Pitt Wrestling ACC Championships Seeding Revealed

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers discovered their seeding for the upcoming ACC Wrestling Championships this weekend.

The ACC Championships will take place at Cameron Indoor, home of Duke, in Durham, N.C. on March 9. This is the third straight season that a North Carolina based school will host the ACC Championships, with NC State doing so in 2023 and UNC doing it in 2024.

Pitt has two top ranked wrestlers in graduate student Reece Heller (18-3) at 184 pounds and redshirt sophomore Mac Stout (21-2) at 197 pounds.

Heller has won his last 12 matches, with his three losses coming at the Rider Quad Dual on Dec. 20. He finished 5-0 in ACC duals.

Stout lost two of his first five matches, but has won his last 18 bouts, with his last defeat coming vs. No. 5 Michael Beard of Lehigh on Nov. 24. He finished the ACC season 6-0.

Pitt will have two wrestlers ranked No. 3 in their weight classes, with redshirt junior Luca Augustine (15-6) at 174 pounds and redshirt freshman Dylan Evans (19-5) at 157 pounds.

Augustine finished 4-2 in ACC duals, suffering a pin vs. No. 21 Virginia Tech graduate student Lennox Wolak and an 8-6 decision to No. 4 Stanford redshirt freshman Lorenzo Norman.

Evans finished 5-1 in the ACC and lost just one of his final 11 matches to end the regular season, a 5-3 decision to No. 15 NC State senior Ed Scott.

Pitt has three wrestlers ranked No. 4 in their weight classes, with redshirt sophomores Jared Keslar (9-9) and Dayton Pitzer (11-4) at 165 pound and 285 pounds, respectively, plus graduate student Nick Babin at 125 pounds.

Keslar moved up a weight this season and finished 3-3 in ACC duals. Pitzer and Babin both had 3-3 records in ACC duals as well.

Pitt will also have three No. 6 ranked wrestlers, with backups in redshirt freshman Tyler Chappell (10-15) at 133 pounds and redshirt sophomore Briar Priest (10-7) at 141 pounds, plus starter in redshirt sophomore Finn Solomon (11-9) at 149 pounds.

Brothers in redshirt sophomore Vinnie Santaniello and redshirt freshman Anthony Santaniello will both miss the ACC Championships. Vinnie Sataniello hasn't wrestled since the Rider Quad Dual on Dec. 20 and Anthony Santaniello last wrestled vs. Virginia Tech on Feb. 14.

Chappell moved up from 125 pounds to 133 pounds in place of Vinnie Santaniello and finished 1-4 in ACC duals.

Solomon finished 2-4 in ACC duals and will face a strong weight class this weekend.

ACC Wrestling Championships Seeding

Pre-seeds for the 2025 ACC Wrestling Championship are listed below. Entries are subject to change until noon ET on Saturday.
 
125 Pounds: Four NCAA Championships Automatic Bids
1. Eddie Ventresca, Virginia Tech
2. Vince Robinson, NC State
3. Spencer Moore, North Carolina
4. Nick Babin, Pitt
5. Keyveon Roller, Virginia
6. No entry
7. No entry
 
133 Pounds: Three NCAA Championships Automatic Bids
1. Ethan Oakley, North Carolina
2. Connor McGonagle, Virginia Tech
3. Tyler Knox, Stanford
4. Kai Orine, NC State *
5. Gable Porter, Virginia
6. Tyler Chappell, Pitt
7. Raymond Adams, Duke
 
141 Pounds: Four NCAA Championships Automatic Bids
1. Sam Latona, Virginia Tech
2. Dylan Cedeno, Virginia
3. Jason Miranda, Stanford
4. Troy Hohman, NC State
5. Jayden Scott, North Carolina
6. Briar Priest, Pitt
7. Christian Colman, Duke
 
149 Pounds: Four NCAA Championships Automatic Bids
1. Caleb Henson, Virginia Tech
2. Lachlan McNeil, North Carolina
3. Jaden Abas, Stanford
4. Koy Buesgens, NC State
5. Jack Gioffre, Virginia
6. Finn Solomon, Pitt
7. SP O’Donnell, Duke
 
157 Pounds: Three NCAA Championships Automatic Bids
1. Rafael Hipolito, Virginia Tech
2. Ed Scott, NC State
3. Dylan Evans, Pitt
4. Sonny Santiago, North Carolina
5. Grigor Cholakyan, Stanford
6. Michael Gioffre, Virginia
7. Nick Tattini, Duke
 
165 Pounds: Five NCAA Championships Automatic Bids
1. Hunter Garvin, Stanford
2. Nick Hamilton, Virginia *
3. Derek Fields, NC State
4. Jared Keslar, Pitt
5. Mac Church, Virginia Tech
6. Aidan Wallace, Duke
7. Charlie Darracott, North Carolina
 
174 Pounds: Four NCAA Championships Automatic Bids
1. Joshua Ogunsanya, North Carolina
2. Lorenzo Norman, Stanford
3. Luca Augustine, Pitt
4. Matty Singleton, NC State
5. Lennox Wolak, Virginia Tech
6. Rocco Contino, Virginia
7. Gaetano Console, Duke
 
184 Pounds: Three NCAA Championships Automatic Bids
1. Reece Heller, Pitt
2. Dylan Fishback, NC State
3. Gavin Kane, North Carolina
4. Thomas Stewart, Jr., Virginia Tech *
5. Tye Monteiro, Stanford
6. Justin Phillips, Virginia
7. David Hussey, Duke
 
197 Pounds: Three NCAA Championships Automatic Bids
1. Mac Stout, Pitt
2. Nick Stemmet, Stanford
3. Andy Smith, Virginia Tech
4. Cade Lautt, North Carolina
5. Christian Knop, NC State
6. Steven Burrell Jr., Virginia
7. Kwasi Bonsu, Duke
 
285 Pounds: Five NCAA Championships Automatic Bids
1. Isaac Trumble, NC State
2. Jimmy Mullen, Virginia Tech
3. Nolan Neves, North Carolina
4. Dayton Pitzer, Pitt
5. Peter Ming, Stanford
6. Connor Barket, Duke
7. Gabe Christenson, Virginia

* - Defending ACC champion at that weight class

ACC Wrestling Championships Start Times

10 a.m. First Round
1 p.m. Consolation Quarterfinals
2 p.m. Semifinals
4:30 p.m. Consolation Semifinals
6 p.m. Consolation Finals
8 p.m. Championships