Wrestling: Meeting with Bloomsburg to highlight Duals

When the wrestling team hosts the Pitt Duals this weekend, a challenging conference opponent awaits.

Coming off big wins against Cleveland State and Clarion to start its Eastern Wrestling League season, No. 15 Pitt will take its winning streak into a match against the Bloomsburg Huskies, a solid team with only one loss, which came against No. 7 Missouri.

Lock Haven, Bloomsburg, Eastern Michigan and Davidson will make the trip to Pittsburgh for the Pitt Duals, and the Panthers will face off against all but Lock Haven on Sunday at the Fitzgerald Field House.

The Huskies have three ranked wrestlers — two of whom are set for a matchup against a ranked wrestler from Pitt. These two meetings will no doubt play a key role in determining the dual’s end result.

At 165 pounds, Pitt’s No. 14 Tyler Wilps will face Bloomsburg’s No. 16 Josh Veltre, and heavyweight No. 8 Zac Thomusseit of Pitt is set to take on the Huskies’ No. 18 Justin Grant.

This week in practice Pitt has focused closely on preparing to take on the Huskies for the obvious reasons. They’re a skilled team, and as such, the Panthers’ goal to win its fourth straight EWL title runs through them.

“I would say there is more preparation for Bloomsburg because they are a solid team and are always prepared when we wrestle them,” redshirt junior P.J. Tasser said. “Their wrestlers go hard all seven minutes, so it is important for us to match their intensity from the start.“

With two additional opponents Sunday, it comes as no surprise that head coach Rande Stottlemyer will most likely be forced to rearrange his lineup.

“The coaches will probably try to get others normally not in the lineup some experience with dual meet competition,” redshirt senior Matt Wilps said.

That said, the wrestlers aren’t focused on the lineup or any changes that might be made to it over the course of the meet.

“Our main focus is taking it to Bloomsburg from the start of the dual without overlooking anyone or any team,” Tasser said.

Wrestling three matches in a day challenges the team, but it’s a necessary part of preparing the Panthers for the NCAA tournament where they will compete in multiple matches each day.

“It’s always nice to wrestle a tournament because duals don’t simulate the nationals,” redshirt senior Zac Thomusseit said of the Midlands Championships, which took place last month.

While the Pitt Duals isn’t a tournament, it still allows the Panthers to work on preserving energy throughout a day of wrestling.

Pitt has been off for two weeks since wrestling at the Midlands Championships and should be well-rested for its three matches Sunday.

“Three dual meets in a row will be challenging, but nothing we can’t handle,” Wilps said. “We will want to start the day off strong against Bloomsburg and keep the momentum rolling.”