Pitt Wrestling Falls to No. 5 Ohio State

No. 19 Pitt wrestling fell to No. 5 Ohio State in a home dual.

Pitt Wrestling Head Coach Keith Gavin, athletic trainer Brian Bonnar and assistant coach Luke Pletcher / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt wrestling had a strong start to their dual with No. 5 Ohio State, but would fall later on in a 20-17 defeat at Fitzgerald Field House.

The loss for Pitt is their first dual defeat of the season, as they won 35-3 over Navy on Nov. 2 and 21-12 over then ranked No. 18 Lehigh on Nov. 24, with both matches at home.

Pitt No. 17 redshirt junior Luca Augustine (5-1) started the dual against Ohio State freshman e'Than Birden (3-2) at 174 pounds. Augustine had chances to get him at both the end of the third period and in overtime, but each wrestler got an escape and it went to tiebreakers.

Augustine didn't allow Birden to escape in the first period and then used a neutral start to hold on to his riding time, winning a 2-1 decision.

Panthers No. 11 graduate student Reece Heller (5-0) suffered an early takedown to Buckeyes redshirt sophomore Seth Shumate (7-3) at 184 pounds.

Heller made an escape and then got a reversal in the second period, before Shumate escaped to stay up 4-3. Heller then made a takedown, which Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan threw a challenge brick on for locked hands. Officials would confirm that there was no locked hands penalty and Heller maintained the lead.

Shumate looked like he had a takedown late, but since Ohio State didn't have a challenge available, Heller held on for the 6-5 decision.

Pitt No. 16 redshirt sophomore Mac Stout (4-2) faced sophomore Ryder Rogotzke (1-1) at 197 pounds and won an 8-2 decision on two takedowns.

The Panthers continued winning, as No. 11 redshirt sophomore Dayton Pitzer (3-0) won a 16-1 techinical fall (7:00) over redshirt junior Hogan Swenski (3-2) at heavyweight, giving Pitt a 14-0 lead after four matches.

Ohio State then brought out their top wrestlers at the lighter weights, which gave them a big advantage over Pitt.

Freshman Matt Marlow (4-2) had to start at 125 pounds for the Panthers, as normal starter, No. 16 graduate student Nick Babin had appendicitis and had to get his appendix out this week, according to head coach Keith Gavin. He also said that Babin will miss a month after the surgery.

He faced No. 6 Buckeyes redshirt sophomore Brendan McCrone (13-2) and competed well, until McCrone got him on a takedown and four near fall points for the 8-0 major decision.

Pitt suffered heavy defeats in the next two matches to Ohio State. No. 31 redshirt sophomore Vinnie Santaniello (1-2) lost a 14-4 major decision to No. 7 redshirt sophomore Nic Bouzakis (13-2) at 133 pounds and No. 21 redshirt freshman Anthony Santaneillo (3-3) lost a 16-1 technical fall decision to No. 2 junior Jesse Mendez (12-0), who won the National Title last season, at 141 pounds,

Panthers No. 28 redshirt sophomore Finn Solomon (3-3) started with a takedown on Buckeyes No. 12 graduate student Dylan D'Emilo (9-0) at 149 pounds.

D'Emilio got four near fall points in the second period and held off Solomon for a 6-4 decision to give the Buckeyes the lead, 16-14.

Pitt No. 31 redshirt freshman Dylan Evans (5-1) struggled in his 13-4 major decision loss against Ohio State No. 7 redshirt junior Paddy Gallagher (8-1) at 157 pounds, his first defeat of the season.

The Panthers had a new starter at 165 pounds in redshirt sophomore Jared Keslar (2-1), who wrestled the past season at 157 pounds.

He dominated early on vs. Buckeyes No. 8 graduate student Sammy Sasso (5-3), with three takedowns for a 10-2 lead after two periods.

Sasso then escaped and got Keslar in a tough position, with a takedown and four back points to tie it up at 10-10. Keslar would make a reversal and held on for the 13-11 decision with riding time.

Gavin said that Keslar broke his hand at the Clarion Open on Nov. 3 and just got his cast off a week ago.

"...For that, I thought he wrestled really good," Gavin said. "His energy, his conditioning was really good and he was really putting it on him until he gave up that silly toss to his back. But again, it's good to fight through it and get your hand raisesd. I was really happy with Jared's effort.

Pitt heads to the Rider Quad Meet in Lawrenceville, N.J. on Dec. 20, where they'll face Rider, South Dakota State and Maryland for their final dual of 2024.

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