four Wrestlers in the Semifinals of the Midlands Championships
141 Pound Weight Class
No. 1 redshirt senior Cole Matthews (10-0) took down SIU Edwardsville redshirt senior Saul Ervin in a 4-0 decision in the Semifinals. Matthews then defeated Unattached Missouri sophomore Josh Edmund in a 3-1 decision to win the Championship and stay undefeated on the season.
Redshirt sophomore Ryan Michaels (8-3) wrestled unattached and started with a 5-3 decision over Bloomsburg redshirt senior Josh Mason in the Consolation Rounds. He lost again in the Championships to No. 2 Rutgers junior Sammy Alvarez in an 8-4 decision and then lost a 9-4 decision to Ervin in the Fifth Place Match to finish in Sixth Place.
149 Pound Weight Class
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Badgett (11-5) defeated Princeton first-year Rocco Camillaci in a 5-1 decision and won a 7-5 decision over George Mason sophomore Nate Higley to start the Consolation Rounds but lost to SIU Edwardsville sophomore Caleb Tyus in a 4-1 decision.
He defeated No. 9 Lehigh sophomore Max Brignola in a 3-2 decision to win fifth place. Badgett lost to Brignola in the Pitt-Lehigh duel match on Nov. 19, but managed to get revenge on him at the Midlands Championships.
165 Pound Weight Class
No. 7 redshirt senior Holden Heller (5-3) lost his Consolation match with No. 14 Penn junior Lucas Revano to finish with a 3-2 record at Midlands.
174 Pound Weight Class
First-year Luca Augustine (6-5) started out the Consolation Rounds with two major decisions over rival WVU senior Scott Joll, 13-1, and Princeton first-year Kole Mulhauser, 8-0. He then lost in a close, 7-6 decision to unattached Navy Prep Daniel Wask and No. 5 Central Michigan redshirt junior Alex Cramer pinned him at 4:30 in the Fifth Place Match.
Augustine finished in Sixth Place at the Midlands and had a 4-3 record.
184 Pound Weight Class
No. 2 redshirt junior Reece Heller (13-1) pinned rival No. 3 WVU redshirt junior Anthony Carman at the 4:26 mark in the Semifinals.
Midlands 🏆 Finalist @ReeceHeller 👏 Certified Savage
Heller gets funky, works a FALL and will meet Jaritt Shinhoster in the final 🥇#H2P » @MidlandsChamps pic.twitter.com/e4o2NJzNf3
— Pitt Wrestling (@Pitt_WRES) December 30, 2022
He then defeated No. 5 UW-Whitewater senior Jarrit Shinhoster in a 7-5 decision in the Final to join Matthews as a Champion at Midlands.
Reece Heller scored the most individual points at Midlands as well, showing his value to the Pitt after transferring with his brother Holden from Hofstra for this season.
Pitt finishes 2nd at Midlands 🥈
184-pound champion @ReeceHeller wins the highest individual point scorer award from the tournament 👏
(Also…the @ColeMatthews9 shirt 😂)#H2P » @MidlandsChamps pic.twitter.com/lbwTr9ll0n
— Pitt Wrestling (@Pitt_WRES) December 31, 2022
197 Pound Weight Class
No. 4 first-year Mac Stout (8-2) lost a close semifinals match in a 2-1 decision to No. 1 Wisconsin sophomore Braxton Amos. He won a 3-1 sudden victory over No 10 Virginia graduate Michael Battista in a Consolation match, but No. 11 Northwestern graduate Andrew Davison defeated him in a 4-1 decision in the Third Place Match.
Stout won four of the six matches he wrestled in at Midlands, showing his promise in the future for the Panthers with his Fourth-Place finish.
Heavyweight Class
First-year Dayton Pitzer (5-1) continued his great run in the Midlands by pinning No. 4 Wisconsin graduate Trent Hillger at the 6:57 mark in the Semifinals.
REVERSE FALL 🔥 @NCAAWrestling @DaytonPitzer, HIM 💪
Last-second pin over No. 10 Trent Hillger sends Pitzer to the Midlands final 🥇#H2P » @MidlandsChamps pic.twitter.com/xjuE3hn0OA
— Pitt Wrestling (@Pitt_WRES) December 30, 2022
Pitzer did lose in the Championship bout to No. 2 Northwestern redshirt senior Lucas Davison in a 4-0 decision. With a Second-Place finish, Pitzer is developing interest from Pitt fans and there are those who believe that head coach Keith Gavin should not redshirt him this season, especially if he could potentially contend for an NCAA title.
Pitt returns to wrestle on Sunday Jan. 8 where they face off against rival West Virginia at Fitzgerald Field House at 2 p.m.
