Led by redshirt freshman Micky Phillippi at 133 pounds, seven Pitt wrestlers are included in the second of four coaches’ panel rankings that will be part of the selection and seeding process for the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships March 21-23 at PPG Paints Arena.
Phillippi (15-2) is fourth in the rankings and No. 1 in the first RPI listing of the season. Redshirt freshman Nino Bonaccorsi (16-5) is 10th in the rankings at 184 pounds and No. 4 in the RPI.
At 285 pounds, junior Demetrius Thomas (22-2) is 11th in the rankings, No. 7 in the RPI.
At 157, redshirt junior Taleb Rahmani (13-5) is 13th in the rankings and the RPI.
At 197, redshirt junior Kellan Stout (12-4) is No. 20 in the rankings, unranked in the RPI.
At 141, senior L.J. Bentley (14-7) is 28th in the rankings, No. 22 in the RPI.
At 174, redshirt sophomore Gregg Harvey is 32nd in the rankings, No. 23 in the RPI.
Coaches rankings are compiled by a vote of coaches representing each qualifying tournament Wrestlers will be measured by winning percentage, RPI and coaches rankings to earn allocation berths for the qualifying tournaments for the nationals.
Pitt, which is ranked No. 15 nationally in the team rankings, will wrestle against Duke in a dual match at 7 p.m. Friday at Fitzgerald Field House.
Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
