FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2014
Contact: Greg Szklany
Phone: 412-648-8240

Thomusseit Becomes First Pitt No. 1 In School History

PITTSBURGH – Off to a 10-0 start this season, which includes three wins over top-10 opponents, redshirt senior Max Thomusseit (St. Paris, Ohio/St. Paris Graham) is the consensus No. 1 ranked wrestler at 184 pounds in all of this week’s individual polls released on Tuesday, Dec. 9.

Since TheOpenMat, one of six wrestling publications, began releasing individual rankings during the 2009-10, no other Panthers great has ever accomplished the feat. The closest was former two-time All-American and Pitt assistant coach Matt Wilps, who spent 13 weeks ranked second at 197 pounds to begin the 2012-13 season.

In addition to Thomusseit’s individual achievement, the Panthers joined the top-10 for the first time this year in the NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll. They are one of three Atlantic Coast Conference teams in the top-11 and one of four in the top-21. Overall, Pitt still has five top-25 teams remaining on its schedule.

After Thomusseit, redshirt senior Tyler Wilps (Oakdale, Pa./Chartiers Valley) continues his stay at No. 5 at 174 pounds despite not wrestling yet this season. He did slip down to sixth by Flowrestling and is currently not rated by TheOpenMat, Amateur Wrestling News and Wrestling Report.

With five straight wins and a Keystone Classic title under his belt, freshman Dom Forys (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) entered the 125 pound rankings of TheOpenMat for the first time this season at 18th. He also briefly spent a week in the top-20 of Amateur Wrestling News. Forys ranks 30th by the Wrestling Report.

Sophomore Edgar Bright (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edward) also saw a boost in his rankings with TheOpenMat at 141 pounds. He rose from 14th to eighth, giving him a total of three top-eight rankings. Bright is seventh by both InterMat and Flowrestling, while his is just outside the top-10 by Wrestling Insider Magazine at 10th. Rounding out Bright’s rankings are Amateur Wrestling News and the Wrestling Report at 13th and 19th, respectively.

After finishing runner-up at the Keystone Classic and recording a resounding victory against Maryland, redshirt junior Nick Bonaccorsi (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) remains at or near the top-10 of the 197 pound weight class. He moved up one spot to ninth by Wrestling Report and to 10th in the Amateur Wrestling News, but has stayed even in all other rankings, which includes 10th by InterMat, 11th by FloWrestling, 13th by TheOpenMat and 19th by Wrestling insider Magazine.

Sophomore Mikey Racciato (Pen Argyl, Pa./Pen Argyl) is beginning to make a gradual ascent back up the 149-pound rankings once again. This past week, Racciato moved up one spot in four different polls. He is now 13th by FloWrestling, 16th by InterMat and Amateur Wrestling News and 18th by TheOpenMat. Racciato is also 20th by Wrestling Insider Magazine and 25th according to the Wrestling Report.

Two more Pitt wrestlers make their sole appearances in the Wrestling Report’s top-33. They are redshirt freshman Cody Wiercioch (Muse, Pa./Canon-McMillan), who jumped up one spot to 24th at 165 pounds and redshirt junior Ronnie Garbinsky (Tyrone, Pa./Tyrone), who fell to 29th at 157 pounds.

As a team, Pitt took a one position leap in two more polls, FloWrestling and Wrestling Report, to 14th and 18th, respectively. Despite dropping one spot in InterMat’s dual rankings to 14th, the Panthers rose four spots in the Tournament poll to 12th.

Pitt is off until the New Year when the team heads to Chattanooga, Tenn. for the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1-2.