Two months away from the 2023 NCAA Championships, and the Pitt wrestling team looked like a squad hitting its stride at the right time of the season on Friday night at Virginia.
The Panthers (7-2, 1-0 ACC) walked into Memorial Gym in Charlottesville, Va., and emerged with a resounding 25-6 victory against the hosting Cavaliers (6-3, 0-1 ACC) in the conference-opening dual for both teams.
Pitt won eight of the 10 bouts and improved to 9-2 in the all-time series with Virginia.
"Our effort was really good tonight," Pitt head coach Keith Gavin said in a news release. "That was the start we wanted to the ACC dual meet season. Winning eight matches was big, and even the two we lost were close. It's exciting to see guys like Colton (Camacho) earning a strong win and scoring points and entertaining. We had a lot of encouraging performances and we need to continue to be consistent moving forward."
Action started at 157 pounds, with Dazjon Casto knocking off No. 33 Jake Keating by 14-8 decision largely thanks to a huge six-point move at the end of the second period.
"That was a big match for him," Gavin said of Casto. "Personally, for him to get a strong win against a pretty good opponent should be a great confidence boost. He's been struggling some, but we know how good of a wrestler he is. He fought for it tonight and gave our team a huge boost tonight."
The Panthers return to ACC action at No. 8 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. Pitt's 7 p.m. contest next Friday against the Hokies will air on the ACC Network.
Pitt women’s soccer
Former Pitt women's soccer standout Hailey Davidson has been invited to the 2023 preseason camp of the National Women's Soccer League's Houston Dash. Davidson will report to the Dash on January 28, with camp slated to begin on the 30th.
Davidson transferred to Pitt to play her final three collegiate seasons after spending her first two at Oklahoma. She started 77 of the 94 collegiate games she played in, logging 6,490 minutes and totaling four goals, eight assists, 16 points, 29 shots and 14 shots on goal. Davidson started 54 of the 56 games she played in at Pitt, registering five assists for five points and compiling six shots, with three coming on goal.
Robert Morris women’s basketball
In Horizon League action, the Colonials fell, 72-60, to the Milwaukee on the road, Friday afternoon. The Colonials are now 8-10, and 2-7 in Horizon League play.
At the end of the first quarter, the Panthers (7-10, 5-4) held a 19-11 lead.
Sophomore forward Phoenix Gedeon posted her eighth double-double of the season for the Colonials. She finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. In her past eight games, the Canadian has put up six double-doubles. Five of those have been against conference opponents. Since the new year, Gedeon is averaging 15.6 points and 9.4 boards a game.
First Published: January 21, 2023, 2:56 a.m.
