Anthony Santaniello has new collegiate wrestling home

Brick Memorial standout senior wrestler Anthony Santaniello has signed a national letter of intent to wrestle collegiately at Pitt, he announced on instagram Thursday morning after he was granted his release from Oklahoma University.

Santaniello had signed a national letter of intent with Oklahoma last fall.

However, Lou Rosselli, whose coaching staff recruited Santaniello to Oklahoma, resigned as the Sooners’ head coach on April 5. Santaniello then asked for his release from Oklahoma a few days after.

More: Anthony Santaniello asks for release from Oklahoma

That chain of events began a saga that lasted almost two months.

It took Oklahoma almost a month before hiring Roger Kish as its coach on May 2. Kish had been the head coach at North Dakota State University the last 12 seasons.

It also took time for Oklahoma to grant Santaniello his release from his letter of intent, but once it finally did, Pitt was always going to be the favorite to land him.

Brothers Anthony, Vincent Santaniello reuniting

At Pitt Santaniello will join his older brother Vincent, who redshirted last season.

Santaniello had perhaps the greatest career any wrestler in Brick Memorial’s illustrious history has ever had. He won NJSIAA championships at 120 in 2021 and 132 in 2023 and was the state runner-up at 106 in 2020 and 132 in 2022.

He was 40-0 in 2023 and finished 138-3 for his career. The only defeats in his career were by a combined four points to two-time state champions Evan Mougalian of Kinnelon and Tyler Vazquez of Delbarton.

More: Shore wrestling state champs: Santaniello, Knox, Skove, Hahn, Henrich

Mougalian defeated Santaniello 3-1 in the 2020 106-pound final. Vazquez defeated Santaniello 6-5 in the 2021 Beast of the East 132-pound final and 2-1 in the 2022 132-pound state final. He avenged the defeat to Mougalian in the 2021 120-pound state final.

Santaniello and his brother, who was the 2021 126-pound state champion, are Brick Memorial’s only four-time state medalists. Anthony Santaniello is Brick Memorial’s only four-time state finalist and third two-time state champion.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Shore NJ Wrestling: Anthony Santaniello to Pitt after Oklahoma release