NCAA Preview and ACC Recap
This article will serve two purposes as alluded to by the conjunction in the title. For those who didn’t qualify, this will be their ACC/season recap; for those who did, this will be their NCAA preview.
Colton Camacho 125: Talk about a kick in the [redacted]. Killian Cardinale, who is apparently so injured he couldn’t wrestle at Big 12s, and Jack Wagner, whom Camacho beat for 3rd at ACCs both got in. One or the other would have been tolerable, but both just stinks. There’s no other way to describe it. Camacho was 18-9 and Wagner 22-8 on the year, each with a head-to-head win, but Colton beat him when it counted.
Overall, Camacho showed a ton of improvement this year, still has two years of eligibility remaining, and will be a key part in Pitt’s lineup going forward. I’m bullish on the hair dyer.
Micky Phillippi 133: Micky got pinned in overtime in the ACC finals by “The Tongue”, a comic book villain from North Carolina State, whose superpower is cement mixing people from their feet. Micky has beaten him before, and if they collide at NCAAs (which is possible), will beat him again.
Micky had a decent year, but offense from neutral is still his biggest weakness, especially when he needs to score late in a match. Defense and riding aren’t going to propel him to the podium, so let’s see if the old man has an ace he’s yet to play.
He’ll face Brody Teske of Iowa in the first round, with Aaron Nagao of Minnesota and Roman Bravo-Young of Penn State also in his quadrant.
Cole Matthews 141: Cole repeated as the ACC champ, and has been Mr. Consistent all year. He had one slip up that cost him an undefeated season (getting super-ducked in the WVU match), otherwise he’s been very solid.
As expected, he received the No. 3 seed at NCAAs. Assuming he beats 30-seed Seth Koleno of Clarion, Cole will face the winner of Matt Kazimir of Columbia whom he beat in the rideouts at NCAAs last year, and Cael Happel of Northern Iowa. Beau Bartlett of Penn State appears to be his likely quarterfinal opponent, with Andrew Alirez lined up for the semis. Alirez handed Cole an unofficial loss this year in the All Star Classic; Cole had trouble stopping his offense.
I think we can count on Cole to improve upon his 5th place finish from last year.
Tyler Badgett 149: Unfortunately, despite being ranked in the last coaches’ poll and RPI, Badgett’s 0-2 performance at ACCs - despite losing to two qualifiers - knocked him out of consideration for an at-large bid. Like Camacho, Badgett showed a tremendous amount of development this year, is a sophomore by eligibility, and will continue to produce for the Panthers in years to come.
Dazjon Casto 157: This is a tough one to write about. We all had high hopes for “Cheese” at the beginning of the season - by all accounts he’s a great person and teammate and had success on the big stage last year - but, despite flashes of brilliance, he showed no consistency, routinely “gassed” late in matches, and did not contribute to Pitt’s successes in any meaningful way.
Holden Heller 165: Holden did not wrestle well at ACCs, as told by his facial expression after his matches. If you look at his results this year, there is a bit of an up-and-down pattern. Holden is a great wrestler, but a tad inconsistent. Unless he has some injury, after a down performance at ACCs, we can only assume he’ll be in high gear at NCAAs.
A first round matchup with Penn State wrestler Alex Facundo should have Pitt fans fired up.
Luca Augustine 174: The redshirt freshman from Waynesburg also had something of a rollercoaster season, looking at times like he belongs in the top tier of 174 pounders, and at times, well, like a freshman.
Luca has a tough, but not invincible first round foe in Oklahoma State All American Dustin Plott. With too many moving parts, it’s difficult to predict who he might wrestle next, but I expect him to win at least one match, which is very respectable for a freshman.
Reece Heller 184: The bigger but younger Heller bro starts off his first appearance at Nationals with a rematch from early this season by taking on Tate Samuelson of Lehigh. Reece beat him 7-6 in the dual, and it will likely be a tightly contested match again.
Reece can pin anyone with his funk, but can also wrestle with the best. Despite losing on a last second reversal, this is evidenced by his match with Hunter Bolen at ACCs. I believe he has a good shot at making the Blood Round, and possibly to place.
Nino Bonaccorsi 197: Nino is the No. 1 seed. He was the only undefeated wrestler this year at 197, and his 16 wins weren’t over chumps, either. He beat the 5, 6 (2x), 11, 12, 13, 21, 25 (2x), and 32 seeds. Nino has looked the best he ever has in a blue and gold singlet. He’s been to the finals before. It’s time to get the job done.
Jake Slinger 285: The Upper St. Clair native split time this year with freshman phenom Dayton Pitzer. Despite posting a .500 record of 9-9, Jake actually came pretty close to qualifying for NCAAs by almost beating Jonah Niesenbaum at ACCs, but alas, came up just shy. Jake will graduate this year, leaving the door open for Pitzer, who will be Pitt’s first heavyweight in a long time to be a four-year starter, and hopefully four-time All American.
Wolfpack still top the food-chain in Atlantic Coast
Pitt fans… NC State isn’t going away anytime soon. They graduate a total of zero starters this year, and next year only three - Jarrett Trombley, Alex Faison, and Trent Hidlay - will be seniors. Jackson Arrington and Matt Singleton are true freshman and they have good recruits coming in/good freshman currently redshirting. The Tongue, Ryan Jack, Ed Scott, Isaac Trumble, and Owen Trephan are all sophomores.
WPIAL representatives in Tulsa
125: No. 1 Spencer Lee (Iowa/Franklin Regional), No. 17 Ethan Berginc (Army/Jeannette)
133: No. 9 Micky Phillippi (Pitt/Derry), No. 24 Wyatt Henson (Oklahoma/Waynesburg), No. 25 Kurtis Phipps (Bucknell/Norwin)
141: none
149: No. 27 Jarod Verkleeren (UVA/Belle Vernon), No. 29 Dylan Chappell (Bucknell/Seneca Valley)
157: No. 33 Nathan Lukez (Army/Pine Richland)
165: No. 21 Gerrit Nijenhuis (Oklahoma/Canon-McMillan)
174: No. 6 Ethan Smith (Ohio State/Latrobe), No. 28 Luca Augustine (Pitt/Waynesburg)
184: none
197: No. 1 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt/Bethel Park), No. 23 Luke Stout (Princeton/Mt. Lebanon), No. 32 Max Shaw (UNC/Thomas Jefferson)
285: none
There definitely should have been 2 Franklin Regional wrestlers selected for 125. I'm sure you'll be there next year Colton. Good luck to the rest of the Pitt Panthers competing and to all the WPIAL wrestlers, especially the one from Mt. Lebanon at 197.