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Wrestling hands No. 10 Pittsburgh first ACC defeat, 17-16

In meeting of top-15 teams, No. 14 Virginia tops talented Panthers

No. 14 Virginia wrestling defeated No. 10 Pittsburgh, 17-16, in a thrilling, closely contested battle at Memorial Gymnasium Sunday.

The match met, and exceeded, expectations as a grind-it-out affair. The outcome was in doubt until the final whistle of the heavyweight bout, and two weight classes required extra time to determine a winner.

“This dual meet was as crazy as they come,” coach Steve Garland said. “We knew it was going to be a fist fight because Pitt is a bunch of hard-nosed guys who are mentally tough.”

The opening match at 125 pounds set the standard for how the rest of the match would be fought. Junior Nick Herrmann trailed Panther freshman Dom Forys with less than a minute remaining in the final period, but Herrmann reversed Forys and scored back points before winning 9-5.

No. 13 sophomore George DiCamillo scored precious bonus points against freshman Ben Ross. DiCamillo was in full control for the duration of the match, and only the winning margin was in doubt. When the dust settled, DiCamillo emerged with the major decision, 22-10, and the Cavaliers (10-3, 2-0) led 7-0.

But right when Virginia was on the cusp of pulling away, Pittsburgh (7-4, 2-1 ACC) rattled off back-to-back victories to pull within one.

Redshirt freshman Nick Zanetta defeated junior Justin Van Hoose by virtue of riding time, 5-4, at 141 pounds, and 20th-ranked sophomore Mikey Racciato downed redshirt freshman T.J. Miller, 10-4.

Miller was one of the heroes of the afternoon. He suffered what appeared to be a significant injury to his left knee during a scramble late in the second period. Somehow, Miller remained in the match and, on one leg, prevented Racciato from securing a bonus-point victory.

Garland was emotional when discussing Miller’s hard-fought efforts.

“He suffered about as bad a knee injury as it gets,” Garland said. “But he stayed out there and fought hard. We won this dual because he was able to finish the match.”

The Cavaliers gained a little breathing room with two consecutive victories of their own. Redshirt freshman Andrew Atkinson took Pitt junior Ronnie Garbinsky to the wire at 157 pounds. Garbinsky escaped from Atkinson with 1:30 remaining in the final period to knot the contest. Then, in the dying seconds of the match, the referee awarded Garbinsky a takedown.

The amateur officials in the stands and Garland disagreed with the call, and the disputed takedown went to instant replay. Upon further review, the takedown was erased, and the match went to sudden victory where Atkinson won with a scrambling takedown, 5-3.

No. 2 Virginia senior Nick Sulzer rolled over senior Troy Reaghard at 165 pounds, 14-5. Reaghard hung tough with Sulzer and only trailed by three going into the final two minutes — but Sulzer then went on a tear and utilized a flurry of takedowns to win by major decision.

Two ranked wrestlers butted heads at 174 pounds. Fifth-ranked junior Blaise Butler never held a lead against No. 7 senior Tyler Wilps and lost the match 6-2. Garland saw the tough defeat as an opportunity for Butler to learn.

“I told Blaise, ‘You’ve been kicking so much butt that we haven’t had much to tell you,’” Garland said. “Feeling that pain fuels Butler. He’s already extra-motivated, the pain adds a little special sauce to it. I cannot wait to get into the practice room with him.”

Second-ranked Pitt senior Max Thomusseit cruised to an easy victory against redshirt freshman Tyler Askey, 21-6. Thomusseit won by a four-point technical fall because he did not score any back points.

No. 19 junior Zach Nye scored what would become the deciding points for Virginia at 197 pounds. He edged No. 17 junior Nick Bonaccorsi, 2-1, in the first tiebreaker period. Nye started the third period in the down position before escaping from Bonaccorsi to tie the match at 1-1.

The two wrestlers battled to a draw in the sudden victory period, and Nye rode out Bonaccorsi in the first half of the tie-breaker. Nye escaped from Bonaccorsi in the blink of an eye in the second half of the tie-breaker and burned out the clock from neutral to earn the hard-fought win.

“I got pretty tired during my last match, and I’ve been working on my conditioning,” Nye said. “I wanted to make sure I felt good for an entire match, and it paid off. I need to work on my offense, but it is a start.”

Trailing 17-13, the Panthers needed bonus points from the heavyweight bout. Junior Patrick Gillen did his job and kept the match close, losing 4-3 but allowing Virginia to escape with the one point victory.

The schedule grants the Cavaliers no quarter as they travel to Blacksburg in a week’s time for a showdown with No. 9 Virginia Tech. Virginia should expect another grueling match from the always difficult Hokies, despite the preparation afforded by Pittsburgh.

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