Pittsburgh Wrestling’s Cole Matthews’ Win Over Undefeated Jesse Mendez Made Him 3rd Panther to Clinch Weekly Accolade This Season

This week has been quite fortunate for Pittsburgh’s wrestling team. On Tuesday, the Panthers’ senior team captain sparked on the wrestling mat as she clinched an upset win against No. 5 ranking team Ohio State at Covelli Centre, Columbus, Ohio. In a last-second takedown, the team defeated undefeated and top-ranking wrestler Jesse Mendez in the 141-pound wrestling category. 

Alongside, Pitt’s unstoppable dynamo has been honored with a prestigious title by ACC for recognizing his incredible performance on the wrestling mat in the championship. 

Senior team captain’s accolades

Pitt’s Cole Matthews is named the Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week for the upset win he led in a recent dual match against a ranking opponent. The recent tweet by Pitts wrestling was captioned as, “The Wrestler of the Week Cole Matthews9, a pure competitor.” Matthews is placed at the No. 20th position by InterMat in the 141-pound weight class. He transformed a 2-1 deficit into a final decision of 4-2.

This remarkable wrestling performance has given the Panthers a 6-3 lead in wrestling dual and has ignited a 21-13 win in the top 20 ACC Big Ten Matchups. Matthews’ recent win is Pitts’ third ACC Wrestler of the Week this season. Before Matthew, the last two were honored to Mac Stout and Dayton Pitzer. But this is not the end of Pittsburgh’s wrestling journey this week, as the team received another huge accomplishment. 

Pitt’s Panthers: NCAA Team of the Week 

The astonishing win against Ohio State marked Pitt’s Panthers’s top five dual wins in the last decade. This led the Panthers to uplift from No. 19 to No. 13, according to the NWCA COaches Poll for this week while marking their biggest home defeat to a nonconference opponent. The last time such an incredible match happened was in 2006. 

In an exclusive interview with pittsburghpanthers.com, Keith said, “We have a tough group, even our young guys. They are really fun to coach and I’m so proud of the team. Ohio State is an elite team; any time you can get a dual win over a team like that, it means your program is in a good place and you are doing the right things. But we have to continue to work on improving and stay focused.”

Read more: Pittsburgh Wrestling Star Pulls Off Unprecedented Feat to Propel Panthers to Stunning Upset Victory Against OSU

Eventually, this formed the basis for receiving the national Team of the Week award. Keith Gavin’s team deserved this honor as they won six bouts and took a point win at Covelli Centre. Will the Pitts wrestling team be able to clinch a win in the upcoming week?

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