WVU Wrestling
No. 18 Pitt Rallies to Defeat No. 22 WVU in Backyard Brawl

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 18 ranked Pitt claimed the final four bouts of Sunday’s Backyard Brawl to claim a come-from-behind 25-17 victory over No. 22 West Virginia inside the WVU Coliseum.
The Mountaineers led 11-0 through the meet’s first three matchups and were ahead 17-9 following Peyton Hall’s pinfall victory at 165 pounds.
Pittsburgh (7-2, 1-0) then tallied back-to-back decision wins at 174 and 184 before scoring a major decision victory at 197 and capping off the meet with Dayton Pitzer’s pin of Michael Wolfgram in the heavyweight bout.
“The match started off very well for us,” West Virginia head coach Tim Flynn said. “We had a couple of guys wrestle great matches. Overall, they were a little bit better than us, and the scoreboard reflects that. We still have some work to do.”
Hall’s victory improved his record to 20-0 this season and gave the fifth-year senior his 120th career win, moving him into a tie for second place on the program’s all-time list. He now only trails Greg Jones’ 128 wins for the all-time lead.
Hall used three takedowns to move ahead of Jared Keslar 9-2 late in the first period before pinning the redshirt sophomore in 2:46, bringing the WVU Coliseum crowd of 2,220 to its feet. Sunday’s attendance was the fifth-highest total in WVU Wrestling history.
“I remember someone saying I was getting pretty close, but I honestly didn’t remember how many wins I needed,” Hall said. “It’s pretty cool to get the mark. We’ve still got a good bit of matches left in the season, so hopefully I can get that No. 1 spot.”
Jett Strickenberger and Mason Kernan picked up back-to-back major decision wins to start the meet at 125 and 133 pounds. Jordan Titus then edged Anthony Santianello 3-1 to give West Virginia (7-3, 1-2) an early 11-0 advantage.
Kade Brown put Pittsburgh on the board with a 21-11 major decision win over Sam Hillegas at 149. Dylan Evans followed by defeating Sasha Gavronsky by technical fall 21-6 to close the deficit to 11-9 prior to Hall’s pin.
The Panthers’ Luca Augustine won a 4-2 decision over Brody Conley at 174. Conley, who had a dual meet win streak of seven matches snapped, had a takedown pulled off the board near the end of the first period following a video review.
Pittsburgh’s Reece Heller broke a 4-all tie in the 184-pound bout with Dennis Robin by securing a takedown and four back points late in the third period to win 11-4. Heller also had a takedown removed during the first period after a challenge.
Mac Stout then defeated Ian Bush by a 13-3 major decision at 197 before Pitzer’s pin sealed the win.
The WVU wrestling team will next travel to face Oklahoma on Friday.