Pitt wrestling ranked No. 23 in Intermat preseason rankings

The wrestling season is getting closer and that means the preseason rankings are starting to drop.

From a team standpoint, the Panthers were ranked 23rd overall in Intermat’s dual meet rankings. That had to mean some individual wrestlers were ranked as well, and Pitt had three guys in the Top 20 of their respective classes.

The highest ranked grappler as you probably expected is Dom Forys. The senior is ranked as the No. 7 133-pound wrestler in the country. Fellow senior Ryan Solomon isn’t far behind, though. He’s the eighth ranked heavyweight overall. Finally, sophomore Taleb Rahmani, who really impressed last season, slid into the rankings after a team-high 25 wins. He’s listed as the No. 18 wrestler at the 157-pound weight class. Rahmani was a pin-machine last year, scoring ten of them, including one at 55 seconds.

One promising aspect for Rahmani is that very few underclassmen usually crack these lists. He was one of only three underclassmen of the 20 total wrestlers in his class that ranked. As I said last year after the Iowa State dual, he had been too good to be left out of the rankings for long so it’s good to see him getting the early recognition.

The loss of Teshan Campbell hurts the team, obviously. Had he stuck with the Panthers instead of transferring to Ohio State, he would have given Pitt another top ten wrestler, as he checked in at No. 8. You add him to the lineup and the Panthers likely start the year inside of the Top 20.

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