Pitt wrestler Nino Bonaccorsi is seeded No. 1 in the NCAA Wrestling Championships’ 197-pound division, leading a team of six Panthers who will compete, starting March 16, in Tulsa, Okla.
Bonaccorsi, a Bethel Park graduate who compiled a 16-0 record this season, is Pitt’s first top seed since coach Keith Gavin won a national title in 2008. In his first-round match, Bonaccorsi will meet the winner of a pigtail bout between No. 32 Max Shaw of North Carolina and No. 33 Cole Urbas of Pennsylvania.
Pitt’s returning NCAA All-American Cole Matthews (19-1) earned the No. 3 seed at 141 pounds and will meet No. 30 Seth Koleno of Clarion. Potentially, Penn State wrestlers Max Dean and Beau Bartlett await Bonaccorsi and Matthews in the quarterfinals.
No. 20 Holden Heller (14-6) will challenge No. 13 Alex Facundo of Penn State in a 165-pound first-round match. Holden’s brother Reece Heller (18-8) is a No. 16 seed at 184 and will get a rematch with Lehigh’s 17th-seeded Tate Samuelson, who Heller beat 7-6 in November. The winner could face top-seeded Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa in the second round.
Pitt’s Micky Phillippi received his team’s third Top-10 seed when he was ranked No. 9 at 133 pounds. Phillippi, a Derry graduate, has reached the NCAA Round of 12 threee times. He will open with No. 24 Brody Teske of Iowa.
Freshman Luca Augustine will make his first NCAA appearance as a 28th seed at 174 pounds and will confront No. 5 Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State.
