Wrestling: Panthers earn impressive victory against Maryland

Once again, the No. 16 Pitt wrestling team (2-2) fell behind early, but the comeback started earlier than last week as the Panthers stormed back to take five of the last six matches against No. 17 Maryland on Friday night at the Fitzgerald Field House.

The biggest turning point in Pitt’s 23-12 victory over the Terrapins came at the 165- and 174-pound weight classes, when No. 11 Tyler Wilps and Nick Bonaccorsi earned a technical fall and a pin, respectively.

Wilps, Pitt’s 165-pounder, racked up 10 takedowns and finished his 27-8 technical fall with three near-fall points. Prior to his match, the Panthers trailed 9-6, but after being awarded the five team points for the technical fall, Pitt jumped out to a lead it wouldn’t give back.

Continuing to build on the lead that Wilps earned, Bonaccorsi pinned his opponent, Aaron Norris, at 3:58. Bonaccorsi was near a pin as the first period ended but couldn’t beat the buzzer. He didn’t miss out on his second chance at his first career dual match pin, though.

But as successful as Pitt’s higher weight classes were, the lower ones struggled yet again.

Freshman 125-pounder Godwin Nyama wrestled a close match against the 12th-ranked Shane Gentry. Within the last minute, Nyama got a takedown and was close to getting some near fall points. Despite an improved third-period performance, the freshman fell 5-3 to Gentry.

One of the night’s three battles between ranked wrestlers came at 133 pounds. Pitt’s No. 7 Shelton Mack lost 3-2 to Maryland’s No. 13 Geoff Alexander. Tied at 2-2 as time expired, Alexander picked up the win with his 1:02 of riding time, putting the Panthers in an early 6-0 hole.

Travis Shaffer came out strong for the Panthers at 141 pounds to get a 7-0 win over Maryland’s Danny O’Malley. Shaffer dominated the match with two takedowns, two back points and forced the referee to call O’Malley for stalling twice.

At 149 pounds, Lou Mascola of Maryland defeated the Panthers’ Donnie Tasser with a takedown and a crucial reversal in the third period. Mascola’s reversal pushed the score to its final tally, 4-2.

Then the comeback began for Pitt. Troy Reaghard got it started with a 4-2 victory over Maryland’s Danny Oren at 157 pounds.

After Reaghard brought the deficit to only three, Wilps and Bonaccorsi combined for 11 points in their two victories, giving the Panthers a 17-9 lead with three of Pitt’s five ranked wrestlers still due up.

184-pounder No. 14 Max Thomusseit suffered his first defeat of the season, 3-2, to Maryland’s No. 9 Jimmy Sheptock. The two remained tied 1-1 in the third period with both wrestlers only scoring on escapes, but Thomusseit had more than a minute of riding time. Sheptock was able to score a late takedown to keep the Terps alive in the team match.

But Maryland’s hopes for a dual match win didn’t look good with Pitt’s No. 2 Matt Wilps taking on No. 13 Christian Boley. Despite only an 11-spot difference in the rankings, Wilps didn’t have much trouble with the Terps’ 197-pounder. Wilps cruised to a 7-2 victory.

The night was once again capped with a win for No. 9 Zac Thomusseit. Last week the team needed a pin. With the win locked up this week, Thomusseit still turned in a dominating performance.

The heavyweight won 7-0 and was successful in stopping any offensive attacks from Maryland’s Carl Buchholz. After securing a takedown, Thomusseit was able to hold Buchholz, who had a weight advantage, down for the majority of the match.

Pitt returns to the mat when it hosts Cleveland State Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Fitzgerald Field House. The matchup with the Vikings begins the Eastern Wrestling League season for the Panthers as they look for a fourth-consecutive conference title.