Last season Pittsburgh finished 11th in the nation, their highest finish since finishing 13th in 1989. I believe this season Pittsburgh has the ability to do themselves one spot better and finish top 10. At the present time, in dual rankings the Panthers are ranked #22 & the Ohio State Buckeyes are ranked #7. Tournament wise though, Pittsburgh is #15 & Ohio State is #10. I do not see Pittsburgh upsetting Ohio State in this dual, but I do believe that it'll be demonstrated on an individual level why I have the faith in the program that I do.
Seven of the ten matches that will take place in the dual on Sunday stick out as ones to not miss.
125 - #25 Gage Curry/U.R. Colton Camacho Vs #14 Malik Heinselman
Whether it is Curry or it is Camacho, either way Heinselman has himself a great test this Sunday. He injury defaulted out of the CKLV invite this past weekend after a tough quarterfinal loss to eventual 3rd place finisher Brandon Kaylor of Oregon State. Let's hope that he back to 100% health, as he'll need to be against either of the Panthers.
133 - #6 Micky Phillippi Vs U.R. Dylan Koontz
This should definitely be a win for the Panthers but I'm not sure if I'd call a major decision here or not. Koontz despite being unranked is a pretty tough customer. I say not only can he keep this to a decision, he will.
141 - #16 Cole Matthews Vs #24 Dylan D'Emilio/U.R. Jordan Decatur
This is an interesting matchup. Matthews is favored in the rankings by quite a bit, but I would still call this one a toss up if it is Matthews Vs D'Emilio. I see a low scoring match, something like 6-3, 7-4. I think Matthews wins this match on the feet, but wouldn't be shocked with a D'Emilio upset.
149 - U.R. Dan Mancini Vs #2 Sammy Sasso
The Buckeyes are going to completely dominate this match. A major decision is the best the Panthers can hope for, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to see a technical fall or fall.
157 - #30 Elijah Cleary Vs #26 Bryce Hepner
I'm really looking forward to this match. Former Buckeye Cleary who now competes for the Panthers vs Hepner. They're not that far apart in the rankings, with the experience of Cleary vs the youthfulness of Hepner. I think this one is going to be really good.
165 - #9 Jake Wentzel Vs #8 Carson Kharchla
Here is your marquee match. The main event if you will. You have last year's NCAA runner-up Wentzel taking on Kharchla who looked extraordinarily sharp in route to a 3rd place CKLV finish this past weekend, with his only loss being a 5-4 decision to NCAA champion Shane Griffith of Stanford. There's a lot riding on the line here for both of these guys. Wentzel has dropped in the rankings after a tough loss to Lehigh's Brian Meyer & wants to reestablish himself as Kharchla is looking for that next big win to further his favor in the minds of those who think he might be an NCAA title contender this season. This is the DO NOT miss match of the dual.
174 - U.R. Hunter Kernan Vs #6 Ethan Smith
Here is another match where the Buckeyes are going to have their way with the Panthers. Not seeing a tech or a fall, but I am seeing a major.
184 - #31 Gregg Harvey Vs #10 Kaleb Romero
Man Romero looked good at CKLV didn't he? Solid and sharp all throughout the tournament, especially in the finals with a 7-3 decision over Nebraska's Taylor Venz. As good as he looked, I'm not even going to tease a possible upset out of Harvey but I do think Harvey will wrestle Romero tougher than expected. He's lost twice thus far to Romero 7-2 & 4-3, and I see no reason to think that he can't keep it close with the Buckeye again. Matter of fact, I'll even go out on a limb here and say that Harvey scores offensive points during the match.
197 - #2 Nino Bonaccorsi Vs #21 Gavin Hoffman
I'd call this the semi-main event of the night. The last these two met in the 2018-2019 season, Bonaccorsi won a controlled 10-5 decision. Since that time I'd argue that both wrestlers have gotten significantly better. I think we'll see a much closer match this time. Still going with Bonaccorsi, but Hoffman gets himself up for these type of matches. He's a better dual wrestler than he is a tournament wrestler, and I think that'll show in this match. Predicting Bonaccorsi by 2-4 points.
HWT - #31 Jake Slinger Vs #13 Tate Orndorff
Again a match that favors the Buckeyes. While the parity of wrestling always lingers in the back of my mind, I cannot ignore that against the same competition Slinger is 0-6, Vs Orndorff who is 5-1. I say the Scarlet and gray easily takes this one over the blue and gold.
The three matches where the Buckeyes are heavily favored is where I think this dual becomes out of reach for Panthers. As said though, looking at it from an individual standpoint, match by match, it is easy to see that in a tournament setting Pittsburgh will be a very tough team. This is going to be a great dual, with some must see matches!
Seven of the ten matches that will take place in the dual on Sunday stick out as ones to not miss.
125 - #25 Gage Curry/U.R. Colton Camacho Vs #14 Malik Heinselman
Whether it is Curry or it is Camacho, either way Heinselman has himself a great test this Sunday. He injury defaulted out of the CKLV invite this past weekend after a tough quarterfinal loss to eventual 3rd place finisher Brandon Kaylor of Oregon State. Let's hope that he back to 100% health, as he'll need to be against either of the Panthers.
133 - #6 Micky Phillippi Vs U.R. Dylan Koontz
This should definitely be a win for the Panthers but I'm not sure if I'd call a major decision here or not. Koontz despite being unranked is a pretty tough customer. I say not only can he keep this to a decision, he will.
141 - #16 Cole Matthews Vs #24 Dylan D'Emilio/U.R. Jordan Decatur
This is an interesting matchup. Matthews is favored in the rankings by quite a bit, but I would still call this one a toss up if it is Matthews Vs D'Emilio. I see a low scoring match, something like 6-3, 7-4. I think Matthews wins this match on the feet, but wouldn't be shocked with a D'Emilio upset.
149 - U.R. Dan Mancini Vs #2 Sammy Sasso
The Buckeyes are going to completely dominate this match. A major decision is the best the Panthers can hope for, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to see a technical fall or fall.
157 - #30 Elijah Cleary Vs #26 Bryce Hepner
I'm really looking forward to this match. Former Buckeye Cleary who now competes for the Panthers vs Hepner. They're not that far apart in the rankings, with the experience of Cleary vs the youthfulness of Hepner. I think this one is going to be really good.
165 - #9 Jake Wentzel Vs #8 Carson Kharchla
Here is your marquee match. The main event if you will. You have last year's NCAA runner-up Wentzel taking on Kharchla who looked extraordinarily sharp in route to a 3rd place CKLV finish this past weekend, with his only loss being a 5-4 decision to NCAA champion Shane Griffith of Stanford. There's a lot riding on the line here for both of these guys. Wentzel has dropped in the rankings after a tough loss to Lehigh's Brian Meyer & wants to reestablish himself as Kharchla is looking for that next big win to further his favor in the minds of those who think he might be an NCAA title contender this season. This is the DO NOT miss match of the dual.
174 - U.R. Hunter Kernan Vs #6 Ethan Smith
Here is another match where the Buckeyes are going to have their way with the Panthers. Not seeing a tech or a fall, but I am seeing a major.
184 - #31 Gregg Harvey Vs #10 Kaleb Romero
Man Romero looked good at CKLV didn't he? Solid and sharp all throughout the tournament, especially in the finals with a 7-3 decision over Nebraska's Taylor Venz. As good as he looked, I'm not even going to tease a possible upset out of Harvey but I do think Harvey will wrestle Romero tougher than expected. He's lost twice thus far to Romero 7-2 & 4-3, and I see no reason to think that he can't keep it close with the Buckeye again. Matter of fact, I'll even go out on a limb here and say that Harvey scores offensive points during the match.
197 - #2 Nino Bonaccorsi Vs #21 Gavin Hoffman
I'd call this the semi-main event of the night. The last these two met in the 2018-2019 season, Bonaccorsi won a controlled 10-5 decision. Since that time I'd argue that both wrestlers have gotten significantly better. I think we'll see a much closer match this time. Still going with Bonaccorsi, but Hoffman gets himself up for these type of matches. He's a better dual wrestler than he is a tournament wrestler, and I think that'll show in this match. Predicting Bonaccorsi by 2-4 points.
HWT - #31 Jake Slinger Vs #13 Tate Orndorff
Again a match that favors the Buckeyes. While the parity of wrestling always lingers in the back of my mind, I cannot ignore that against the same competition Slinger is 0-6, Vs Orndorff who is 5-1. I say the Scarlet and gray easily takes this one over the blue and gold.
The three matches where the Buckeyes are heavily favored is where I think this dual becomes out of reach for Panthers. As said though, looking at it from an individual standpoint, match by match, it is easy to see that in a tournament setting Pittsburgh will be a very tough team. This is going to be a great dual, with some must see matches!
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