No. 23 Panthers Open Season at Moutaineer Duals
11/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 5, 2016
PITTSBURGH - The Pitt wrestling team is set to open the 2016-17 season Sunday, Nov. 6, at the Moutaineer Duals in Morgantown, W.Va. The Panthers will face Ohio University at 10 a.m. before taking on Campbell at 2 p.m. All duals will be held in the WVU Coliseum.
Live scoring for the Pitt duals will be provided through TrackWrestling and can be found by using the links at the top of the page.
TEAM SERIES
- Sunday will be the sixth meeting between the Panthers and Bobcats.
- Pitt leads the all-time series 5-0.
- The two teams last met Dec. 16, 2007 in Athens, Ohio, which resulted in a 36-6 win for the Panthers.
- Pitt and Campbell clash for the first time Sunday.
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
- Ohio concluded the 2015-16 season 13-3 overall with a third place finish at the MAC Championships.
- The Bobcats return three of seven NCAA qualifiers from a year ago including sophomore Cameron Kelly at 133 pounds, redshirt sophomore Austin Reese at 165 pounds and sophomore Shakur Laney at 125 pounds.
- Kelly enters the season ranked No. 13 by InterMat, while Reese checks in at No. 19.
SCOUTING THE CAMELS
- Campbell finished the 2015-16 season 3-13 overall, but the season was highlighted by a notable performance from Nathan Kraisser at 133 pounds.
- Kraisser, the SoCon 133 champion, finished the season 34-9 overall and made a run at the 2016 NCAA Championships. Prior to joining the team in Morgantown on Sunday, Kraisser will compete in the 2016 NWCA All-Star Classic in Cleveland, Ohio, Saturday, Nov. 5.
- The redshirt senior moved down to 125 this season and is the lone Camel in the InterMat preseason rankings, checking in at No. 14.
PANTHERS IN THE POLLS
- As a team, the Panthers enter the season ranked No. 23 by the USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll. Pitt concluded the 2015-16 season receiving votes.
- In the InterMat preseason rankings, junior Dom Forys is ranked No. 9 amongst 133-pounders and redshirt junior Ryan Solomon comes in at No. 15 at 285 pounds.
- Forys is one of two ACC wrestlers ranked in their weight class, as NC State's Jamal Morris ranks 18th.
- Like Forys, Solomon is also amongst one other ACC member in his weight class with senior Ty Walz out of Virginia Tech coming in at No. 2 behind U.S. Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder of Ohio State.
FIERCE FORYS RETURNS
- Forys is back for his junior season with the bar raised higher than last year.
- The two-time NCAA qualifier fell short at in the 2016 ACC Championship finals at 133 pounds, falling to Virginia's George DiCamillo in an 8-4 decision.
- At the NCAA Championships Forys was one win short of earning All-America status after a trip that was highlighted by pinning NC State's Jamal Morris in 5:38.
- An All-ACC selection, Forys finished his sophomore campaign 28-5 overall, 15-2 in duals, 5-0 against ACC opponents and mixed in a few upsets, going 5-3 against ranked wrestlers.
- In duals at 133, Forys contributed 68 points to the Panthers, the most of any weight class.
YOUNG NO MORE
- Last season's lineup consisted of seven underclassmen.
- The Pitt lineup lost just two wrestlers to graduation in Ronnie Garbinsky (157) and Nick Bonaccorsi (197).
- Although the group was young, the 2015-16 Panthers concluded the season 10-7 and were ranked in the USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll for nine straight weeks, reaching as high as No. 16.
- Four of the five 2016 NCAA qualifiers were underclassmen.
NEW TO THE LINEUP
- Two true freshmen will make their debut in a Pitt singlet this weekend in Jake Wentzel and Christian Dietrich.
- Wentzel, a local product out of South Park High School and two-time state champion, will fill the open gap at 157 pounds after losing Garbinsky to graduation.
- Dietrich also comes to Pitt with an accomplished high school career under his belt. The Greene, N.Y., native first wrestled at Greene High School where he was a state champion at 182 pounds before making the move to Wyoming Seminary where he helped his team to the 2016 National Prep School Wrestling Championship title.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Pitt will make the day trip to Edinboro to take on the Fighting Scots Sunday, Nov. 13, for a 1 p.m. start.
- The Panthers returns to Pittsburgh for the home opener Friday, Nov. 18, to face cross-state rival Lehigh in the Fitzgerald Field House.
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