The holidays didn’t bring the Pitt wrestling team much of a rest. The Panthers extended their match winning streak to four, finished 10th out of 48 schools at the Midlands Championships and had three wrestlers earn spots on the podium at the tournament during the winter break.

With the impressive results, the Panthers have moved up two spots to No. 13 in the national rankings heading into what should be a successful 2013 for the Pitt wrestling program.

Pitt 38, Cleveland State 6

Pitt’s winter break started with its first home Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) match of the season, and the three-time defending conference champions cruised through Cleveland State.

In a continuing theme for the Panthers, the match didn’t start out too well as Godwin Nyama lost 8-5 to Cleveland State’s Ben Willeford.

Behind by an escape and two third-period takedowns, No. 16 Shelton Mack got Pitt on the scoreboard with a major decision, 12-4, over Mike Marlone.

Corey Bush took to the mat for the first time this season for Pitt but had a disappointing debut. The 141-pounder fell to Nick Flannery, 6-1, and the Warriors took a 6-4 match lead.

Fortunately for Pitt, that would be the last match Cleveland State would win.

The Panthers had no trouble in the final seven matches, as they tallied two major decisions, a technical fall and three pins.

Unlike Bush, who was unable to get a victory in his first start, redshirt junior P.J. Tasser stepped into the starting lineup and recorded a pin over Bobby Blankenship at 3:12.

“We stay prepared for anything and everything because you never know what could happen in the lineup,” Tasser said. “Our coaches do a great job of helping us stay focused on the goals we set as a team and push us to fulfill them.”

All season long, the Panthers have been excelling at the higher weight classes, and Tasser looked well-prepared stepping in for No. 14 Max Thomusseit.

“When you have teammates like mine, it is easy to stay focused,” Tasser said. “Ultimately, we all want another conference championship and to get back to NCAAs.”

The wrestling team didn’t have long to celebrate the dominant victory over Cleveland State before boarding a bus to take on Clarion the next day.

Pitt 26, Clarion 15

Although it was a new day, the story remained the same for the Panthers. They fell behind early, losing four of the first five matches, but bounced back by winning the final five matches to pick up the 26-15 match victory and improve to 2-0 in EWL competition.

Mack picked up Pitt’s only win in the first five matches with an 8-5 decision over Joe Waltko.

“My match was important because it helped get some points on the board at the lower weights,” Mack said.

The sophomore 133-pounder has been in high-pressure situations all season being the Panthers’ only ranked wrestler in the five lower weight classes. But he doesn’t let that pressure affect him on the mat.

“I don’t feel the pressure,” Mack said. “I just try to go out there, win and give the guy after me more confidence.”

Even more important for the Panthers may have been Donnie Tasser’s close loss against No. 3 James Fleming.

The 157-pound Tasser wrestled two scoreless periods with the third-ranked wrestler before giving up three near-fall points and the loss. Holding Fleming to only a decision kept the Panthers in the match.

No. 14 Tyler Wilps connected on a late takedown near the edge of the circle that pushed the lead to the necessary eight points for the major decision. With that win, the Pitt comeback began.

The Panthers took the lead back when Tasser came through with a big pin for the second consecutive night. The 184-pounder recorded a first-period pin (1:53) to boost the Panthers ahead 17-15.

Pitt held on to the victory thanks to late triumphs by No. 2 Matt Wilps and No. 8 Zac Thomusseit.

Midlands Championships

With two conference match wins wrapped up, the Panthers headed to the Midlands Championships at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

Matt Wilps and Zac Thomusseit both turned in second-place finishes in a very competitive tournament.

Wilps won his first four matches, including a 4-3 victory over No. 11 Kyven Gadson of Iowa State and a 7-0 victory over Oregon State’s No. 10 Taylor Meeks, setting himself up for a championship matchup with Kent State’s No. 1 Dustin Kilgore.

Kilgore, the 2011 197-pound national champion, took an Olympic redshirt last year and finished fourth in Olympic trials to make the U.S. team. Needless to say, Kilgore presented Wilps with a challenge.

The two wrestled a close match, but Kilgore pulled out the 4-2 victory, giving Wilps his first loss of the season.

The Pitt senior now has some film to watch on a few top competitors at his weight class and knows what he needs to work on to achieve his goal of being the national champion.

“Midlands gave a good preview to the competition at nationals and revealed some techniques I need to improve on,” Wilps said.

Zac Thomusseit’s opponent in the championship wasn’t nearly as decorated as Kilgore, but No. 6 Chad Hanke of Oregon State still provided the Pitt heavyweight with a huge opportunity.

Zac Thomusseit lost a 3-2 decision as the Panthers’ hopes of having a champion at the Midlands Championships disappeared.

“I had a slip-up in the finals, but I’m using it as motivation,” Zac Thomusseit said. “It makes me stop, reevaluate what I’m doing and what I need to work on coming down the home stretch.”

Pitt’s heavyweight, along with several other wrestlers, have been very successful this season, and suffering their first loss gives them an opportunity to improve.

“When you’re winning, it’s hard to judge what things need tuned up,” Zac Thomusseit said. “So my first loss of the season is helping me fix up some minor things that I am doing wrong.”

Pitt’s Anthony Zanetta, who is redshirting this year, also competed in the tournament and earned an eighth-place finish. He was the only other Panther to reach the championship’s eight-man podium.

The Panthers will look to build off the experience they got against the tough competition going forward.

Pitt returns to the mat Jan. 13 for the Pitt Duals as Bloomsburg, Eastern Michigan and Davidson all come to the Fitzgerald Field House.