Inside The Panthers

Pitt Wrestling Lands WPIAL 2026 Commit

Pitt Panthers wrestling landed a WPIAL Class of 2026 commitment.

Dominic Campbell

Pitt Wrestling Landed a WPIAL Class of 2026 commitment from Santino Slodoba of Butler.
Pitt Wrestling Landed a WPIAL Class of 2026 commitment from Santino Slodoba of Butler. / Courtesy of Pitt Athletic

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers wrestling continues to find great local talent in the WPIAL, as they landed a new commitment from the region in the Class of 2026.

Santino Sloboda, who wrestles for Butler Senior High School in Butler, Pa., about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh, announced his commitment to Pitt on his Instagram.

"i’m super excited to announce that i will be continuing my academic and athletic career at the university of pittsburgh!," Sloboda wrote in his Instagram post. "thanks to everyone who has led me in this direction since i started wrestling 12 years ago, and can’t wait for the future !! #h2p🐆🐆"

Sloboda excelled in his first two seasons of high school wrestling, 78-6 overall record, 32 pins, 11 technical falls, 11 forfeits, eight major decisions and 16 wins on decision.

He finished 40-3 as a freshman in the 2022-23 season, wrestling at 107 pounds, with 14 falls, six technical falls, six major decisions and eight wins on decision. He lost in the WPIAL AAA Final to Tanner Mizenko of Canon McMillan, but would make it to the Semifinals at the PIAA Championships, finishing in fourth place.

Sloboda moved up to 114 pounds as a sophomore and continued to dominate, going 38-3. He won his first WPIAL title, upsetting No. 1 Landon Sidun in a 5-4 decision. He would make it back to the semifinals at the PIAA Championships, but would finish in sixth place.

He took his official visit to Pitt the weekend of Sept. 20-22, and also visited others schools like Brown, Bucknell, Lehigh, West Virginia and Wyoming.

He is the second Class of 2026 commitment from the WPIAL for Pitt, joining Elijah Brown of Belle Vernon High School. He is also the third commitment in that recruiting class, along with Kade Brown of St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

WPIAL Alumni on Pitt Wrestling 2024-25

Redshirt junior Luca Augustine: Waynesburg-174 pounds
Redshirt freshman Tyler Chappell: Seneca Valley-125 pounds
Redshirt freshman Dylan Evans: Chartiers Valley-157 pounds
Redshirt sophomore Jared Keslar: Connellsville-157 pounds
Redshirt sophomore Kelin Laffey: Pine-Richland-165 pounds
Redshirt freshman Grant MacKay: Laurel-174 pounds
Freshman Juliano Marion: Franklin Regional-285 pounds
Redshirt sophomore Dayton Pitzer: Mt. Pleasant-285 pounds
Redshirt sophomore Jack Pletcher: Greater Latrobe-149 pounds
Redshirt sophomore Briar Priest: Hempfield Area-141 pounds
Freshman Joseph Simon-Waynesburg-133 pounds
Redshirt sophomore Finn Solomon: Franklin Regional-149 pounds
Redshirt sophomore Mac Stout: Mt. Lebanon-197 pounds
Freshman Jack Tongel: Plum-197 Pounds

Pitt Wrestling Future WPIAL Commits

Class of 2025

Bode Marlow-Thomas Jefferson-Jefferson Hills, Pa. (157/165)
Evan Petrovich-Connellsville High School-Connellsville, Pa. (149/157)

Class of 2026
Elijah Brown-Belle Vernon-Monessen, Pa. (174)
Santino Sloboda-Butler (125)

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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