No. 24 Pitt travels to Blacksburg, Va. to tackle ACC Rival No. 7 Virginia Tech Friday evening at 7 p.m. The match is among the greatest in an awesome evening of wrestling throughout the nation, as No. 1 Penn State faces off in opposition to No. 2 Iowa and No. 3 Michigan hosts No. 6 Ohio State.

The Panthers come into this matchup 7-2 total and 1-0 in ACC play after dismantling Virginia final week. The Hokies are 7-2 total and 1-0 within the ACC as nicely. They’ve gained their previous 4 matches, together with an in depth 16-14 victory over the then ranked No. 5 NC State Wolfpack final week.

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Pitt has an actual probability of rising to the highest of the ACC in the event that they win this match Friday evening. The possible matchups appear like this:

Weight Class-Pitt wrestler vs. Virginia Tech wrestler. The rankings go Intermat/Coaches Ballot

125-NR/No. 30 Redshirt Junior Colton Camacho vs. NR/NR Redshirt First-12 months Cooper Flynn

133-No. 7/No. 6 Redshirt Senior Micky Philippi vs. No.5/No. 4 Redshirt Junior Sam Latona

141-No. 3/No. 2 Redshirt Senior Cole Matthews vs. No. 12/No. 10 First-12 months Tom Criminal

149-No. 29/No. 28 Redshirt Sophomore Tyler Badgett vs. No. 9/No. 7 First-12 months Caleb Henson

157-No. 33/NR Senior Dazjon Casto vs. No. 5/NR Senior Bryce Andonian

165-No. 23/No. 29 Redshirt Senior Holden Heller vs. No. 25/No. 20 Redshirt Sophomore Connor Brady

174-NR/NR Redshirt First-12 months Luca Augustine vs. No. 3/No. 3 Redshirt Senior Mekhi Lewis 

184-No. 19/No. 15 Redshirt Junior Reece Heller vs. No. 7/No. 5 Redshirt First-12 months Hunter Bolen

197-No. 2/No. 1 Redshirt Senior Nino Bonaccorsi vs. No. 22/No. 22 Redshirt Sophomore Andy Smith

Heavweight-No. 5/NR First-12 months Dayton Pitzer vs. No. 23/No. 19 Redshirt Sophomore Hunter Catka

The probables function implausible matchups, as all however two matchups function two ranked wrestlers.

The one most individuals shall be is Philippi (8-1) vs. Latona at 133 kilos, as it’s the solely prime ten matchup of the evening.

The heavyweight battle options Panthers fan favourite Pitzer (5-1) in opposition to Catka. Pitzer wrestled extremely on the Midlands Championships on the finish of December, ending in second place and shortly incomes reward from Panthers followers. Panthers head coach Keith Gavin is planning to redshirt him, however he can wrestle the subsequent three weekends and nonetheless keep on that redshirt. Pitzer will wrestle instead of senior Mike Slinger (8-6).

Camacho (12-6) faces off in opposition to Flynn to start out off the match at 125 kilos. Virginia Tech began No. 27 redshirt first-year Eddie Ventresca most of this season, however with three losses in his final 4 matches, head coach Tony Robie is probably going going to start out Flynn.

Casto (5-5) has gained his final two matches after a tough begin to the 2022-23 season. He comes up in opposition to a tricky opponent in Andonian, who not too long ago got here again from harm and gained a significant resolution in opposition to the No. 7 Eddie Scott of NC State.

Matthews (12-1) seems to remain close to the highest of the rankings with a win over an awesome foe in Criminal. Bonaccorsi, who can be preventing for that prime spot comes up in opposition to a superb opponent in Smith, who took down then No. 6 Isaac Trumble of NC State in a 3-2 resolution final weekend.

The Heller brothers each come up in opposition to worthy opponents. Reece Heller (14-3) will look to rebound after a tough loss to then ranked No. 20 Neil Antrassian of Virginia in a 7-3 resolution, as he takes on an awesome opponent in Bolen. Holden Heller (8-4) takes on a worthy foe in Brady, with each wrestlers seeking to earn factors for his or her respective workforce.

Badgett (14-7) should work onerous to keep away from a second straight defeat, after dropping to then ranked No. 30 Jarod Verkleeren of Virginia final Friday, as he takes on a prime ten wrestler in Henson.

Augustine (10-6) is a shock at 174 kilos this 12 months for his stable wrestling, successful his previous three matches. He faces the most effective wrestler on the Hokies in Lewis and should wrestle the most effective he has achieved this season to earn a victory.

It’s a robust process, however Gavin stated that his workforce has the power to tackle anybody, even an awesome opponent in Virginia Tech.

“Our guys are succesful,” Gavin stated. “I feel that we’ve got to have all people wrestle to their greatest. There’s not an entire lot of margin of error for us, but when everybody wrestles to their greatest, we will beat anyone. It’s a really thrilling alternative for the fellows and the entire time. All of them have their very own particular person objectives, but it surely’s cool to do one thing as a workforce as nicely.”