Pittsburgh @ West Virginia

Pittsburgh knocked off West Virginia 25-17 in Morgantown on Jan. 12, 2025, picking up a key road dual at West Virginia University. The final swung on bonus-point wrestling as both teams traded majors, technical falls and pins through the middle and heavyweight classes.

West Virginia grabbed important bonus points early, getting major decisions from Jett Strickenberger (9-0 at 125) and Mason Kernan (12-1 at 133) to put pressure on the visitors. Those wins kept the Mountaineers competitive and forced Pittsburgh into a comeback that required more than single-point decisions.

Pittsburgh answered with a string of bonus results that ultimately decided the dual. Kade Brown’s 21-11 major at 149 and, most notably, Dylan Evans’ 21-6 technical fall at 157 swung momentum back to Pitt, and the Panthers sealed the road victory when Dayton Pitzer finished at heavyweight by fall. That run of high-value victories provided the margin Pittsburgh needed to reach 25 points.

In the end the bonus-point exchanges were decisive; West Virginia’s early majors and a fall kept the match close, but Pittsburgh’s multiple bonus wins in the middle and upper weights produced the difference. The 25-17 final reflects a contest where a handful of bonus outcomes determined the result.