Virginia Tech held off a late surge from the Panthers on Friday night for its first ACC win. (Pitt athletics)

No. 7 Virginia Tech held off No. 14 Pitt 18-15 to open ACC play on Friday night in the Steel City.

The Hokies (5-2, 1-0 ACC) established early control by jumping out to an 18-0 lead, but the Panthers (7-2, 0-1) rallied by winning the final five bouts to cut the margin to 18-15 and put the dual in doubt late. 

Here is a bout-by-bout recap of how the match unfolded.

125: No. 4 Eddie Ventresca (VT) 19, Tyler Chappell (Pitt) 4

Ventresca established early control and never looked back. He recorded two takedowns to take a 6-1 lead after the first period and added a second-period escape before scoring two more takedowns to carry a 13-2 advantage into the third.

Chappell opened the final period with a quick escape, but Ventresca responded with two additional takedowns to secure a 19-4 tech fall victory, giving Virginia Tech an early 5-0 lead in the dual. His bonus points came up clutch later, too.

133: No. 11 Dillon Campbell (VT) 5, No. 29 Ethan Tallmadge (Pitt) 1

The bout opened with a scoreless first period. Campbell scored a quick escape to begin the second period and followed it with a takedown to build a 4-0 lead before Tallmadge recorded an escape. Campbell maintained control from there, holding a 4-1 advantage the rest of the way to extend Virginia Tech’s lead to 8-0.

141: No. 17 Tom Crook (VT) 8, No. 29 Anthony Santaniello (Pitt) 0

Crook opened the bout with a late first-period takedown and added an escape to begin the second. He followed with another takedown in the second period to build a 7-0 lead as Santaniello started the third on bottom. 

Santaniello was unable to escape, allowing Crook to secure the riding-time point and a major decision. The Hokies extended their lead to 12-0 after the ranked win.

149: Collin Gaj (VT) 5, No. 24 Kade Brown (Pitt) 4

Gaj continued his strong true freshman season by adding a ranked win to his résumé. He scored a first-period takedown and followed with an escape early in the second. After surrendering a takedown, he responded with an escape to take a 5-3 lead into the third.

A third-period stalling penalty trimmed the margin to 5-4, but Gaj held on to secure the upset.

157: Ethen Miller (VT) 4, No. 18 Dylan Evans (Pitt) 2

In his first career start for Tech, Miller faced a difficult test against a top-20 opponent. The bout was scoreless after the first period, but Miller opened the second with an escape to take a 1-0 lead. He added a takedown before Evans escaped, giving Miller a 4-1 advantage.

Evans began the third period on the bottom and recorded an escape before pressing the action over the final two minutes. He was unable to score a takedown, though, and Miller held on for a ranked win in his Hokies debut.

Virginia Tech had an 18-0 lead through the first five bouts.

165: Jared Keslar (Pitt) 4, Mac Church (2)

Familiar opponents dating back to their high school days in Pennsylvania, they traded blows in a closely-contested bout. Keslar opened the scoring with a takedown. Church answered with an escape but was unable to do much more than that.

The wrestlers each recorded an escape to begin the second and third periods, but Church could not capitalize late despite increasing his aggression. Keslar held on for a 4-2 decision, the Panthers’ first win of the night.

174: No. 23 Luca Augustine (Pitt) 2, Sergio Desiante (VT) 1

They took defensive approaches early, resulting in a scoreless first period. Desiante opened the second with an escape to take a 1-0 lead, but Augustine answered with an escape to begin the third to knot things up.

Neither wrestler generated much offense late in regulation, sending the match to sudden victory. Desiante was more aggressive and nearly secured a takedown late in the period, but Augustine defended and forced overtime.

The first overtime period was scoreless. In the second, Augustine escaped from the bottom and held off Desiante’s late pressure to earn the 2-1 decision, cutting Tech’s lead to 18-6.

184: Chase Kranitz (Pitt) 9, No. 32 Jaden Bullock (VT) 6

Kranitz took control early for Pitt and maintained it throughout the bout. He scored a first-period takedown, which Bullock answered with an escape, but an illegal hold against Bullock gave Kranitz an additional point.

Bullock recorded another escape on the restart to cut the deficit to two, but Kranitz responded with a takedown before Bullock escaped again. Kranitz opened the third period with an escape to extend his lead to five.

Bullock increased the pressure late, scoring a takedown and a quick escape, but he couldn’t tie the bout before time expired.

197: No. 11 Mac Stout (Pitt) 10, No. 17 Sonny Sasso (VT) 4

Two familiar Pennsylvania wrestlers met once again, and Stout controlled the bout from start to finish. He opened with a quick takedown that was answered by an escape, giving him a 3-1 lead after the first period.

Stout extended the margin with an escape to begin the second, then added a takedown and accumulated more than a minute of riding time before Sasso escaped to cut the deficit to 7-2.

Sasso opened the third with an escape, but Stout quickly responded with a takedown. Sasso escaped again late, though Stout secured the riding-time point — the cherry on top in a decisive win.

285: No. 17 Dayton Pitzer (Pitt) 1, No. 12 Jimmy Mullen (VT) 0

The final bout featured a rematch of last season’s ACC heavyweight championship, which Pitzer won in sudden victory, and he prevailed again in a tight affair.

It was a scoreless bout through the first two periods, though Mullen nearly scored a takedown as time expired in the second. It turned out to be detrimental to Mullen’s chances as Pitzer opened the third period with an escape to take a 1-0 lead.

That lead held the rest of the way. Mullen pressed late but was unable to secure a tying takedown before time expired.

Despite the late collapse, Virginia Tech was able to hold on to open ACC play with a win over a top-15 opponent. Its next dual is on Friday, Jan. 16, vs. Appalachian State at the Center For The Arts in Blacksburg (7 p.m. ET, ACCNX).

Results: No. 7 Virginia Tech 18, No. 14 Pitt 15

• 125: No. 4 Eddie Ventresca (VT) tech fall Tyler Chappell (Pitt), 19-4 (6:31)
• 133: No. 11 Dillon Campbell (VT) dec. No. 29 Ethan Tallmadge (Pitt), 5-1
• 141: No. 17 Tom Crook (VT) maj. dec. No. 29 Anthony Santaniello (Pitt), 8-0
• 149: Collin Gaj (VT) dec. No. 24 Kade Brown (Pitt), 5-4
• 157: Ethen Miller (VT) dec. No. 18 Dylan Evans (Pitt), 4-2
• 165: Jared Keslar (Pitt) dec. Mac Church (VT), 4-2
• 174: No. 23 Luca Augustine (Pitt) dec. Sergio Desiante (VT), 2-1 (SV)
• 184:  Chase Kranitz (Pitt) dec. No. 32 Jaden Bullock (VT), 9-6
• 197: No. 11 Mac Stout (Pitt) dec. No. 17 Sonny Sasso (VT), 10-4
• 285: No. 17 Dayton Pitzer (Pitt) dec. No. 12 Jimmy Mullen (VT), 1-0