Pitt Wrestling
Pitt Wrestling: Mac Stout Takes 7th at NCAAs
Philadelphia– Pitt wrestling’s starting 197-pounder, Mac Stout, wrapped up his NCAA Tournament with a seventh-place finish.
Stout, who had already secured All-America status took on Nebraska’s Caleb McDanel for seventh place.
He dominated with a 12-3 major decision win.
Stout was thrilled to end things on a high note.
“Finishing with a win is huge,” Stout said afterward. “I feel like that one I just kind of kept telling myself I was doing that one for myself. That one wasn’t for really anybody but kind of my self-pride. Finishing with a W and yeah, just kind of on a positive note. It’s a good way to cap off the year. Finishing with the win is definitely important, especially with the win.”
The most notable moment of Stout’s week was when he made NCAA history.
Stout and his brother, Luke, ranked No. 11 (Princeton), took on each other in the round of 16 Thursday night.
Mac Stout won, 4-2.
“Yeah, I’d say the peak of the emotion was definitely after I wrestled my brother, before, during and after and after that, it all kind of felt a bit easier,” Stout said. “We talked about it and I think that we’ll be able to wrestle more freely now that’s out of the way. So yeah, getting that out of the way was the key and after that, it was kind of like, “Okay, nothing else to worry about.” Not worried about wrestling my brother and it was kind of just wrestling from here, doing what I know.”
Stout took on No. 3 AJ Ferrari (Cal State Bakersfield) in the quarterfinals and lost 2-0 on riding time.
Stout has two years left, and for him, it’s only up from here.
“I know that I’m capable of much more,” he said. “I believe that I was capable to win it this year. I believe that. Didn’t go that way and that’s alright. Bounced back from that. Just building from here. It’s a process, trust in the process.”
