Blueberry pancakes, dedication keys to success for No. 8 Pitt wrestling

Micky Phillippi and Nino Bonaccorsi have followed a strict regimen while helping Pitt ascend to No. 8 in the national wrestling rankings:

• Focus at practice for the entire two hours;

• Get to bed by 9 p.m., asleep by 10.

• And don’t forget Phillippi’s blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

Believe it or not, the pancakes are nearly as crucial to a Pitt wrestler’s success as learning the proper way to escape. They are part of the healthy, carb-loaded, home-cooked meals, prepared daily by Phillippi, who almost is as talented in the kitchen as he is on the mat. Phillippi said he also likes to prepare chicken, steak, sweet potatoes and spaghetti with sauce kicked up a notch with his brother’s father-in-law’s canned peppers.

“I’m telling you, it changes it,” he said.

Pancakes are his specialty, however. Bonaccorsi calls them “unbelievable.”

When you have such a talent with a spatula, there is no need for late-night, fast-food runs, especially when you have to be in the weight room by 6:30 some mornings.

“It’s a lot easier to eat healthy if you go to the grocery store, buy the stuff and cook it,” said Phillippi, a Derry graduate.

But the story of Pitt’s wrestling team goes beyond Phillippi’s kitchen. He probably described it best when he said, “It’s like mediocre isn’t a thing.”

Coach Keith Gavin, in his third season, has assembled a roster with eight wrestlers among the top 25 in the NCAA or RPI rankings in their respective weight classes.

Phillippi (21-1) and Bonaccorsi (18-4) are fifth and sixth, respectively at 133 and 184 pounds. Heavyweight Demetrius Thomas, who has won 17 of 20 matches, is 10th, Jake Wentzel 11th (165), Gregg Harvey 17th (174), Cole Matthews and Taleb Rahmani 24th (141 and 157) and Kellan Stout 25th in the RPI (197).

Pitt will take a 10-4 dual-meet record into the ACC Tournament on March 8 at Petersen Events Center. Only six ACC schools sponsor wrestling, and four — No. 3 N.C. State, No. 7 North Carolina, Pitt and No. 9 Virginia Tech — are nationally ranked.

To prepare for the postseason, including nationals next month in Minneapolis, Gavin scheduled matchups with six schools among the top 11 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association rankings. Pitt defeated Virginia Tech and No. 10 Lehigh and lost to N.C. State, North Carolina, No. 5 Ohio State and No. 11 Oklahoma State.

The highlight of the season so far was the 18-13 victory Feb. 22 against Virginia Tech in which Bonaccorsi, a Bethel Park grad, scored a 10-8 overtime decision against Hunter Bolen, the No. 2 wrestler at 184.

Bonaccorsi, who wrestled Bolen as a 7-year-old and in a freestyle match last summer, recovered from a 7-2 deficit in the third period to force overtime and win with three takedowns.

“When I go into every match, I think I can win,” Bonaccorsi said. “Obviously, he’s a really tough kid. I trust my training, and I trust what I have been doing all year. It really wasn’t a surprise.”

Phillippi said it’s not enough to want to win. It’s a matter of living a specific lifestyle on and off the mat.

“We have a culture of wanting to be good and wanting to do the right things,” he said. “When you have that, it makes winning easier. No one is doing things they shouldn’t be doing (off the mat).

“When it comes down to eating right, not going out, getting good grades, we’re doing better there. If you want to be good, you have to be different. You can’t be the normal college kid. You can’t do the things they do. That’s the sacrifice.”

Gavin, a national champion in 2008 when he wrestled for the Panthers, has led Pitt from a 4-11 record in his first season (2017-18) to 23-7 over the next two seasons. He said the program’s culture changed because the wrestlers wanted it that way.

“Those guys are the difference,” he said. “It’s about getting the right people. What that comes down to is, it has to be important to them. If you have people who are serious about it, it is going to bring everybody else up and raise the standard.”