Virginia Falls In ACC Opener With Pitt
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia wrestling team (6-3, 0-1 ACC) dropped its ACC opener on Friday night (Jan. 20), falling to Pittsburgh (7-2, 1-0 ACC) by a score of 25-6 at Memorial Gym.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Panthers jumped out to the early lead, claiming the first three weight classes before Neil Antrassian, the 20th-ranked wrestler at 184 pounds, claimed an 8-3 decision over No. 17 Reece Heller to get the Hoos on the board in the overall team score.
Pitt would go on to grab victories at the next five weight classes before No. 30 Jarod Verkleeren would close out the night with a 5-3 decision over No. 29 Tyler Badgett at 149 pounds.
NOTES ON THE DUAL
• The dual featured five bouts with nationally-ranked wrestlers facing off and seven matches featuring at least one nationally-ranked wrestler.
• Neil Antrassian improved to 7-1 in dual action and picked up his 19th win of the season with his decision at 184.
• Antrassian is now 4-2 against nationally-ranked opponents and has three wins over top-20 opponents.
• Jarod Verkleeren improved to 15-5 on the season and 4-1 in dual matches with his victory at 149 pounds.
FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND
“The college wrestling season is about peaks and valleys. We’ve had a lot of peak moments and good moments of late with some awesome things happening, but today we got humbled and it’s a valley moment. Sometimes when you get humbled it’s the best thing for you. How we respond on the road next week will be critical. Tonight wasn’t about going hard, we went hard, but we made mistakes that cost us. Give Pitt credit because they came into our place and did their thing.”
PITT 25, VIRGINIA 6
157: Dazon Casto (Pitt) dec. No. 33 Jake Keating, 14-8 – Pitt 3, UVA 0
165: No. 31 Holden Heller (Pitt) dec. No. 15 Justin McCoy, 9-3 – Pitt 6, UVA 0
174: Luca Augustine (Pitt) dec. Vic Marcelli, 4-1 – Pitt 9, UVA 0
184: No. 20 Neil Antrassian dec. No. 17 Reece Heller (Pitt), 8-3 – Pitt 9, UVA 3
197: No. 2 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) dec. No. 24 Michael Battista, 7-4 – Pitt 12, UVA 3
HWT: Jake Slinger (Pitt) dec. Jessie Knight, 4-0 – Pitt 15, UVA 3
125: Colton Camacho (Pitt) major dec. Patrick McCormick, 14-1 – Pitt 19, UVA 3
133: No. 7 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) dec. Marlon Yarbrough II, 7-3 – Pitt 22, UVA 3
141: No. 3 Cole Matthews (Pitt) dec. No. 29 Brian Courtney, 4-1 – Pitt 25, UVA 3
149: No. 30 Jarod Verkleeren dec. No. 29 Tyler Badgett (Pitt), 5-3 – Pitt 25, UVA 6