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Bethel Park native wins NCAA championship in wrestling

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 6 min read
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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Nino Bonaccorsi of Bethel Park poses with his NCAA trophy after winning a national title in wrestling. The University of Pittsburgh senior defeated Tanner Sloan from South Dakota State, 5-3,to capture the 197-pound weight class.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Nino Bonaccorsi of Bethel Park was a three-time ACC champion as well as a two-time NCAA finalist for the University of Pittsburgh. He recently captured his first national title on March 18 by beating Tanner Sloan from South Dakota State, 5-3, in the 197-pound final.

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Nino Bonaccorsi was eight when he started wrestling. He also played football and baseball as a youth before specializing in wrestling. Competing for the University of Pittsburgh, he won three ACC titles and advanced to the NCAA Division I finals twice. On March 18, he won his first NCAA title by defeating Tanner Sloan from South Dakota State, 5-3, in the 197-pound finals.

Nino Bonaccorsi envisioned his collegiate wrestling career would end exactly the way it did.

On March 18 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla., the Bethel Park native became a national champion for his beloved University of Pittsburgh. He defeated Tanner Sloan from South Dakota State, 5-3, to win the 197-pound title

“I dreamed of this moment every single day,” he said. “My hometown is 20 minutes from Pitt and I always imagined wrestling there and I dreamed of winning a national title. There is no better place to do this than basically in my back yard. This means everything to me.”

Since age 8, wrestling has meant everything to Bonaccorsi.

He learned the sport from his father, Mark, and he watched his brother, Nick, excel in high school before becoming a three-time NCAA qualifier at Pitt. They joined Bonaccorsi’s mom, Melody, in witnessing the achievement.

“Family means everything to me and it was so special to do this in front of my family. They wanted this as badly as I did. They have been there every step of the way and sacrificed so much for me.

“My dad’s my No. 1 guy. My support. My coach since I can remember. I remember him teaching me how to do a single leg, and I hit a single leg to win a national title,” Bonaccorsi said in amazement. “It’s full circle.”

After the first period of the final, Bonaccorsi appeared headed for the heartbreak he had experienced when he finished runner-up in the 2021 national final. He was taken down in the first period and fell behind, 3-0, before rallying.

“With me, when I am down and out and things are looking bleak, that is wear I shine,” Bonaccorsi said. “In the finals, I was suspiciously calm. I felt a strong presence. I felt that God had put me on this long path of ups and down so that I could showcase my skills, especially when things get ugly.”

Bonaccorsi regrouped. He scored takedowns in the second and third periods. With 43 seconds to go, he rode out Sloan for the victory.

“The single-leg is my bread and butter and when I got that last takedown that was so perfect,” Bonaccorsi said. “No one could ask for a better way to end it than with a move my dad taught me.

“As I rode him out for those final seconds, the emotions started to hit me. Calmness started to fade. When the match ended, it was more of disbelief. It’s been such a long journey to get to those final 10 seconds of your final match. A surreal moment. Being in the finals again, coming back from losing and being a champion. I cannot believe it. Honestly, it is hard for me to wrap my head around this.”

With the title, Bonaccorsi became the first NCAA champion in Pitt history since Keith Gavin won the 174-pound weight class in 2008. Gavin is the current coach of the Panthers and the reason why Bonaccorsi chose the program in which to continue his wrestling career.

“Coach Gavin is another of those guys who has been very influential in my career,” he said. “I went to Pitt growing up and he would show me things. When he got to Pitt it was my first year too. We learned this whole process together. He was the last national champ and we always talked about getting the next one. You can win at Pitt, he said, and I told him I would do it. We worked so hard together.”

“Neither one of us won a state championship,” said Bonaccorsi, a two-time PIAA runner-up. “We always talked about how it’s about getting better every day. It’s the daily process. Just getting better.

“That’s our similar bond. We love this sport because of that aspect that you can go in and hone your craft and see visible results every day. We do have a lot in common. While he is Pitt’s last national champ, I am his first national champ.”

Gavin said that it’s better to coach a national champion than win one. He added that he was so happy for Bonaccorsi.

“He’s a guy that comes in every day and tries to master his craft,” Gavin said. “He has gotten so much better. He has a great mentality. His skill development has improved. He responded really well. He’s matured quite a bit, mentally and he is able to stay the course if things don’t go his way.”

Gavin also noted how “cool” it was for Bonaccorsi to win a national title in his hometown. He said that whenever Pitt wrestled at the Fitzgerald Field House, it was a real home match, because of the love Bonoaccorsi had for the university and because of his following.

“When he has that Pitt singlet on, that’s his home team. That’s pretty special,” he said. “You don’t get to do that at other places.”

Wrestling has taken Bonaccorsi many places, mostly to the top of the podium.

In high school he posted a 147-21 record and finished his career ranked second in the country. He was a two-time PIAA runner-up at Hershey and a two-time WPIAL champion not to mention a FloNationals and Powerade winner.

In college, he has been a three-time ACC champion, a three-time All-American and a member of the U.S. Junior National Team that traveled to Serbia to compete in the Under 23 World Championships.

But he capped his career in Oklahoma. He became only the eighth Pitt wrestler to finish undefeated. His 21-0 season included NCAA tournament wins agains Max Shaw from North Carolina, 10-1; Owen Pent from North Dakota State, 8-2, Silas Allred from Nebraska, 5-3, and Ethan Laird from Rider, 10-4.

“It was important to get that first win against Max because so many upsets occur in the first round because you are not ready. You have to treat all matches seriously and I went out hard and that set the tone for the remainder of the tournament,” Bonaccorsi said.

Bonaccorsi noted that his quarterfinal match against Allred was chaotic and that the win against Laird was a bit of deja vu. While it put him back in the finals, the triumph, once there, earned him immortality at Pitt.

“I spend so many hours and workouts wanting this and now when I go back to Pitt I can look up at that wall and my name will be forever up there,” Bonaccorsi said. “It’s a nice accomplishment. It’s awesome to know I’ve left a permanent mark on the program.”

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