Spring Notes + Q&A
Wrapping up and looking ahead.
First off, Nino Bonaccorsi has been on quite the victory tour this past month, culminating with Bethel Park naming a day after him! Not to mention the ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year and co-ACC Wrestler of Year awards…
It’s been fun to see the city embrace Nino’s success, and I believe there are more wrestling fans out there than we die-hards might realize. Just about everyone in western Pennsylvania at least knows someone who is involved in wrestling, and nothing piques interest like success. A NCAA champion is a big deal. Pitt should honor Nino at the first home match next year. If they do, the stands will be packed.
Looking ahead now, Pitt has four recruits coming in next season. In order of projected weight class, they are Tyler Chappell (Seneca Valley), Dylan Evans (Chartiers Valley), Grant MacKay (Laurel), and Daniel Gurovich (Camarillo, CA).
Chappell ended his season on a slightly disappointing note by not placing at states, but his weight class was stacked. He still had a great career as a two-time state placer and WPIAL champ. He should be a 125 pounder in college.
Evans finished off his career on a high note by defending his state title. A four-time placer, Dylan posted a career record of 139-28, and projects as a 157/165. He has a very high offensive pace, and his style should transition well to the collegiate level.
A three-time district and regional champ, MacKay also finished off high school with his second state title. A three-time finalist (second as a junior), Grant put up an impressive 166-19 record over four years. He will likely slot in at 165 or 174 at Pitt.
Gurovich placed 7th at the California state tournament last year, which is always impressive as the most populous state in the country only has one division. Along with Tyler Badgett, he’ll be the second CA native on the roster, which is probably the most in school history. He’s an upper weight, and will probably go 197 or 285 for the Panthers.
US Open
Five members of the Pitt roster, and two RTC athletes competed at the US Open in Las Vegas last week.
In the U20 Open Luca Augustine and Mac Stout both placed 3rd, which qualifies them for the U20 world team trials. Briar Priest and Jared Keslar both went 3-2 and did not place.
(Of note for Pitt fans, Luca beat Penn State recruit Josh Barr twice.)
In the senior open, Cole Matthews went 3-2, and in an unfortunate series of events going back to NCAAs, lost in the Blood Round again. This time he got teched by Matt Kolodzik in 0:19.
RTC athlete Luke Pletcher, competing in the same weight class as Cole, also went 3-2, and lost in the Blood Round to fellow WPIAL native Evan Henderson.
There were several WPIAL on WPIAL crimes committed at the Open, with Vincenzo Joseph taking out Josh Shield in the semis, and Jason Nolf taking out Vincenzo in the finals being the most egregious.
At 125kg Demetrius Thomas won a decisive first round match before getting teched by Wyatt Hendrickson. This prevented Meech from seeing Gable Steveson in the quarters. On the back side, Meech won three matches in a row before falling to Mason Parris in the consi-semis, then again to Dom Bradley in the 5th place match.
Meech’s 6th place performance qualifies him for the World Team Trials.
Note: About a month ago I asked for questions on Twitter for a Q&A. Since then, my grandfather passed away and I’ve been too busy to write this article (I intended to write it shortly after the tweet). I only bring this up because some of the questions are now moot, but I’ll still answer all of them.
Q&A
From Cory:
What happens next with the RTC?
I think they will sign Nino as the next resident athlete. Then the ultimate goal is getting one senior level guy for each weight class. The Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and Hawkeye Wrestling Club are both pretty close to doing that. Duals between RTCs would be awesome and help grow the popularity of freestyle.
Who will we see at the US Open, and who could make a run at Paris?
Answered above… and I currently don’t think anyone on the RTC or college roster is primed to make the Olympic team next year. Nico Megaludis was really close to making the world team last year, but he’ll be two years older and have to drop a weight class. I’m assuming Gable sticks around for one more year, and right now there’s too much of a gap between him and everyone else at heavyweight. Nino could have a decent shot at making the world team at 92kg, but not the Olympic team at 97kg (Kyle Snyder).
Will Nino stick around, and if so, is that +1 or will there be an exit?
Yes, I believe he will, and no, I believe they will find the money to add him without cutting someone else.
From John:
Do you anticipate Gavin going to the portal for 125, 133, or back up heavyweight?
125 no. Colton Camacho and Vince Santaniello are there. 133 yes. I think they both stay at 125. It’s the only weight class you need two guys on the roster. So, it looks like Pitt needs to acquire a 133. Heavyweight ideally. Having an actual heavyweight as a backup would be nice, but I suppose someone like Geoff Magin could bump up if needed.
Any WPIAL seniors on the radar to walk on for 2023? Non-WPIAL seniors?
Don’t know.
What weights is Pitt recruiting for the 2024 class?
The biggest need by far for this class is a 184 to replace Reece Heller.
Any 2024 recruits Pitt leads for, or are near the top of their list? Who’s visited?
Joe Simon (Waynesburg) and Jackson Young (Camden Catholic, NJ) have already committed. A kid from New England visited (sorry, can’t find his name)… but the biggest target by far is Rune Lawrence. He’s local, will likely be a four-timer, and could probably slot in at 184.*
With Nino winning the national championship, how much does this help with local, regional and national recruiting?
It can’t be overstated. Pitt had a five year drought with no All Americans from 2016-2021 and no champs since 2008. In-conference rivals Virginia Tech and North Carolina State routinely have multiple All Americans and finalists. Pitt needs to get results to demonstrably show recruits they can have success there. Now they can.
Chris Cannon from Northwestern just entered the portal as a grad transfer. With 133 being a need, does Pitt take a look?
He, along with the two other All Americans departing from Northwestern, landed at Michigan.
With the OU coach up in the air, any chance Santaniello’s brother takes a look at Pitt?
I’m hearing yes. Vince’s younger brother Anthony committed to Oklahoma, but he may be heading to Oakland instead. He was 138-3 in high school and a four-time NJ state finalist and two-time champ. And… he might be the 133 Pitt needs.
From Chris:
Penn state has won [redacted] team titles recently. How can you stop them? Is it simply better recruiting?
It’s recruiting and developing. And the RTC. It’s everything. Every single aspect of that program is elite, and that’s the difference.
What are your thoughts on video replays? Seems like they're a hot topic every year.
Awful. Either get rid of them entirely or put a 1 minute timer on them. If a ref can’t see anything to overturn a call in a minute, there’s nothing there to see.
How can Pitt sell themselves more when recruiting?
See above regarding Nino. But the tough thing in the ACC is five schools are legitimately good at wrestling and five schools are high-end academically as well. Not to mention gorgeous campuses and nice weather. And that doesn’t even count all the other programs scouring PA for top talent. Those are the negatives.
The positives are:
Recent success at NCAAs and ACCs
New facilities incoming
Clear and obvious progression in skill by multiple starters (speaks to coaching ability)
Having Mac and Dayton Pitzer lined up to close out duals four years in a row (fans are going to love that)
Growing RTC
Local talent doesn’t have to go far
Nice singlets
*Right before publication Rune Lawrence committed to WVU.
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