Pitt loses conference matches to North Carolina, North Carolina State

Pitt fell to 0-3 in the ACC after consecutive losses to UNC and NC State. Of note, Dom Forys had not returned to the lineup vs UNC. Conceivably, he majors Lirette, an eight-point swing in the team score, and Pitt wins 20-16. I suspect Pitt will finish higher than UNC at both the ACC and NCAA tournament.

Pitt also fought hard against the Wolf Pack of NC State. While the team victory was slightly more out of reach, a few flip-flops here and there and the Panthers may have had an upset on their hands (this will be discussed more later).

By Stephen Patrick 

Brendan Price in high school. Photo credit: PA Power Wrestling

Social security check? No thanks…

Brendan Price came out of retirement two weeks ago. And it may have only been for that week. Price, the Canon-Mac graduate, is not listed on Pitt’s roster any more now than he was at the start of the season. Although he dropped a major decision to unranked Nicholas Lirette of North Carolina, Price showed brief moments of what made him a multiple time section champion and PowerAde place winner for the Big Macs. 

He hit several switches for flashy reversals. One at the end of the period, sent UNC Head Coach Coleman Scott into a fit of rage on the bench for his wrestler’s lack of mat awareness. He was also very competitive on his feet, especially during the first period. However, as the end of the match approached, it became clear Brendan’s conditioning caught up with him. That’s not a knock on Brendan. Everyone that’s wrestled appreciates the requisite conditioning to be able to compete and not practicing for close to two full seasons certainly is not an optimal training strategy. Nonetheless, during their post-match team huddle, the Panthers all congratulated and hugged Brendan for stepping on the mat one more time and putting the team ahead of self interest. It was well deserved and much appreciated.

Team point? Thanks, Drew (no seriously)

Drew Headlee was 100% correct to cause a stink with the official in the NC State match two Saturdays ago. After the official blew a call and blew the challenge in the previous match that saw Mikey Racciato pin Beau Donahue, the ref missed another call in Taleb Rahmani’s match at 157. It cost the redshirt freshman nearfall points that would have ended up propelling him to victory. This led to Headlee incessantly waving the challenge flag, and yelling at the ref form the scorer’s table.  If Rahmani wins that match, Pitt does not lose a team point and the final score would have been 20-19 Wolf Pack. Maybe then TeShan Campbell works harder for a major decision. 20-20. Ok, NC State still would have won the dual on virtue of winning individual matches 6-4, the first tie breaker, but it would have made for serious drama, most likely given Pitt a small bump in the rankings, and helped Taleb for seeding at ACCs. According to a team source, Matt Kocher sent video of the specific instance in which Taleb’s nearfall points were over looked to the head ACC official, which shines light on the significance of the blunder in the coaching staff’s eyes.

Line-up notes

It appears Zach Bruce has returned to 184. This is a good move for the Panthers and a solid tactical choice by co-head Coaches Headlee and Kocher. As I famously stated in my last blog, “I still have no idea who Pitt’s starter at 184 is”. This clearly made headlines and caused the coaching staff to rearrange the upper weights.

Regardless of their motives, Zach moving to 184 and John Rizzo sliding into 197 serves the team better than Bruce being up at 197 and having a revolving door at 184. Christian Dietrich and Donovan McAfee were clearly undersized at that weight and Mat Carr simply was not getting the job done.

Speaking of Dietrich, with Austin Bell hurt (I don’t have any inside info, I just saw him walking around with one of these on)

photo credit: MMAR medical

it appears the battle for 174 is between the true freshman from Wyoming Seminary and sophomore Cam Jacobson, as well as McAfee. Jacobson got the start vs UNC, however McAfee wrestled against North Carolina State. It seems I will now need to direct my confusion towards 174.

Opinions (Everyone has them)

• I mentioned Dietrich as a contender at 174 with Bell injured. It now appears they *may* have both wrestled their last match for the Panthers. For what it’s worth, they are both still listed on the roster. More on this to come
• I hope Pitt loses a team point every match if the officials are going to be that stubborn. These types of cases are very confusing for beginner fans, and quite frustrating for the experienced viewer
• Taleb Rahmani is showing flashes of serious talent. I look forward to watching him develop over the next 3 seasons
• The brace in the picture is usually associated with an ACL or MCL injury. Trust me, I’m almost a physical therapist
• Zach Bruce was 9-18 last year. He’s 12-9 this year. Nothing stellar, but a marked improvement
• I, along with all other retired wrestlers, am quite jealous of the opportunity Brendan Price had